Job Discussion Forums

[eslteacherlooking]

Im just trying to wrap my head around this coe visa thing.

1 take coe to embassy

2 get visa in passport

now this visa is mine correct? I'm not a serf indentured to my employer? i needed an gurantor to get the visa.

if i leave the employer who secured the coe for me how does that affect the visa when i find a different job?

does the first employer have to releae me and if not when it comes to resign with the second employer must i deal with the first who secured the visa for me?

thank you.

after dealing with the korean e2 i just cant believe that the visa would be mine alone.

[Glenski]

The process differs slightly depending on whether you are inside or outside Japan. You've essentially nailed down the basics as follows:

1. secure a job with an employer willing to sponsor your work visa

2. Apply for visa with paperwork from both parties. Wait for the COE. It goes to the employer first.

3. Take the COE to the Japanese embassy/consulate nearest you (if you are outside Japan) or to the nearest immigration office to your Japanese residence.

4. If you are outside Japan, you get a visa. If you are inside Japan, you get a status of residence. Come to Japan with the visa, and it gets canceled and then you have status of residence.

The visa is yours. Others countries (yup, like Korea) have different rules. If you quit, get laid off, or get fired, the visa remains yours and valid until it expires or until you change status of residence (like getting married or take on a job that requires a different visa status).

Change employers, and you should change sponsorship of the SOR (most people just call it a visa, even when you are inside Japan; most immigration officers will, too, unless you are asking them something technical). Get a letter of release from the previous employer (obligated by law to get it upon your request, no delays), show this to immigration, file the necessary paperwork for new sponsorship, and you're in (again). I am not sure, but I don't think the first employer actually has to stop sponsoring you, but it makes sense for him to do so. As I wrote above, he must give you the letter of release if you ask for it.

One more thing. After a year of working on that work visa, you can "self-sponsor" as it's called casually. That means you don't need an employer to serve as sponsor for the visa. As long as you make enough money (immigration has no set amount for this other than what they perceive for the standard of living where you may be, and I've seen it as low as 170,000 yen/month), then you can do this. It's the same work visa as before, but by accumulating enough salary (usually from more than one employer), you "sponsor yourself". Private lessons don't count for income because they are not guaranteed, and you will still have to provide immigration with a contract from the employer(s).

[eslteacherlooking]

Thanks Glenski

4. If you are outside Japan, you get a visa. If you are inside Japan, you get a status of residence. Come to Japan with the visa, and it gets canceled and then you have status of residence.

How do you change your visa into a status of residence? Is that the alien registration card?

[JL]

[Apsara]

JL is right- you line up at the airport as usual, then Immigration will change the visa into a status of residence for you (after fingerprinting and photographing you of course! )

[Glenski]

Except for a handful of countries, you don't actually get a tourist visa. Most countries have a visa waiver for tourists, so you just need a passport with nothing special stamped in it.

I'll confirm that when you arrive, as you pass through immigration, your visa is canceled, and you then acquire status of residence. The clock starts ticking on your 1- or 3-year term then.

Alien registration if for people who plan to be here longer than 90 days. You can carry the card with you in lieu of your passport. Safer and more convenient. NEVER give your passport to your employer, even if he (lies and) says it's for "safekeeping" of some sort.

[Apsara]

[JL]

Hey gang,
Was I wrong in telling the OP he had "30 days" to get the Alien Registration Card? I forgot exactly how much time they afford you.

[Glenski]

JL,
Nope. It's 90 days.
Q1. I am visiting Japan for sightseeing purpose, but I will stay in Japan for a week. Do I need to register myself as an alien?
A.

If a foreign national enters Japan, he/she must apply for new alien registration within 90 days since landing Japan. As this 90-days period is a grace period for filing an application, a foreign national may seek for alien registration during this grace period. However, if a foreign national stays in Japan for 90 days or shorter, the foreign national does not need alien registration.

http://www.immi-moj.go.jp/english/tetuduki/index.html

Aspara,
I should have added "developed", yes.
But when I said tourists, I meant people coming to Japan as tourists, not people visiting countries other than Japan. http://www.mofa.go.jp/j_info/visit/visa/02.html#a
Sorry to hear about people visiting Oz.

[JL]