Japan police find cases of stand-ins taking visa tests for foreign workers

The Osaka prefectural police have uncovered a series of proxy test-taking cases in connection with Japanese language tests required for foreign workers to obtain the specified skilled worker (SSW) residence status.

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Investigations have revealed that proxy test-taking for the language exams has become a business on social media.

The mastermind behind the scheme looked for intermediaries through such messages posted in Vietnamese as: “We will pay 20,000 yen (S$170) just for being introduced to a client.”

A 25-year-old Vietnamese man was one such intermediary. He contacted a woman who had posted in a Vietnamese social media group that she “didn’t know what to do after failing the exam”.

He offered to arrange for someone to take the test on her behalf. A 31-year-old woman who served as the stand-in was provided by the mastermind.

The remuneration for passing the exam was reportedly about 80,000 yen for the mastermind, about 20,000 yen for the intermediary and about 60,000 yen for the stand-in.

The intermediary was arrested in June and is currently on trial for violations of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law and other laws.

He reportedly confessed to police that he had “organised the proxy test-taking for over 10 people via social media and received several tens of thousands of yen each time”.