Job Discussion Forums

Miyazaki · Joined: 12 Jul 2005 Posts: 635 Location: My Father's Yacht

A question for some of the teachers here who know about visa laws in Japan.

How long must one stay at the school that hires them and sponsors their visa before they quit? It seems to me that I have not come across any immigration policies that state a teacher must remain at the school until the contract has completed.

For example, let's say a teacher comes over on a 3 year visa, are they not legally entitled to quit working for the school even before they show up for the first day?

I ask, because when Nova was up and running, I'd heard about new teachers quitting during the first week - barely out of training - to go and work at in a different city or for other schools.

AndyH · Joined: 30 Sep 2004 Posts: 417

I believe you can quit as soon as you get your visa, if you wish.

Japan is not like South Korea, where you need to get a letter of release to continue working in the country.

Miyazaki · Joined: 12 Jul 2005 Posts: 635 Location: My Father's Yacht

benshi · Joined: 16 Feb 2007 Posts: 48

You don't have to leave the country before your visa expires. However, if you wish to renew your visa, you WILL need a letter of release from the company who initially sponsored it.

Miyazaki · Joined: 12 Jul 2005 Posts: 635 Location: My Father's Yacht

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

Apsara · Joined: 20 Sep 2005 Posts: 2142 Location: Tokyo, Japan

The answer is no. Your visa is yours. You can leave your sponsoring company and move to another job as many times as you like- I've done it twice myself on 2 different 3 year visas. As Benshi says though, when you next go to renew your visa, one of the documents you are required to provide is a letter of release from the company that sponsored your visa.

This is not always strictly enforced however- several months before my first Nova-sponsored visa expired (quite a few years ago now) I contacted Nova asking them to provide me with that document, they said they would, I waited; nothing. A few weeks later I called them again, still nothing, this continued right up until a week before my visa was due to expire, when beside myself with worry I finally went to the Immigration office to tell them I had tried unsuccessfully to get the letter of release. I was told there that it "probably didn't matter", and soon had my new 3-year visa.

In short, it's a totally different situation from Korea. There are no rules about how soon you can leave or about how many times you can change jobs on your visa. As long as you have a visa and stick to the categories of work that the visa is for you are fine.

As Glenski said though, if you start applying for new jobs straight away then potential employers are likely to notice that you apparently didn't work for your sponsor at all- you would have to have a pretty good story to convince them you weren't completely unreliable and likely to bail out on them as well.

Miyazaki · Joined: 12 Jul 2005 Posts: 635 Location: My Father's Yacht

Apsara and others, thank you for the info.

Once the visa is stamped in your passport, then the visa is yours for 1 or 3 years. You can work for whomever and wherever in Japn you want.

Got it.

fluffyhamster · Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 8:13 am Post subject:

One thing that didn't seem to be mentioned is that it is extremely unlikely that anyone would get more than a one-year visa for their entry to and first year in Japan.

The Labour Laws in Japan seem a bit hazy. Employers are legally required to provide letters of release 'without delay' (Article 22.1, see below), and give 30 days' notice (or pay in lieu) upon dismissing an employee, but there doesn't seem to be anything about how much notice an employee is meant to give in order to receive at least the certificate of employment/letter of release, although I have heard that two weeks' notice is the minimum (with a month being more preferable) - perhaps this is left to individual contracts? In which case, some contracts state three months, but that seems excessive and could well be an illegal clause (certainly, clauses that hint at the possibility of deductions, claiming damages etc surely are).

markle · Joined: 17 Jan 2003 Posts: 1316 Location: Out of Japan

Miyazaki · Joined: 12 Jul 2005 Posts: 635 Location: My Father's Yacht

fluffyhamster · Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 2:17 pm Post subject:

Well, that's the first I've heard of anyone getting a 3-year visa straight off the bat. I guess it will help your application along then if you slip in not only some money but also some crack.

ripslyme · Joined: 29 Jan 2005 Posts: 481 Location: Japan

fluffyhamster · Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 2:27 pm Post subject:

OMG! A plague of lucky bumper visa holders! Curses!

ripslyme · Joined: 29 Jan 2005 Posts: 481 Location: Japan