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radiodaddy
Joined: 13 Dec 2006
Posts: 10
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 Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2007 4:08 pm Post subject: Visa issuance for Americans |
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I've read a little about this topic through the search engines and the FAQ ... however I want to ask these questions just to satisfy my own personal curiosty.
I've been offered a position with a school in northern Japan and, as an American, the school has told me that I can come to Japan WITHOUT a visa of any kind. I just tell the immigration authorities that I'm here visiting some people and my school will start on my working visa when I arrive. Will I be alright with this for the immigration people?
Also, I understand that I can't LEGALLY work without that work visa, but is it true that some schools (or even MOST schools) do allow FTs to work in those first weeks without the visa?
Also, will I have to travel to another country (like S. Korea) to GET the visa and then travel back to Japan? I've read that on this forum and I guess I just want to confirm it for my case.
Thanks in advance for all your help! |
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G Cthulhu
Joined: 07 Feb 2003
Posts: 1373
Location: Way, way off course.
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| Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2007 4:58 pm Post subject: Re: Visa issuance for Americans |
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| radiodaddy wrote: |
I've been offered a position with a school in northern Japan and, as an American, the school has told me that I can come to Japan WITHOUT a visa of any kind. I just tell the immigration authorities that I'm here visiting some people and my school will start on my working visa when I arrive. Will I be alright with this for the immigration people?
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You can certainly enter Japan without a work visa. You'll be given a tourist visa. Working is illegal on a tourist visa. EOS. If caught you will be deported and barred from entry into Japan for five (seven?) years. This will be recorded in your passport. It will also, as a result, bar you from entry in many other countries at all. Is it really worth that?
Any company the tells you you can "start work & we'll get onto the matter of your work visa" is either woefully ignorant of the law or a scam artist: *you* carry the can if you're caught, not them, and they will have you over a barrel if you are their working illegally. Under no circusmtances should you do it.
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Also, I understand that I can't LEGALLY work without that work visa, but is it true that some schools (or even MOST schools) do allow FTs to work in those first weeks without the visa?
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No school in Japan with even half a clue and any sense of lawful employment practices would do such a thing.
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Also, will I have to travel to another country (like S. Korea) to GET the visa and then travel back to Japan? I've read that on this forum and I guess I just want to confirm it for my case.
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You could, in theory, change status within Japan. No side trip to Korea is needed these days. It wouldn't be illegal for them to offer you the job & do the paperwork while you're there on a tourist visa. You. Just. Can't. Legally. Work. At. All. |
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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| Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2007 9:46 pm Post subject: |
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Ditto to what Cthulhu wrote.
Who is this employer? Send me a PM if you don't want to announce the name publicly. Some employers read these forums, and a blacklist gets deleted, so I'd like to compile one privately. |
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radiodaddy
Joined: 13 Dec 2006
Posts: 10
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| Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2007 11:47 pm Post subject: |
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Cthulhu - Please do not misunderstand me ... this school has NOT told me they want me to work without a work visa or on a tourist visa...
...and in my original post, I said that I understood that working without the work visa was ILLEGAL. I will not put some myself in jeopardy like that since I've known too many FTs who've personally come into rough times in China with that same circumstance.
However, I appreciate your information on the tourist visa ... I was not aware that the immigration authorities would issue me an L visa upon my arrival. Could you tell me a little bit more about that? How long is it issued for? Do I have to pay anything for the service? Is it a card, a stamp, a seal, or a stapled paper to my passport?
Glenski - Thanks for your concern about the school, but until they do anything that is illegal I'll keep their name private.
I DID have another question as well ... I've heard tell that signing a contract WITHOUT a work visa makes the whole contract INVALID. I can understand that to be true since I wouldn't follow a contract signed by a foreigner in America if that person didn't have the proper papers to work for me. So the question is: Is this true? And if so, should I ask the school to issue me a WHV before I arrive? Or is that not an option?
Thanks again for the responses and the help! |
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G Cthulhu
Joined: 07 Feb 2003
Posts: 1373
Location: Way, way off course.
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| Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2007 4:24 pm Post subject: |
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| radiodaddy wrote: |
However, I appreciate your information on the tourist visa ... I was not aware that the immigration authorities would issue me an L visa upon my arrival. Could you tell me a little bit more about that? How long is it issued for? Do I have to pay anything for the service? Is it a card, a stamp, a seal, or a stapled paper to my passport?
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"L visa"? Landing visa? Just to be pedantic *and* answer your question, visas are issued outside Japan. When you arrive immigration will grant you a Status of Residence. Normally this will match your visa if you have one, although they can give you anything they feel like and it has been known for people to get something other than what the visa was for, or simple be refused entry outright and regardless of visa. Rare, but remotely possible. But you don't need to apply for a visa for tourism. You'll automatically get a 90 day Status of Residence in the tourist category when you arrive if you've marked tourism or whatever on the arrival card. It's a stamp in the passport IIRC. It's free. The arrival/departure card gets stapled into the passport.
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I DID have another question as well ... I've heard tell that signing a contract WITHOUT a work visa makes the whole contract INVALID. I can understand that to be true since I wouldn't follow a contract signed by a foreigner in America if that person didn't have the proper papers to work for me. So the question is: Is this true? And if so, should I ask the school to issue me a WHV before I arrive? Or is that not an option?
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"WHV"? Working Holiday Visa? You're American (yes?) so you can't get one and your school wouldn't be the one issuing it.
As for the contract being legal, AFAIK the contract would be legal as it is taken for granted that you will need the correct visa and SoR before you can start working and you *can't* have the employer start the visa process at their end *until* you're under contract to them - they need to tell Justice they intend to employ you when they apply for the CoE at their end. Whether you've signed the contract or not at that point is moot, really. What is or isn't lawful in the US has no bearing on what is and isn't lawful in Japan.
IIRC the Q&A on visas and entry and whatnot are in the FAQs at the top of the Japan page. |
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