In April 2010, the Immigration Bureau will begin requesting foreigners to show their social health insurance cards as a prerequisite for visa renewal.
Why is this a bad idea?
The guideline was intended to compel employers to observe the law by enrolling their employees in social insurance. However, it puts foreigners between a rock and a hard place because their employers may force them to join the national health plan instead. Foreigners not previously on the social system would have to pay up to two years of back premiums – up to five in some cities. Such action would undoubtedly force many honest and hard-working foreigners to leave Japan, while coercing dishonest or otherwise-legal foreigners “underground.” Ironically, this is precisely the opposite of the intended effect of the newly passed Immigration laws that seek to curtail foreigners from overstaying their visas.
The guideline is too ambiguous and a violation of human rights . . .
It does not specifically state whether foreigners who are not able to enroll in social insurance will be denied visa renewal or if they would instead be required to join the national health plan in order to qualify for extension. It gives individual Immigration officials complete and total discretion in determining whether or not to renew a visa – discretion based solely on personal judgment rather than on concrete principles or instructions.
The Free Choice Foundation will therefore petition the government under Article 16 of the Japanese Constitution to revoke the new guideline.
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