Japan to permit evacuees from Ukraine to work upon arrival

Baku, March 15, AZERTAC

Japan's government will allow Ukrainian evacuees to work in the country after it started accepting people displaced from the country, the justice minister said Tuesday, according to Kyodo.

Under the measure, evacuees who are granted short-term residency for 90 days when entering Japan will be permitted to extend their visas to "designated activities" status for one year. The change will give them residency and the legal right to engage in work, Justice Minister Yoshihisa Furukawa said.

"We will flexibly respond to the visa status, sufficiently taking into consideration the situation facing the evacuees," Furukawa told a press conference.

The move came as Ukrainian Ambassador to Japan Sergiy Korsunsky and others have called on Japan to allow the evacuees to work.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida instructed Furukawa and other related ministers to prepare measures to assist evacuees fleeing from Ukraine, Chief Cabinet Secretary Matsuno said.

The country had accepted 47 Ukrainian people by Sunday, according to the Immigration Services Agency of Japan, after Kishida announced on March 2 that it would open the door as part of Tokyo's humanitarian response.

All 47 have been granted short-term visas. An extended visa status will enable them to register as residents of the country.