Job Discussion Forums

[corinl]

Does anyone know if Japanese Immigration / schools require the transcripts to be signed and sealed...or is it enough to have and present original degree certificate and transcripts?

I know Korea is very particular on this, must be signed and sealed, dated and stamped!

[Kionon]

The more official the documents, and the larger the amount of documents, the better. Legally, I believe it is transcripts OR degree, not both. I gave immigration my degree and unsealed transcripts. If you can give them degree and sealed transcripts, do it. I could not because of the time limit I was on. I also gave them odds and ends like CV, reference letters, anything I was told might help move the process along. I had no trouble.

[seklarwia]

I gave a copy of my degree and an official letter on uni headed paper that stated I had graduated from my uni. The letter wasn't sealed because I was asked to fax/email a copy in advance so that my employer could check that all the necessary details had been included and then sent the original.

I got my visa without any issues or delays.

Alternately, I was given the option to send either my original certificate or a copy of the certificate and an original set of transcripts. If I had gone with the cert copy and transcript option I still would have been asked to unseal and fax/email a copy so that they could check for details.

So sending unsealed transcripts is not a problem as long as they are the original, official (on proper uni paper with a handwritten signature) version.

[corinl]

Thanks for the advice guys. I've heard back from the uni and they already have my signed, sealed, stamped transcripts ready to be sent, so I guess I'll pay the 60 GBP for that and at least I know I can use them anytime in the future for whichever country should I need them...

God this game gets expensive!

[seklarwia]

[corinl]

ok so you're saying you really don't need sealed transcripts at all?

In which case I'll get a mate near the uni to pick them up and just keep them if that's really the case.

I have the originals here with me anyway, it was just for my original korea ideas that I spoke to the uni about them a week ago.

I didn't mean to re-use them, as i realise they won't be given back from the employer or immigration. just that i have four copies waiting for me, so two would be in 'reserve' for future jobs...

[seklarwia]

You don't need sealed transcripts. If you have an original set with you now, then you are good to go.

You employer is going to want to see your transcripts before they take them to immigration, so believe me, sealed transcripts would remain sealed for long.

And I've been to immigration a few times and seen them in action. They simply want all paperwork correct and accounted for. No point even given them stuff in an envelope; they'll only empty the contents on the table in front of you to check they have what they need before handing you back the empty envelope.

EDIT: although I have heard of employers asking for transcripts issued within the last 12 months. But that might be an employer quirk rather than an immigration requirement... I'm not sure.

[corinl]

Great, thanks for the clarification on that point - Phew, that's one thing off my mind at least!

[Glenski]

[seklarwia]

[Apsara]

I have never shown university transcripts at any point for any of the jobs I have had in Japan, including various eikaiwa and business English agencies, and a number of Japanese companies that have employed me for proofreading/rewriting/translation. It does seem to be becoming more common for eikaiwa and ALT jobs if the above comments are anything to go by, but I don't think we can say it's a given.

The only time I have ever had to show my university degree was when I originally applied for my working visa- subsequent employers no doubt assume that since I got the visa, I must have a degree.

[seklarwia]

[Kionon]

I had to send PDF copies of my transcripts and degree ahead of time to my employer. I didn't fax much, but the hiring manager is pretty computer savvy. They were certainly not going to hire me based on my assurances I really did have the right documentation. I find this reasonable.

And I can echo the "oh so true" comment. I just took everything in a big pile, no envelopes. All unfolded in a stack, and immigration just rooted through it looking at things and making the Japanese equivalents of hrms and hmms and ahs. Putting anything into an envelope probably would have been a waste of time, but I stand by my opinion that the more official and couldn't-possibly-be-counterfeit your pile looks, the better off you are. This has been my case in dealing with other aspects of Japanese bureaucracy. I sometimes get the feeling (especially given how much trouble my Canadian friends have with getting a visa on a 3-year, but internationally recognised, BA that is equal to my own 4-year BA) that it's not so much what the documentation says actually, but whether or not it appears to look right.

I'll tell you how much of a fit the driver's license place made about my completely legal (but altered) Texas driver's license. It didn't look like the picture they had in their book, and explaining what it meant and why it was like that (even having documentation from the Department of Public Safety explaining it) it still took practically a whole day for it to run all the way up the chain, and all the way back down that "oh, okay, sure, we can take that."

(In Texas, when you apply for a new license due to information change, as I had done, they change the shape of your license. In many states, and in Japan, this would make the license invalid. In Texas, the license is valid, and it tells the police immediately just by looking at it, that you have a new license in the system. Until your new license is IN YOUR HAND, the old, altered license does not become invalid, and you must carry it while driving, even with paperwork showing you have a new license on the way. This is the law.)

[Apsara]

[Kionon]