May 05 (NHK) – The Japanese government has revised a Ministry of Justice regulation to tighten the rules for granting residency status to students. This comes after it emerged in 2019 that a university in Tokyo had lost contact with more than 1,600 foreign students.
Under the new rules revised in April, educational institutions must have adequate enrollment management to accept international students. The required measures include proper maintenance of student attendance and part-time job registration.
If a school fails to meet the requirements, student residency status will not be granted to foreigners it has accepted until improvements are made.
Those who plan to learn the Japanese language must be enrolled in a government-certified language school. Student residency status is not granted to those studying the language as a research student or as an audit student.
The Immigration Services Agency says the number of international students visiting Japan has fallen by more than 90 percent due to the coronavirus pandemic, but the figure has risen above pre-pandemic levels to more than 167,000 in 2022.
The Immigration Department says the review aims to accept foreign students in a stable and smooth manner.
