Petition Campaign to Amend Immigration Rules Concerning Granting of Residency/Permanent Visa for Foreign Parents of Japanese Children: Some Questions and Answers

 

Version 2

 

<The current draft of the actual petition is located here.>


1. What are the available visas for foreign parents?

Spouse or Child of Japanese National (3 years or 1 year) Spouses of Japanese nationals, children adopted by Japanese nationals in accordance with the provisions of Article 817-2 of the Civil Code (Law No. 89 of 1896), or those born as children of Japanese nationals.

Source: http://www.mofa.go.jp/j_info/visit/visa/04.html

 
2. What kind of amendments to immigration rules are being asked for?

a. Amend immigration laws so that foreign parents of a Japanese child qualify for residency visas, including permanent residency visas, without the letter of guarantee currently required for the granting of such visas. In particular, sustaining the non-Japanese parent and his or her Japanese child should be an acceptable reason to grant the application for permanent residency visa for non-Japanese parents of Japanese children.

 

b. Amend immigration laws so that a non-married and non-custodial parent of a Japanese child is eligible for a long-term visa permitting employment.

 

c. Grant permanent residency to a non-married and non-custodial parent of a Japanese child under the same accelerated time frame and favorable conditions applicable to a spouse of a Japanese citizen.

 

 

3. What are the case background and situation details that led to the initiation of the petition?

a. Application for a long term spousal visa and for permanent residency of foreign spouses of Japanese requires a written guarantee of sponsorship by the Japanese spouse. This situation allows a Japanese spouse to deny access to the children by making the foreign spouse unable to legally stay in Japan (for documented cases visit CRNJ website: http://www.crnjapan.com/).

 

b. A non-Japanese parent who is denied access to their children may find himself or herself without a job, and unable to stay in Japan to continue a legal fight.  Although Japanese immigration will extend a visa while a non-citizen is in court, this is typically only for a short term which does not allow a parent to work during the ensuing multi-year court battle.

 

c. As part of government support to every Japanese child, foreign parents should be given the right to stay permanently in Japan, to enable the child to maintain personal relations and direct contact with both parents on a regular basis. Without direct contact and ongoing personal relations with the non-Japanese parent on a regular basis, it is unlikely that the child will be able to develop respect for the child's parents, his or her own cultural identity, language and values, and the country from which he or she may originate.

 

d. The Japanese Immigration Control Act is very much open to granting permanent residency to all qualified foreigners.  However, there is a need to amend immigration policies especially on the application for permanent residency.  In particular for foreign parents, it should not be based on the number of years of stay in Japan together with husband’s guarantee letter but by the high merit of sustaining the non-Japanese parent and his or her Japanese child as acceptable reason to grant the application for permanent residency visa.

 

e. In situations involving child abuse and domestic violence, the foreign spouse is afraid of being forced to leave Japan without his or her Japanese children if the abuser will not provide the necessary written guarantee letter.  This need for a guarantee letter makes it effectively impossible for a foreign spouse to report child abuse and domestic violence to the police. 

 

f. In the cases of former battered wives who have freed themselves from their husbands and are fortunate enough to get government financial support for rearing children alone, the annual visa extension application is a painful experience.  The visa extension application requires a single mother to have a visa sponsor.  This practice is redundant because the welfare office through the City Hall is providing them the means (food, shelter and clothing) to live.

 

4. Aside from the above conditions, are there any other bases in making the petition to amend immigration rules pertaining to residency/permanent visa application of foreign parents of Japanese children?

a. The need of Japan to comply with the Convention on the Rights of the Child (signed by the Government of Japan, 24 April 1994). The convention’s Preamble, Article 9 and Article 18 state that the signatory government shall ensure that a child shall not be separated from his or her parents against their will (Article 9, Section 1), respect the right of the child who is separated from one or both parents to maintain personal relations and direct contact with both parents on a regular basis (Article 9, Section 3), just to name a few of the convention’s declaration that requires Japan to enact rules and laws to protect children s rights. Thus, our petition is reasonable and helpful for the government in crafting rules and laws consistent with international convention declarations that it signed.

 

b. In related activities, last January 12, 2004, the Children’s Rights Council-Japan (CRCJ) together with a coalition of organizations in Japan submitted a Critique of Japan’s Second Periodic Report on The Convention on the Rights of the Child By Japan (full text is available at http://www.crnjapan.com/treaties/uncrcreport/  and the amendment petition can be found on Section 7 of the report) to the Committee on the Rights of the Child of the United Nations.

 

c. Japan is signatory to United Nation’s International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Signed by the Government of Japan, 21 June 1979). Article 10, Section 2 of convention states that Special protection should be accorded to mothers during a reasonable period before and after childbirth. Our petition claims that for foreign mothers, the needed protection is the assurance that she will not be separated from her Japanese children.

 

d. Since majority of foreign spouses are women and Japan is a signatory to CEDAW or the Convention for the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (Signed by the Government of Japan, 25 June 1985), Japan has the responsibility to take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in all matters relating to marriage and family relations on a basis of equality of men and women (CEDAW declaration, Article 16). The current spouse visa category issued to foreign mothers of Japanese children is discriminatory in its nature and needs to be amended in order for Japan to fulfill its obligation to CEDAW declarations.

 

5. What are the objectives of the petition campaign?

a. To gather signatures and support actions addressed to the Japan’s Ministry of Justice and Immigration Bureau to review and act on our petition campaign.

b. To organize community discussion groups, forums, workshops and other media for information dissemination and education campaign on the rights of children and foreign parents especially foreign mothers of Japanese children.

c. To lobby with policy makers, organize round table discussions with concerned government agencies and other proceedings to facilitate the petition to amend the immigration rules concerning granting of resident/permanent visa to foreign parents of Japanese children.

d. To popularize the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction as part of advocacy campaign for Japan to sign the two said international conventions.


6. Who will benefit from these initiatives?

a. More than the foreign parents, the Japanese children with half foreign parentage are the main beneficiaries of the petition campaign that ensures their communications and interactions with both of their parents.

b. The Japanese society as a whole by decreasing problems brought about by unequal treatment pertaining to stay of foreign parents and enhancing the growth of Japanese children with half foreign parentage by enjoying life with both parents.

c. The government itself since granting more permanent residence visa to foreign parents of Japanese children will lessen the volume of frequent visa applicants, save energy and time of civil servants attending to visa extension requirement and also save government resources.


7. Who are the needed people to support this petition campaign in amending the immigration rules to grant residence/permanent visa to foreign parents?

a. Foreign parents of Japanese children who are still in a one or three years spouse visa including those with permanent residence visa, living with Japanese spouse or divorced, living in Japan or abroad, and their children should come forward in unison to sign for submission the petition paper to the Japanese government.

b. Support and participation of foreign parents granted with residency/permanent visa is important in this petition campaign. Their signatures to the petition paper and testimonies are concrete proofs of how long and tedious is the process of securing residence/permanent visa.

c. Support and solidarity of foreign migrants of nationalities living in Japan to sign and help in the petition campaign. The petition campaign also aims to reach and build cooperation between foreign migrants of all nationalities.

d. Likewise, support from NGOs/NPOs, academe, citizens groups, religious groups, and other organizations are most needed.

e. Friends and supporters among the ranks of policy makers, local government and local agency officials are needed to be developed by the petition campaign.


8. What are the targets of this campaign and how will it work?

 

1. The petition have two component: a) education and information in the grassroots /community level and b) signature solicitation. The education and solicitation wish to establish understanding between foreign migrants of nationalities and between foreign migrants and the Japanese public in quest to open up and build multicultural society in Japan. Consciously or unconsciously we the foreign migrants are contributing daily in letting the Japanese public our presence and our desires to share and gather respect to the culture of our origins. The petition campaign helps this conscious and unconscious efforts of foreign migrants to become more systematized and done in collective manner by forwarding our petition that promotes Japanese children and their foreign parents rights.
2. Out of this understanding and cooperation with people we wish to collect tens of thousands or perhaps hundreds of thousands or more signatures from foreign migrants and Japanese alike in order that our voices be heard to effect policy change for the betterment of Japanese children and their foreign parent.
3. For Filipinos alone who has an average yearly increase of 6000 marriage with Japanese and given that they are required to stay for three or five years before they can apply with permanent residency (provided that they were given a guarantee letter by their Japanese spouse), there are already 30,000 Filipino spouses of Japanese living here in the past five years who will sign and to be benefited by petition campaign. Need not to mention is that for every Filipino spouse as an example have her husband, in-laws and friends and relatives that if the given figure of 30,000 have a multiplication effect of 5 each person will give us 150,000 signatures. If one foreign migrant can ask 10 signatures each then we are close to attain the petition goal. Besides, yearly there are 6000 newly wed Japanese-Filipinos who are in need of permanent visa added to our army of petitioners.
4. Our petition campaign is dedicated to our Japanese children with foreign parentage and therefore our course of action is an acceptable example to children. Meaning promoting harmonious cooperation with all including policy makers down to the immigration officers on the job who are just following the rules that was set hundred years ago when all of us where not yet born.
5. We are setting the petition ante more of building unity and harmonious relations with all people of all races for the betterment of Japanese children of foreign parents that this silent protest will induce the granting of permanent visa to all foreign parent of Japanese children for children sake.
6. Concretely, by winning friends and supporters from the ranks of local government up to the policy makers will help paving the way of our petition campaign nearer to its goal.

 

9. What kinds of support and steps are needed for the petition campaign?

a. Sign the petition paper and be a petition campaign coordinator in your localities. To be a local area campaign coordinator in you locality you are needed to be prepared in reproducing the petition paper and coordinate with the campaign co-coordinators nearest your place (list supplied below).

b. For the signatories having time difficulties in helping the campaign, please help to reproduce copies of the petition and pass it on to others to sign.
c. Help organize local area networks and discussion groups within own peer, community organizations or within the neighborhood. This primer can be used for the discussion. More  education and information materials can be found at CRCJ web site (http://www.crnjapan.com/). For Tagalog materials please ask the listed organization below.

d. Initiate dialogues with locally elected officials in your area and gather support for our cause.

 

e. Initiate other forms of support for the campaign like printing of t-shirts, posters, postcards and others.

 

f. Pass on this primer after reading to other groups and individuals.

10. Whom shall we contact to join, support and help the petition campaign to grant residence/permanent visa to foreign parents?

Just write or call the following representatives nearest in your area:

Tokyo

Center for Japanese-Filipino Families (CJFF)
Room 32 Japan Christian Center
2-3-18 Nishi Waseda, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo
Phone/Fax 03 3209 2439
Email: cjff@zah.att.ne.jp

MIGRANTE Party List (Migrante)
Sendagaya, Shibuya-ku
3-59-8-202 Harajuku Daini Kopo
Tokyo 151-0051

Saitama

Kalipunan ng mga Filipinong Nagkakaisa (KAFIN)
Tsukagoshi 5-51-22
Warabi Sou 101, Warabi shi, Saitama
Phone/Fax 050 3022 2902
Email: kafin@r3.dion.ne.jp

Nagoya

Filipino Migrants Center (FMC)

MIGRANTE Party List (Migrante)

Kalipunan ng mga Filipinong Nagkakaisa (KAFIN)

Filipina Circle for Advancement and Progress Aichi (FICAP-Aichi)
4-D Maruzen Bldg

Ecumenical Learning Center for Children

Noemi Oba

Philippine Society in Japan

Nagoya shi, Midori-ku,

Kamegahora 3-chome 1-1- Maru Banchi

Tel 052 877 2835

Email: nobajp55@yahoo.com

Osaka

Kalipunan ng mga Filipinong Nagkakaisa (KAFIN)
Takakura Dai 4-17-7
Sakai City, Osaka 590 0117
Phone/fax 072 292 8980
Email: kasanggayahan_03@gaia.eonet.ne.jp

Nagano

Suwa Catholic Church Filipino Community
Nagano ken, Suwa-shi

Takashima 1-28-18 Sun Villlage Ringo C-102

tel. 0266-57-4923

Email: junebhing@yahoo.com