Job Discussion Forums

[pastis]

Hi, does anyone know the law on this? My friend is English Canadian (first language is English), but his mother is French and he went to university in France (he is bilingual and a duo citizen). He graduated from high school in (English speaking) Canada, but moved to France and got a Bachelor's there (psychology major). He wants to know whether he can get a regular work visa to teach English in Japan, or if the degree must be from a major English speaking country. I tried a quick search on it here, and googled it, couldn't find anything specific.

Anyone have any info on this?

[JimDunlop2]

A four year (bachelor) degree is a four year degree. Immigration doesn't discriminate or differentiate based on their country of origin.

[Glenski]

Just a handy tip.
To people on forums, your friend is "English Canadian" (whatever that means, sounds more like he is French Canadian, but I can understand the confusion there, too).

To potential employers and immigration, he is Canadian. Period. Don't confuse those important people with hybrid names for nationality.

Assuming he has a Canadian passport, use it when applying for the visa. Otherwise, there may be some hassle with determining if he has had enough education completely in English to qualify for a work visa.

Alternatively, with Canadian or French passport, he can apply for a working holiday visa if he meets their criteria.

[Shimmeringstar]

One of my coworkers is from Scotland and another is "English-Canadian" (and part French). They have had absolutely no problem working in Japan. They both have 4 year degrees and are both native English speakers. If your friend has a degree and is a native English speaker, there shouldn't be a problem.

[Gordon]

In Canada, we say Anglophone or Francophone to refer to his native language.
Your friend is bilingual, but a native English speaker, best of both worlds, I think.

[JimDunlop2]

[pastis]

Thanks for the input everyone. Sounds like it shouldn't be a problem... I glean that the most important thing is to just approach immigration as a Canadian citizen, and treat the degree as just a degree (not bothering to mention it's from France) and that that is enough. Seems fine, I was just kind of hoping someone might have had some concrete experience in that regard (one person pm'd me who had degree in French, but the degree was still Canadian).

[JimDunlop2]

I'd add that to the "mileage may vary" and "case by case" category...

Not visa-related per se, but it may give some insight. In order to get a Japanese driver's license you need to either: i) change over your license from your home country (if your country is on a list of pre-approved countries from whence you can do so).... or ii) prove to Japanese authorities that you have a valid license from a non-approved country which will give you the right to take the driving test to get your Japanese license.

In the absence of one of these two cases, you are not only forced to take the driving test, but to attend driver education classes which are really, really, really expensive.

Well, to make a long story short, I know someone (long-term resident in Japan) from the Philippines (married to a Japanese husband). She needed a Japanese driver's license but didn't have a license from the Philippines. SO, she returned home to the Philippines, got her license, stayed home for 3 months (to comply with Japanese regulations) and then came back to Japan. When she went to the Japanese DMV, after ALL the hoops she jumped through to get her license in the Philippines, they took one look and told her that they didn't believe her license was real, (that it was a fake) and that she'd have to go to driver's school. Ouch!

The lesson in this tangent? If you graduated from Jim Jones University (in Guyana no less).... Immigration may or may not notice..... In THEORY, it may pass, but in practice I'd say that all it takes is a paranoid official to disbelieve that the degree or the university is real in order to kibosh the whole visa app.