Job Discussion Forums

[bamboocactus]

Howdy all, just a few things here.

First, I've been to the official websites regarding visa laws and regulations, as well as unofficial ones explaining it. I've read every line of text available, and I've even gone into the Japanese consitution and looked around in there. I feel like I'm pretty well informed about visa laws, except for this:

Nowhere does it state that for a working visa you need a job.

Seriously! Maybe I'm missing something; if I am, please point it out to me, I'm dying to know. But in the official documents it just says to have a guarantor and all your paperwork, and your guarantor can be any number of (reputable, responsible, established) people. I'm not sure how well, say, your girlfriend's dad would work for that, but it seems flexible.

Now granted, other sites will come out and say your "prospective employer" needs to sponsor you and file your paperwork. However, a large portion of the documents I've read make it sound like you can just apply for the thing without a job lined up. Now I know this isn't so... at least now I'm 90% sure it isn't. But I just wanted to clarify because it's teasing me something fierce. If there's a loophole I'd love to jump through it!

Second, is it just me or does it seem that most Japanese employers (we're talking small eikaiwa, not the big guys) don't know anything about immigration or visa laws? In my experience applying for jobs, the ones that get freaked out about the visa (like, they really get freaked out; they go from loving me and telling me they're going to hire me from one minute, to saying sorry and backing away the next. It's bizarre) seem to not fully understand how it works, or not want to deal with it at all.

I've seen a few posts here recently about individuals wanting to come to Japan on tourist permits and look for a job that way. That's all well and good and has certainly been done countless of times before, but I wonder under what circumstances an employer would look at you with your tourist visa and decide to hire you. Especially considering a lot of them I've encountered are, like, scared of visas. It's a lot easier for them to just hire someone who already has a visa than someone who doesn't, regardless of the actual skill or value of the teacher, something I've regrettably seen happen several times (passing up a better teacher for one with a visa).

How do they expect to boost the economy if they don't bring in new foreigners? Hehe

[seklarwia]

The UK Japanese Embassy website actually says you must ask a "sponser in Japan (an employer, spouse, school, etc.)" to apply for the COE on your behalf and continues to say that "the application must be made by a sponsor in Japan. It cannot be made by the applicant himself."

And a sponser in this case is somebody that is responsible for supporting you financially.

Your girlfriend or her dad are not your spouse so that won't fly.

The system can seem a bit annoying, especially when your faced with employers who do not fully understand it (if at all) - most of the people I've spoken to have no real knowledge of how visas work for foreigners.

But at the same time, I can understand why they are strict.

[Glenski]

bamboocactus,
You seem to be making a lot of picky statements lately, and one could wonder just what you are planning to do in Japan.

You are obviously looking into some sort of teaching position, or you wouldn't be on this board. Correct me if this is not right.

So, you are looking for teaching work (i.e., a job) in Japan. That requires a work visa, or depending on various circumstances another type of visa that permits work:
student visa
cultural activities visa
dependent visa
spouse visa
PR
working holiday visa
(and a few other oddities)

Please tell us what you are seeking.
I, for one, do not relish wasting valuable time helping someone without a clear idea of what they want.

The applicant form for a COE for a work visa is here.
http://www.moj.go.jp/ONLINE/IMMIGRATION/16-1-1.pdf
You have to choose which type of visa in item 11.
Since the Cafe is a teaching forum, let's look only at the teaching work visa parts -- Professor/Instructor visa, Specialist in Humanities/International Relations visa.

The COE is in 2 parts. The second part is specific to each visa type.

'I' is for Professor/Instructor.
The very first line (#20) states that you have to list your "Place of employment". Lines 21-23 require more related info. I think that is clear enough to say that for this work visa, you need a job.

'N' is for the Specialist in Humanities/International Relations visa.
Lines 20-23 are identical to that for the 'I' form, and there are lines 24 & 25 which pretty darned clearly point out other info required for work. So, once again, you need a job.

I have to wonder whether in your research you have actually "been to the official websites regarding visa laws and regulations, as well as unofficial ones explaining it" and "read every line of text available".

It's all there.

If you want to talk about other types of visas, the rules are different, including needs for guarantors and such.

[G Cthulhu]