Job Discussion Forums

[skarp]

I'll be in Japan soon and looking for that visa sponsoring job.

Question -

Could I work while waiting for the visa to be processed?

I thought not but elsewhere I read a post about some people doing this although it was technically volunteering and not work so the school wouldn't/shouldn't pay. I was a bit confused.


What is the score on this?

Has anyone done this recently? What happened?

[Glenski]

Some employers will bend the law and allow you to work for them while your work visa is being processed. Whether they are reputable or not is the luck of the draw. There have been stories from people who were strung along by an unscrupulous employer, who told them that there were always delays in the processing. They paid the teachers, but after their tourist visas had expired (and were REALLY working illegally!!!), they told the teacher to get lost and didn't pay the last paycheck. In such cases, the teachers had overstayed their visas, were working illegally, and had no legal recourse to fall back on. They may have even been paid less than full-time wages during this time. Word of warning about overstaying these days: DON'T! Japan is seriously clamping down on such cases, and people have been arrested for overstaying even one day.

Bottom line, you cannot work legally until you have a proper visa. You will have to judge for yourself if the employer is legit.