More On The Language Skills And Visa Link

[Mulboyne]

Asahi: Japanese-speaking foreigners to receive favorable treatment for visas
The Foreign Ministry plans to give favorable treatment in visa applications and extensions to foreign nationals with a good command of the Japanese language. Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura was to announce the plan Thursday afternoon. The favorable treatment will include extending the resident status of foreigners with a certain level of Japanese language proficiency to a maximum of five years from the current three. In addition, visa requirements on professional experience and academic qualifications will be eased. The ministry expects the measures will motivate non-Japanese hoping to stay here long term to learn Japanese. That would lead to an increasing number of foreign nationals with higher professional knowledge and skills working in a country whose population is expected to decline because of low birthrates. However, the new measures will not lead to any unfavorable treatment to foreigners with poor Japanese language skills, officials said. The government will continue to permit entry by foreign nationals even if they cannot speak a word of Japanese, they said. The government plans to assess Japanese language skills based on the results of the Japan Foundation's Japanese Language Proficiency Test and other tests. The new measures will initially target foreign nationals in specialized professions, such as interpreters, translators and cabin attendants on international flights, who use the Japanese language at work. The foreign and justice ministries have been discussing the new measures since January, when Komura expressed his intention to link entry requirements and visa status with language skills. He said improved communication skills will help foreign nationals blend in at their workplaces and local communities...The Foreign Ministry intends to implement the measures in fiscal 2009 after revising the immigration control law...more...

All the discussions to date have indicated that an extension to five year visas was already on the table for everyone so this proposal actually would lead to unfavourable treatment for those with poor language skills if it means that they are no longer to be included in that plan.

[kusai Jijii]

The new measures will initially target foreign nationals in specialized professions, such as interpreters, translators and cabin attendants on international flights, [/I]

Oh yeah right, I'm sure foreign 'trolly dollies' are just tripping over themselves to migrate to Japan.

[ttjereth]

Oh yeah right, I'm sure foreign 'trolly dollies' are just tripping over themselves to migrate to Japan.

My sister in law is a flight attendent and according to her if anything the opposite is true. Most Japanese FAs don't want to work for Japanese airlines because the work is hard, the pay is lower and the passengers more whiney.

[omae mona]

I understand there is already an underground for-profit network to aid applicants who want to cheat on their JLPT exams. This is used mainly by young people hoping to attain a student visa to study in a Japanese university.

If JEES doesn't increase the frequency of JLPT exams (currently once per year), and if the government doesn't offer alternate ways to prove language proficiency, I think cheating, already bad, is going to spiral out of control. The downside of getting caught (probably nothing, when taking the exam overseas) pales in comparison to the potential benefit from a passing score.

[kusai Jijii]

My sister in law is a flight attendent and according to her if anything the opposite is true. Most Japanese FAs don't want to work for Japanese airlines because the work is hard, the pay is lower and the passengers more whiney.

Im sure that's true. But as I implied in my original post, I find it...interesting... that the fuckwads drafting immigration policy are under the illusion that foreign airline...hostesses(?)...(ummm whats the PC term?)...cabin-crew want to come and live in Japan.

bwahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

KJ

[Mulboyne]

I understand there is already an underground for-profit network to aid applicants who want to cheat on their JLPT exams. This is used mainly by young people hoping to attain a student visa to study in a Japanese university.

It's possible you'll see this used for the JLPT before long:
GMAT to use Fujitsu's palm vein ID system

Fujitsu Ltd's palm vein pattern recognition system will be introduced to verify the identities of exam takers for the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT), the company has announced. The introduction of Fujitsu's PalmSecure, which is used at ATMs to verify the identities of cash card holders, aims at preventing stand-in test takers at the GMAT, an exam for applicants to U.S. business schools. Under the new system, GMAT exam candidates will be asked to have their palm vein patterns registered when applying for the test, which will be verified on the day of the test. Candidates' palm patterns will be stored in a database to enable test organizers to verify whether someone has taken the test under a different name on a different exam date. The popular GMAT is the first step toward earning an MBA from U.S. business schools. Groups of professional test takers have reportedly been found to have taken the test for other candidates in exchange for large rewards.

[omae mona]

It's possible you'll see this used for the JLPT before long:
GMAT to use Fujitsu's palm vein ID system

I think you're right; identity substitutions are one way of cheating. However, there are two other rampant methods that I have heard about (or witnessed).

First, pros are taking advantage of the massive time lag between the first seating of the exam (Japan, I guess) and the last (perhaps California or Hawaii?). They gather any info they can on the early seatings, and transmit it to students who are taking the test 12+ hours later.

Also, there's more blatant cheating taking place in real time. A few years back I sat next to a guy who was brazenly messaging on his keitai the whole time. I don't even think he was bothering to fill in the answer sheet. It seemed pretty obvious he was being paid for his services, and couldn't care less about his exam score. And he got away with it too, for the first few sections, until the spaced-out exam officials finally noticed and kicked him out.

My Japanese teacher once claimed that there are normally several arrests of cheaters every year at JLPT exam locations. I'm not sure if that's true, though. I have a hard time imagining the police care about this.

[Greji]

I have a hard time imagining the police care about this.

The FGs showed up on unregistered bicycles.....