Japan gov't approves bill to widen immigration doors to foreign workers

The Japanese government approved a bill on Friday to revise the immigration control law to allow more foreign workers to undertake work in a variety of sectors.

The move comes as the nation grapples with a serious labor crunch caused by its rapidly aging and shrinking society.

Due to the rapidly graying population and declining birthrate, the bill, which was approved by the Cabinet on Friday, will allow eligible foreign workers to apply for newly-created visas spanning a variety of sectors from agriculture and construction, to daycare and nursing.

"Labor shortages are starting to become a major factor hampering economic growth. We will create a proper system," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was quoted as saying at a parliamentary committee on Friday.

The bill has indicated a significant shift in Japan's previous tight restrictions for foreign workers entering and working in Japan and the change in policy on foreign labor has been met with some reservations by opposition parties who have voiced concern about the shift in Japan's famously cautious immigration stance.

The Japanese market, however, under current severe labor conditions, is in dire need of more foreign laborers.

Under the proposed legislation, the first status will allow five-year working visas to foreigners with applicable vocational skills in certain fields, but they will not be allowed to bring their families.

For foreign workers eligible for the second status, who have more advanced skills, the length of their stay will be open-ended and they will be allowed to bring their families with them.