Immigration reform advances in Japan

TOKYO, March 7 (UPI) -- The Japanese cabinet has approved legislation that would create a new identification card for foreign residents.

Supporters say the bill would make life easier for legal residents, The Asahi Shimbun reported. The maximum length of visas would be extended from three years to five, and legal residents who leave Japan for less than a year would not be required to get a re-entry permit.

They say the new card would make it easier to prevent those not legally allowed to work from doing so and to catch those who overstay their visa. The new cards would include information on residents' work status.

The law would set up a separate system for aliens living permanently in Japan, a group that includes 420,000 Koreans. Immigrants brought to Japan for the Industrial Training and Technical Internship Program would get a visa covering their entire three-year stay and would be protected by Japanese labor laws as soon as they begin work.

Officials said they hope the law will be passed during the current parliamentary session.