TOKYO, Nov. 6 – The Japanese government announced on Nov. 5 that it will relax entry restrictions for technical interns imposed under the COVID-19 pandemic.
Foreign nationals coming to the country as technical interns will be accepted after those responsible for inviting them submit necessary documents including a written pledge and a training plan to relevant ministries and receive approval.
As for the agriculture sector, farmers should file applications to the agriculture ministry to host technical interns.
Applications will be accepted starting at 10 a.m. on Nov. 8.
The agriculture ministry hopes easing of entry restrictions will help solve the problem of labor shortage in the farm sector.
In January, the government in principle banned new entries of foreign nationals from all over the world following the detection of a new, highly infectious variant of the coronavirus.
According to the Foreign Ministry, about 370,000 foreign people had not been able to come to Japan due to the entry ban, out of which some 110,000 were technical interns.
Japan currently limits the number of travelers to the country to 3,500 a day and the number is expected to remain unchanged for the time being.
Although the government will begin accepting applications for entries by technical interns on Nov. 8, it is uncertain how many days it will take to examine them and grant approval, according to the Consular Policy Division of the Foreign Ministry’s Consular Affairs Bureau.
Technical interns will be required to quarantine for 14 days in principle after arrival at accommodation facilities or other locations.