Job Discussion Forums

[karenannehope]

My wife and I are hoping to teach English in Japan. She has a degree, but I have not completed my undergraduate qualification - although I have successfully completed English 2...

I also haven't done a TEFL/CELTA or similar course.

Would I be able to get work teaching english? Because my wife has a 4 yr degree I would have no problem getting a "dependant" visa and am also eligible for a working holiday visa, so getting in and staying is not the issue. I do not however want to arrive, go through the mission of getting accomodation and then find out i am not qualified (without actually having any qualifications ) enough to get any of the jobs going.

If anyone has any useful advice to offer, I would really appreciate it. I do have other working experience - if I can't teach English would it be possible to get other jobs in Japan??

Thanks
David

[Glenski]

Bottom line, if you don't have a degree, you can't get a work visa. However, in your case, if your wife gets a FT job, you can apply for a dependent visa. This, plus extra paperwork requesting permission to work, will allow you to do part-time work only. Of course, anything you do under the table on your own time is your own affair. That working holiday visa has a limited lifespan of a year, don't forget. On that, you can work PT or FT.

Not having a TEFL or CELTA really doesn't matter. The places that would be willing to hire you with your qualifications are just looking for a warm body, like most of their employees who work FT.

Yes, you can do other work in Japan, provided that the employers feel you are qualified for it. The situations will vary with the positions, but I suspect that most non-teaching jobs still will want someone with a degree. Depends on the type of work. You didn't say what kind of experience you had or what other type of work you would be interested in. Just remember the limits of the dependent visa, and realize that bar work is excluded from working on a WHV.