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ShinigamiGurl
Joined: 28 Jun 2004
Posts: 5
Location: WenZhou, China
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 Posted: Sun Aug 01, 2004 9:41 am Post subject: Urgent Help needed!! |
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| I am currently an English teacher in China and I have had some problems with my Visa...as in my former school was using me illegally and lied to me about it, but now I have to leave China. I have about a week to stay left and I want to teach in Japan. What will I need to do to find a job quick?? I was thinking of going to Osaka or somewhere near there but since I'm in China I don't know where to get my tourist visa or even if I need one to go to japan to find a job. Does anyone have any sound advice?? I can speak some Japanese, I have a BA in Anthropology with a minor in Asian Studies and I have researched Japanese changing social contexts...will this be of help? I am a first rate teacher and I have always dreamt of living and working in Japan. HELP!! |
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lajzar
Joined: 09 Feb 2003
Posts: 647
Location: Saitama-ken, Japan
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| Posted: Sun Aug 01, 2004 9:58 am Post subject: |
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Assuming you (or your passport anyway) are from a major western English speaking country, you get a tourist visa automatically on entry, subject to the usual checks. That is pretty routine and more a formality than anything else.
To find a job quick at this time of your is very tough. It is mostly the eikaiwas that recruit about now. Bear in mind that experience teaching in schools outside Japan is not normally taken into consideration with most Japanese recruiters.
The visa thing is your biggest hurdle. Officially, you cannot work on a tourist visa. I don't know the situation in China, but here that rule is prettily heavy-handedly enforced, with the usual penalty being deportation. If you have any long term plans for Japan, do NOT work on a tourist visa.
You *can* start an application for a work visa from within Japan, and depending on the phase of the moon and which brand of coffee the immigration official drank that morning, you might not have to leave the country to actually receive the stamp in your passport. |
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ShinigamiGurl
Joined: 28 Jun 2004
Posts: 5
Location: WenZhou, China
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| Posted: Sun Aug 01, 2004 10:08 am Post subject: Urgent Help needed! |
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Okay...so I can go to Japan without a "Visa" and just get one there since I am American. Can I use a one-way ticket to Japan or does it have to have another place to go? Finding a job is hard at this time and I cannot work without a work Visa....hmmm. Any suggestions about cities or areas that might be worth looking to going to? I really don't like cold areas and I'd prefer somewhere with a night life...
What's a eikaiwa anyway?? And also can I have private students or something to supplement my income until I get a regular job??? |
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AgentMulderUK
Joined: 22 Sep 2003
Posts: 360
Location: Concrete jungle (Tokyo)
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| Posted: Sun Aug 01, 2004 10:31 am Post subject: |
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Eikawa means conversation, so its basically means a conversation school, one-on-one teaching, or a small group.
You've got more chance in big cities like Osaka and Tokyo. Next week you have an additional problem that many schools/offices shut down for a summer break. Also many kids are off school right now, so you can't get a job instantly as a normal school teacher.
Can you afford to go back to America? If you can, it might be better to wait for now, and try again later. I just feel that if you rush in now, it might be a costly mistake.
Good luck |
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PAULH
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Posts: 4672
Location: Western Japan
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| Posted: Sun Aug 01, 2004 11:14 am Post subject: Re: Urgent Help needed!! |
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| ShinigamiGurl wrote: |
| I am currently an English teacher in China and I have had some problems with my Visa...as in my former school was using me illegally and lied to me about it, but now I have to leave China. I have about a week to stay left and I want to teach in Japan. What will I need to do to find a job quick?? I was thinking of going to Osaka or somewhere near there but since I'm in China I don't know where to get my tourist visa or even if I need one to go to japan to find a job. Does anyone have any sound advice?? I can speak some Japanese, I have a BA in Anthropology with a minor in Asian Studies and I have researched Japanese changing social contexts...will this be of help? I am a first rate teacher and I have always dreamt of living and working in Japan. HELP!! |
The most obvious place to get a tourist visa to enter Japan is from the Japanese embassy or consulate in China, but as the other posters say you can get a 90-day waiver when you enter the country. Do NOT under any circumstances say you have come to look for a job on a tourist visa as you will be detained and then put on the next plane out of the country back to the US, which may mean a night or two in the lock-up before you leave. Not fun.
A tourist visa is for sightseeing and visiting, not for work and job-hunting. If immigration gets wind that you are here working or coming to look for a job they may deny your entry. Say you are sightseeing and then change your visa over once you find a sponsor for a work visa.
Mid-August is the O-bon holiday season and things will be fairly quiet until about the 16th or 17th of August. Best to start your job hunting after the holidays. Language conversation schools are open year round but some may take a week or two off during the summer vacation.
Studying Japanese social contexts at university will not help you get an EFL teaching job here. All they want to see if you have a valid visa and know when you can start work. A well-written resume does wonders too. |
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lajzar
Joined: 09 Feb 2003
Posts: 647
Location: Saitama-ken, Japan
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| Posted: Sun Aug 01, 2004 11:27 am Post subject: Re: Urgent Help needed! |
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| ShinigamiGurl wrote: |
Okay...so I can go to Japan without a "Visa" and just get one there since I am American. Can I use a one-way ticket to Japan or does it have to have another place to go?
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You can use a one way ticket. But you must be able to demonstrate that you have enough funds to pay for your stay and for any plane tickets out of Japan.
btw, part of the requirement for a work visa is to have a sponsor. So the legally recognised sequence for you probably is:
get tourist visa on arrival
"unofficially" look for work
find an employer
employer acts as sponsor
you take paperwork to immigration office.
Depending on moon phase, you either get visa stamp in Japan or in nearby country.
visa status officially changes to work visa (usually either "humanities" or "instructor")
Start work legally
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Finding a job is hard at this time and I cannot work without a work Visa....hmmm. Any suggestions about cities or areas that might be worth looking to going to? I really don't like cold areas and I'd prefer somewhere with a night life...
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That sounds like either Tokyo or Osaka.
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...And also can I have private students or something to supplement my income until I get a regular job??? |
Private students while you have a main job depends on the contract; many employers typically say you can't have privates (but this isn't generally strictly enforced unless you blatantly rub their nose in it).
Getting private students when you are fresh off the boat is next to impossible though. It isn't something I'd expect anyone who has been here less than 6 months to have, unless they were handed over by a friendly contact. |
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sidjameson
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 629
Location: osaka
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| Posted: Sun Aug 01, 2004 11:49 am Post subject: |
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| Hi, I pm'd you. Just to add that I would get any job for now as you will get the visa and then it's your visa. You can leave easily enough if you find something better. The big chain schools hire at this time and while the pay is efling crap it is still far better than what you were earning in China I'd guess. |
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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| Posted: Sun Aug 01, 2004 3:10 pm Post subject: |
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| My advice...heed every word written so far. Read the FAQs. |
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