Foreign residents proficient in Japanese to be allowed to stay longer
 

Friday 02nd May, 06:18 AM JST

"Japan will give ‘‘favorable treatment’’ to foreign residents with a certain level of Japanese language proficiency by extending the maximum length of stay for their resident visas from the current three years to five years,

The ministry plans to include the new measure in the Justice Ministry’s revision of current immigration legislation to be submitted to the ordinary parliamentary session next year, a Foreign Ministry official said.

The government hopes that the new measure will encourage foreigners to learn Japanese and help those residing in the country to adapt more smoothly
into Japanese society, the official said.

In addition to extending the maximum length of stay, the government is also considering easing conditions for skilled foreign workers with expertise in Japanese language, such as interpreters, translators and international flight attendants.

This includes possibly lowering the requisite number of years of work experience from the current 10 years to, for example, five years for such ‘‘international services’’ visa holders, according to the official."

© 2008 Kyodo News.

we shal see how it works, its not a bad idea but I want my 25 yen a liter back before an extra 2 years on the visa *sigh* Bill ties visa to language skills | The Japan Times Online
link to the Japan Times for those who care

i'll quote timelesssymphony, "we shall(sic!) see how it works...."
i reckon an even more interesting thing is whether or not the suggestion will ever be realised. there is a lot of talk right now, some say that u even have to speak japanese to get the visas extended, so we'll just have wait and see. however we van still have opinions and debate it though.

off-topic
i was actually very happy that they will raise (or reraise) the tax on petrol. hopefully ppl won't idle so much. what ever happened to the もったない campaign? also good luck on cutting the CO2 levels with 6%!