Hacker News Reader

Comment by cyberrock | Hacker News Reader

Japan only requires leaving for converting a tourist/digital nomad visa and some Working Holiday Visas to a normal working/spouse visa. And WHV to normal status is really dependent on the partner country. For example Australians don't need to leave, but Canadians and Brits do, and I've heard that immigration will sometimes just grant the change of status anyways. So that seems to indicate that Japan doesn't really care.

Needing to leave to convert a normal working/spouse status to PR is not the norm anywhere.

View on HN

> . So that seems to indicate that Japan doesn't really care.

Additionally, Japan has a very clear and straightforward process to convert HSP Visa (Highly skilled visa) to a permanent residency.

It can be done in 3years for most and to 1year for the high level candidatures (PhD profiles).

This is very far from the current H1B shitshow.

> Additionally, Japan has a very clear and straightforward process to convert HSP Visa (Highly skilled visa) to a permanent residency.

I mean, that's true as far as it goes, but HSP is one special visa amongst many, and they're not all so easy. Also, Japan is currently in the middle of its own dramatic restructuring of the immigration system related to HSP, including a number of new requirements that would drive critics of the US system to apoplexy (i.e. language fluency requirements).

Overall, the Japanese system looks a lot more conservative than the US one, though the sanity and consistency level is far higher.

> HSP is one special visa amongst many, and they're not all so easy.

Japan has a selective immigration system where the profiles JP gov considers as "necessary" are made easy to immigrate, and the others not so much.

One can disagree with the method, but at least it is consistent.

Near that, half of the American tech (and associated GDP) is constructed highly qualified immigrated engineers on H1B visas, and still the US gov openly shit on them.

> US system to apoplexy (i.e. language fluency requirements)

JP mainly just put some Japanese language level requirement on the HSP visas related to roles with communication. That honestly does not shock me.

We agree that the Japanese system is far more consistent. I think it's better!

But let's not kid ourselves: if the US instituted a CEFR B2 language requirement [1] for anyone on an H1B visa to gain residency, it would be an absolute shitshow.

[1] This is the new Japanese language requirement.

For the US to institute a language standard, we'd first have to agree on an official language at the federal level.

There's a (fairly basic but extant) English language requirement for naturalization, so it doesn't seem inconceivable that could be applied to a visa.

This has been a political issue in the past--mostly with respect to Spanish--but there's essentially a de facto English requirement for most purposes.

No, it would not be a shitshow. That's just your assumption.

Do you think I could not pass that test?

> Do you think I could not pass that test?

Well, I don't know you, but you've missed the point entirely so...

It would be a shitshow because of the politics of it. I am certain there would be plenty of people who could pass, and some who can't.

Also, it's obviously my assumption.

Right, it's obviously your assumption, but you stated the resulting shitshow as an obvious fact—"let's not kid ourselves".

I doubt H-1Bs would oppose taking that test. Many already took English proficiency exams by the time they apply for the visa.

I assume Americans in general would favor this extra requirement too.

And companies, if we decide we care about what they want, really have no reason to oppose the test. There's a large enough number of applicants that they can easily pick from the ones that do speak English fluently.

So to conclude it would be a shitshow because of the politics is likely incorrect, certainly defeatist, and gives up on the actual thing we should strive for, which is to make the H-1B visa better.

Assuming English is the language, CEFR B2 is roughly 75 in TOEFL, such a low standard that community colleges would think twice before admitting such internationals students. In reality H1B tech workers easily blows 100+.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com