Japanese Consulate San Francisco Vice Consul Charged with Assualt and 14 Counts of Domestic Violence

Check out the latest on the “Gaijin Card” from Metropolis. I remember refusing to provide my fingerprint for my identification card when I first moved to Osaka. Lot’s of drama back then. It was almost as bad when I went to register my Japanese name.

All foreigners in Japan know him. The 62-year-old isn’t particularly loved — he’s a bit of a square — but we’ve all had to live with him and even take him out with us every day. Like many of his generation, he could keep on working, but he’s recently learned that he may have to settle for his pipe and slippers sooner rather than later.

The Baby Boomer in question is the Certificate of Alien Registration, or gaijin card, a form of ID that non-Japanese residents have been required to carry since the enactment of the Alien Registration Order in May 1947.

It may come as a surprise to learn that, if the government gets its way, the card will be consigned to the bureaucratic scrapheap. The Diet is currently debating bills to replace “gaikokujin torokusho” with a new residency (“zairyu”) card, which would shift administration of alien registration from municipal offices to the Immigration Bureau.

So what are the government’s plans? And, more importantly, what are the implications for foreigners?

How will the new card affect you?

Pros
- Typical length of visa stay changed from three years to five years
- No need to obtain a re-entry permit when leaving the country for less than a year
- Assurance that all legal foreigners will be placed on social insurance and state pension schemes
- Administrative procedure simplified
- Possibility to notify authorities of certain changes of status by email or post

Cons
- Notification of most changes of status must be made at Immigration Bureau rather than at local municipal offices
- IC chip on the new card raises privacy concerns
- Asylum seekers and visa overstayers won’t be eligible to receive the cards, resulting in possible loss of basic health and education services
- Possibility of visa annulment if status notifications are not made within a 90-day period

This story originally appeared in Metropolis magazine (www.metropolis.co.jp). Click here for the rest of the story.