Following on from the previous post, this is about residence cards.
News articles
According to Nagoya TV, ”Two Chinese couples arrested on suspicion of forging residence cards. They may have gotten more than 5 million yen.” 2024/04/30, police believe that the two have been selling forged residence cards for more than 5 million yen since around November last year, and are also investigating whether they may have committed additional crimes.
Why is counterfeiting a residence card becomes business?
There may be a need for foreign nationals who are illegally overstaying (those who have not been granted a legal status of residence) to try to deceive a company’s hiring manager by using a fake residence card in order to get a job. The same applies to cases where, even if a person has been granted a regular residence status, the status of residence does not allow him/her to work and he/she has not obtained permission to engage in activities other than that permitted under the status of residence previously granted.
As of January 1, 2024, the number of illegal overstayers is 79,113.* Given that many of these people are already aware of their illegal status and are likely to commit illegal acts such as possessing counterfeit residence cards, this represents a sizable market for counterfeiting businesses.
(*Please note that this figure is not the number of people detained or provisionally released after being found to be illegally overstaying, but is a de facto figure calculated from the immigration records of foreigners, the period of stay of those entering the country, the number of deportations, etc.)
Things employers should be aware of
As mentioned above, counterfeit residence cards are believed to be quite common, and it is a real possibility that employers hiring foreigners may come across them.
What happens if it is not discovered that the residence card is a fake?
In the worst case, you will be subject to the crime of promoting illegal employment (Article 73-2 of the Immigration Control Act), and you will be sentenced to up to three years in prison, a fine of up to three million yen, or both. Paragraph 2 of the same article goes out of its way to say that ”unless there is no negligence,” there is no excuse for not knowing that the person’s status of residence allows him or her to work. The regulations are surprisingly strict.
For example, if you did not even check the residence card, or if you only checked the copy instead of the original (the original may be a counterfeit card), it cannot be said that there was no negligence.
Also, if you imagine like “He/She is probably doing part-time work without obtaining permission to engage in activities other than permitted, but that is not my business…”, this kind of thought gets closer to intentional behavior. (This is called conscious neglect.)
At the time of the employment interview, it is necessary to have the original residence card presented, and to confirm that there was no fault. So how can we confirm that my residence card is not a forgery?
How to check that your residence card is not a forgery
①Visual check
The confirmation method is described on the Ministry of Justice website (PDF) as follows. First of all, this is the basics.
②Reading with residence card reading application
As stated at the bottom of the PDF above, you can check whether it is a forgery using an application distributed free of charge by the Ministry of Justice. If you install it on a PC, you will need to purchase a separate card reader, but if you use a smartphone, it is convenient as there is no additional cost.
③Residence card number expiration information inquiry
Similarly, as stated at the bottom of the above PDF, by entering the residence card number and residence card expiry date on the homepage of “Immigration Bureau’s Residence Card Number Revocation Information Inquiry“, you can check to see if the card was revoked.
Summary
We recommend that you do the above 2) and 3) at the time of your job interview. It would be undesirable to do this in front of the person in question, as he or she may be suspicious, so it would be a good idea to ask for a copy and do it in a place where the person can’t see it at the same time.
If you do this, you can be sure that you are not doing anything that would encourage illegal employment, and that you are not at fault.
(The Immigration Services Agency has set up an information page where you can report when you discover a counterfeit card.)