OSAKA -- Two Vietnamese women have been arrested for alleged impersonation during a Japanese language proficiency test, Osaka Prefectural Police announced on Jan. 17.

The suspects, Nguyen Thi Dieu, 30, who is unemployed and of no fixed address, and Luong Thi Hue, 30, an unemployed resident of Kusatsu, Shiga Prefecture, were arrested on suspicion of offenses including the unauthorized creation and use of private electromagnetic records. Police suspect the involvement of an organized impersonation scheme and are conducting further investigations.

Nguyen is accused of masquerading as Luong to take the Test for Basic Japanese in the city of Osaka in December 2024. Police have not disclosed whether the two have admitted to the allegations.

According to the prefectural police's international investigation division, Nguyen had been previously arrested and indicted in December 2024 for violating the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act by attempting to take the exam using the residence card of another Vietnamese woman. Nguyen reportedly admitted to taking the test multiple times on behalf of others since summer 2024, charging fees of several tens of thousands of yen (equivalent to several hundred U.S. dollars) per case. She was quoted as telling investigators, "I wanted to help Vietnamese people." Police believe an intermediary was involved in facilitating these deceptive test-taking practices.

The Test for Basic Japanese is a language proficiency exam that can be used to apply for the "Specified Skilled Worker (i)" residence status, which allows foreigners with skills deemed immediately applicable to industrial sectors to work in Japan. Investigators suspect the impersonation was carried out to help individuals with insufficient Japanese language skills obtain the qualification, which is valuable for employment opportunities.

(Japanese original by Takashi Kawachi, Osaka City News Department)