Chinese-Japanese Couple Arrested for Allegedly Falsifying Visa Applications for Chinese Nannies

(CNA Tokyo, June 18) A Chinese couple, who have become naturalized Japanese citizens, have been arrested by police in Tokyo on suspicion of falsifying residency status applications for Chinese nannies. They are accused of allowing the nannies to enter Japan on visas that did not match their actual work, allegedly violating the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act. Police suspect the couple has been long-term facilitators for wealthy Chinese families seeking to relocate to Japan and are expanding their investigation into whether other similar cases exist. However, the couple currently denies all charges.

According to reports from NHK and Sankei Shimbun, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's investigation revealed that 39-year-old Tazawa Hōdo and his 37-year-old wife, Tazawa Olivia (real names Tazawa Hōdo and Wang Shuying), are suspected of assisting a Chinese nanny in her 40s three years ago to apply for a "Technical/Specialist in Humanities/International Services" (commonly known as "Gijinkoku") residency status under the guise of working in professional fields such as interpretation and information processing. In reality, after entering Japan, the woman did not work as a company employee but instead cared for children in the home of her Chinese employers.

The reports state that Tazawa Hōdo is a Chinese entrepreneur who has been naturalized as a Japanese citizen. On May 24th, he appeared as a guest interviewee on NHK's special program "Portraits of Junichi," where he was interviewed.

Police indicated that a Chinese woman working in Japan approached the Tazawa couple seeking to hire a nanny to care for her children, and the couple then arranged for a Chinese nanny to enter Japan. This nanny was arrested by police in April of this year and indicted for violating the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act.

The reports claim that police received anonymous tips between November of last year and this year, alleging that in a luxury residence in Minato Ward, Tokyo, a wealthy Chinese family had hired multiple nannies with non-compliant residency statuses to care for young children, prompting an immediate investigation.

The investigation found that the Chinese woman who hired the nannies had been residing in Japan since 2021 and had lived in a mansion with nine children aged 2 to 5. Last year, her residency status expired, and she returned to China with several children. Some children remained in Japan, managed by a secretary in her 30s, who then arranged for nannies from China to care for the children.

Police stated that the secretary was also arrested in June of this year on suspicion of illegally arranging for foreign nationals to engage in unauthorized work. She confessed that all arrangements were made according to the instructions of the children's mother.

Currently, three foreign nannies have been arrested and indicted in connection with this case. Police noted that one of the nannies, a Chinese national with Australian citizenship in her 40s, was responsible for teaching the children English, while the other two were responsible for transporting the children to and from international schools and for daily care.

The Immigration Services Agency of Japan stated that the "Gijinkoku" residency status is applicable to professional fields such as translation, IT, marketing, and international trade, and does not permit childcare work. In this case, to facilitate the Chinese nannies' visa acquisition, the suspects allegedly reported to the government that they would be company employees and fabricated work experience to obtain residency status.

Police believe that in addition to assisting wealthy Chinese families in relocating to Japan, the Tazawa couple may have also been long-term facilitators for nannies to work in Japan through fraudulent applications. They are currently continuing their investigation into whether a larger illegal brokerage network is involved.

According to statistics, there are approximately 470,000 foreign nationals currently holding "Gijinkoku" residency status in Japan. Vietnamese nationals are the largest group, with about 121,000, followed by China with over 117,000, and Nepal ranking third with about 48,000. (Editor: Chen Hui-ping) 1150618

Stand with facts, your every sponsorship is a force to protect press freedom

Download the CNA "One-Stop News" APP for real-time updates

The text, images, and audio on this website may not be reproduced, publicly broadcast, publicly transmitted, or used without authorization.