Japan, RoK, Taiwan welcome back Vietnamese guest workers

Japan, the Republic of Korea, and Taiwan (China) have announced their plans to resume the reception of Vietnamese labourers from November as many foreign labour markets have reopened after the COVID-19 pandemic is basically controlled.

Thanh Nien (Young People) newspaper cited information from the Department of Overseas Labour Management under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs as reporting that after many months of "freezing" because of the health crisis, Japan, the RoK, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia, and Singapore welcomed back foreign workers from November 15.

Pham Quoc Huong, Deputy Director of the Department of Overseas Labour Management, said that since November 8, Japan has relaxed entry regulations for a number of priority groups as part of the government's economic recovery policy, including Vietnamese apprentices and guest workers.

The Japanese Ministry of Justice provided preliminary guidances on receiveing apprentices in accordance with a set roadmap. Accordingly, in November, Japan will only accept applications of apprentices who were granted residence status from January 1 to June 30, 2020.

In December 2021 and January 2022, it will respectively receive applications of apprentices who were granted residence status from January 1 to December 31, 2000, and from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2021.

The Japanese government temporarily allows 3,500 people to enter per day. It is expected that by the end of November, it will consider increasing the number to 5,000 people per day.

Regarding COVID-19 prevention conditions, the quarantine time will be shortened to three days for workers who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 with one of the three vaccines approved in Japan (Pfizer, Mordena, AstraZeneca), and have RT-PCR test results negative for the coronavirus within 72 hours before landing.

Apart from holding RT-PCR test results negative to COVID-19, those who have not fully received two shots of COVID-19 vaccines, or have been vaccinated with other vaccines, are still be required to undergo quarantine at home for 14 days after their arrival.

The RoK and Taiwan (China) have also announced that they will apply policies to receive more foreign workers in November.

Notably, the RoK will lift restrictions on the number of workers entering the country daily and weekly. Previously, the number of workers allowed to enter the Asian country was limited to 100 people per day and 600 people per week.

According to Doan Mau Diep, President of the Vietnam Labour Export Association, Vietnam needs to actively develop policies and meet requirements to fully tap opportunities to send more labourers to work overseas in the coming time.

Nguyen Gia Liem, Deputy Director of the Department of Overseas Labour Management, said the agency will continue to update new policies from the labour import markets, thus providing guidances for Vietnamese enterprises.