Require an advanced language level to obtain permanent residency: Japan's proposal

TokyoThe Japanese government is preparing a reform that will profoundly transform the country's immigration policy. The Ministry of Justice is working on a new system that would require foreign residents to complete digital courses on language, civics, and daily life in Japan, and would link the granting and maintenance of permanent residency to the accreditation of an advanced level of Japanese. The initiative comes at a particularly delicate moment: Japan, where almost 30% of the population is over 65 and the labor shortage has become one of the main economic challenges, is trying to reconcile the need to attract more foreign workers with a tightening of settlement requirements.

The executive argues that the new approach should facilitate coexistence, strengthen knowledge of basic Japanese societal norms, and ensure better integration of foreign residents. However, the proposal has raised concerns among lawyers, associations supporting migrants, and human rights experts, who warn of the potential consequences for residents.

Beyond language learning, various organizations argue that the reform could particularly affect long-term residents, spouses of Japanese citizens, the elderly, or citizens with cognitive difficulties who, despite living in the country for years or decades, might have more difficulty meeting the new demands. The discussion is no longer just about the degree of integration a state should demand, but also raises the question of to what extent this requirement may end up conditioning the legal and family stability of thousands of people.

Paradigm shift?

For migration policy specialists, the reform represents a paradigm shift. Midori Inagaki, a professor specializing in integration and immigration, believes that Sanae Takaichi's government is redefining the very meaning of reception policies. In her opinion, making the requirement of a JLPT N2 level – the second highest language proficiency level – a formal prerequisite for consolidating permanent residency carries the risk that the language will cease to be "a bridge for mutual understanding to become a filter that excludes those considered insufficiently integrated." Inagaki warns that what has so far been a relatively stable path towards settlement could become "a precarious process subject to continuous state evaluation."

Criticism is not focused solely on the content of the reform, but also on how it is being driven. Atsushi Kondo, a professor of constitutional law at Meijo University and one of Japan's leading specialists in integration policies, questions whether a transformation of this scope can be introduced through administrative instructions and internal changes in criteria at the Ministry of Justice. "The implementation of these changes through operational adjustments by the bureaucracy, rather than legal revisions debated in the Diet [the country's legislative body], is profoundly problematic for the legal certainty of foreign residents," he argues. According to several legal experts, this approach allows for significant modification of the conditions for accessing and maintaining residency without specific parliamentary debate on the scope of the new requirements.

The reform also coincides with a particularly delicate moment for the Japanese economy. The number of foreign residents has already surpassed 4 million, a record figure driven by structural labor shortages in sectors such as construction, healthcare, hospitality, and industry. Nevertheless, the government believes that this increase also necessitates strengthening integration policies and language proficiency. Several economists warn that excessive tightening of administrative requirements could produce the opposite effect of what the country needs.

Economist Jesper Koll, one of the most influential figures among international investors in Japan, has been warning for years that the country has stopped competing solely on salaries. Following the sharp depreciation of the yen, he argues that adding more bureaucratic requirements for immigration could become a new brake on attracting talent. If integration ends up depending on a succession of exams and administrative controls, he warns, the most qualified professionals will simply choose other destinations such as Singapore, Australia, or Europe.

Risks for the economy

A similar reflection also appeared in the editorial of Nikkei Asia –an important English-language magazine and digital platform for economic and political news–, which recently warned that, in the midst of a demographic crisis and with a growing labor shortage, making cultural integration an administrative obligation could end up harming the country's own competitiveness. The economic publication considers that requiring language and civics tests as a condition for consolidating residency runs the risk of adding a new bureaucratic burden on foreign workers and entrepreneurs who contribute to sustaining the Japanese economy.

The concern is also shared among many foreign residents established in the country. John Graham, a businessman married to a Japanese citizen and father of Japanese children, summarizes the unease generated by the proposal as follows: "It is a measure that, ultimately, could end up with me being expelled from the country and prevented from living with my children in their own country if I don't pass a language exam. It's madness."

Although the government insists that the new requirements seek to promote integration and facilitate coexistence, jurists and organizations supporting migrants warn that any system that links residential stability to a periodic assessment of the degree of integration opens up legal and human questions that are difficult to ignore.