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Ichigo
Joined: 18 Jan 2008
Posts: 29
Location: Japan
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 Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 8:55 am Post subject: VERY URGENT: Working Holiday Visa Question |
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Hi there,
I hope someone can help me, it's pretty urgent!!
I am from Germany and thus I can apply for a working holiday visa. I've done that and now I have that visa.
I also will have a full time job when I'm in Japan.
Now I just talked to the consulate again and they told me that the working holiday visa is originally not for full time jobs. Basically it's not forbidden, but they won't give you a working holiday visa if they know that you'll work full time.
Well I have my visa already, so that's not the problem ...
I'm just not sure what to do now ....
I know that the conditions of the working holiday visa are different for each country, but basically it allows you to work as much as you want up to 1 year in Japan.
What should I do? |
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ReedNZ
Joined: 30 May 2007
Posts: 19
Location: New Zealand
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| Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 9:43 am Post subject: |
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As long as you already have your visa, then your interests with the embassy are done aren't they? I would say upon arrival into Japan you probably wouldn't want to broadcast the fact that you have a full time job organised to immigration as it goes againest the key reasoning of the WHV.
What job have you got organised and when are you going?
I'm travelling to Tokyo from New Zealand with my WHV also. No job though!  |
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Ichigo
Joined: 18 Jan 2008
Posts: 29
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 9:53 am Post subject: |
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Thanks so much for your quick answer!!!
Originally I didn't plan to go to Japan WITH a pre-arranged job ... but I just started searching and applying and then PAH ... I got some job offers.
It is a pretty normal English teacher job in Yamaguchi prefecture. (Unfortunately 1000km away from Tokyo where all of my friends live).
Well I have no intention to tell anyone that I have a full time job already BEFORE I enter Japan. They can't check it anyway.
I'm still unsure if I would run into any problems though ....
The office lady in the consulate said something about taxes .... there seems to be a diffrence between a normal work visa and a working holiday visa when it comes to taxes ... I have no idea WHAT kind of differences though.
I think if I really run into problems, then my employer can still get me a proper work visa after that .... no?!
OH MAN! Why are things always that complicated?
You're travelling to Tokyo?
I'm so envious! I totally miss Tokyo.
Have you ever been there before? |
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ReedNZ
Joined: 30 May 2007
Posts: 19
Location: New Zealand
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| Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 10:06 am Post subject: |
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As far as i know the taxes are considerably higher to WHV visa holders which sucks for us! They go up to 20% i think.
They can sponsor you for a standard working visa after that if you meet the conditions of the visa(Degree etc).
Yeah i travelled to Tokyo last April for a month and loved it, hence the desire to return My girlfriend lives there so i guess i am lucky to have someone there to help out with the Japanese side of things. I don't know if i would want to be in Tokyo at the moment, its been snowing!
So you have done a bit of travel around Japan? What is your Japanese ability like? |
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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| Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 10:10 am Post subject: |
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Your embassy is right. The original aim was not for full-time jobs.
However, if they took a moment to actually read the WHV site, they would see that things have changed.
I quote the very first page of the web site:
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Japan initiated its Working Holiday Programmes, first with Australia in December 1980, then with New Zealand in July 1985, and with Canada in March 1986 respectively. In April 1999, the Republic of Korea joined the three preceding countries to start the Programme with Japan followed by France in December that year. The programme with Germany started in December 2000, then with the United Kingdom in April 2001, with Ireland in January 2007 and with Denmark in October 2007. Working Holiday Programmes are designed to foster young people with global perspective and enhance friendly relationship between Japan and partner countries by providing opportunities for the young people to deepen their understanding about partner countries.
The working holiday makers are allowed to engage themselves in part-time or full-time work to supplement their funds to travel and stay in partner countries. |
http://www.mofa.go.jp/j_info/visit/w_holiday/index.html
Perhaps the German version is different, but the above information in English is from the main site opening page, so it should apply to all applicants, IMO.
Perhaps the German office also heard that the idea of full-time even today is also not supposed to permit long-term full-time work, which makes sense because it is, after all, a vacation (holiday) person's working permit. However, in reality, employers and the government look the other way. In real practice, people hold jobs for the full length of their WHV in many cases.
Yes, taxes for WHV holders is 20%. Go to the internal JAWHVM link here and read FAQ 21. http://www.jawhm.or.jp/eng/faq/index.html
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Q21. How much tax does a Working Holiday maker have to pay?
A21. A Working Holiday maker who has been in Japan less than 1 year has to pay an income tax of 20% (this is the non-resident tax rate). |
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Ichigo
Joined: 18 Jan 2008
Posts: 29
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 10:19 am Post subject: |
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@Glenski: My, thanks so much!!!
So it would be a good idea to enter Japan with the working holiday visa and then ask my emplyoer if he can sponsor me a "normal" work visa, right?
Would I have to leave the country for this?
Actually I do have a degree (master), but another school told me that they couldn't sponsor me a visa, because I am German and thus I would only have a chance if I work as a German teacher. For a visa as English teacher I need to be a native-speaker.
That was in Shizuoka and they told me that Shizuoka prefecture is very strict, so I hope I won't have these kind of problems everywhere in Japan *sigh* |
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ReedNZ
Joined: 30 May 2007
Posts: 19
Location: New Zealand
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| Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 10:22 am Post subject: |
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| Honestly you can only try, and i can't see there being to many issues for you. Do you talk with a heavy accent? Your written english is better than most native speakers too. |
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Ichigo
Joined: 18 Jan 2008
Posts: 29
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 10:32 am Post subject: |
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| ReedNZ wrote: |
| Honestly you can only try, and i can't see there being to many issues for you. Do you talk with a heavy accent? Your written english is better than most native speakers too. |
True. The worst thing that can happen is that I have to pay 20% taxes for 12 months which would suck, but .. oh well it's not the end of the world.
Thank you
No, I don't have a heavy accent at all.
Sorry, I forgot to reply to your comment earlier.
Yes, I have a lot of friends in and around Tokyo as well, but I can still visit them during my holidays 
My Japanese ability is .... not sooo good, I guess. I've studied it for 2 years at my university, hence I've reached JLPT level 3 by now. My goal, however, is level2 some day
I've visited Japan last year. I was in Tokyo and the Kansai area and loved both regions a LOT! |
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southofreality
Joined: 12 Feb 2007
Posts: 579
Location: Tokyo
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| Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 12:43 pm Post subject: |
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| Ichigo wrote: |
Actually I do have a degree (master), but another school told me that they couldn't sponsor me a visa, because I am German and thus I would only have a chance if I work as a German teacher. For a visa as English teacher I need to be a native-speaker.
That was in Shizuoka and they told me that Shizuoka prefecture is very strict, so I hope I won't have these kind of problems everywhere in Japan *sigh* |
There's no such thing as an 'English Teacher' visa. There's an instructor visa and there's a Specialist in Humanities visa, both can be issued independent of whether you're a native speaker or not. A school that would tell you such a thing probably would want to shift the blame to a problem with the rules rather than say they had discriminated against you for being a non-native English speaker. On the other hand, lots of places are all-too-happy to openly refuse people because they don't fit the most desirable profile. |
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Ichigo
Joined: 18 Jan 2008
Posts: 29
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 1:37 pm Post subject: |
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| southofreality wrote: |
There's no such thing as an 'English Teacher' visa. There's an instructor visa and there's a Specialist in Humanities visa, both can be issued independent of whether you're a native speaker or not. A school that would tell you such a thing probably would want to shift the blame to a problem with the rules rather than say they had discriminated against you for being a non-native English speaker. On the other hand, lots of places are all-too-happy to openly refuse people because they don't fit the most desirable profile. |
I thought so! As far as I know you get something like an "instructor visa" or something like that and then it doesn't matter what exactly you're teaching. I don't know what conditions the offices usually have, but it sounds kind of .... anyway I hope there won't be a problem then.
It's just such a shame that I have wasted my working holiday visa now and can never apply for it again ... (okay I'm already 27 and you can get it till you're 30 ... so there's not much time left anyway *g*)
I've talked to a German fellow who lives in Japan now for ... uh a lot of years. He knows a lot about visa, but not about language teacher jobs. He said to me that my employer has to register me and the kind of work I do and if they find out that I'm doing a full time job with a working holiday visa, then I might have to leave Japan.
I doubt it however. As someone already said there are so many teachers that work full time with a working holiday visa, so THAT won't be a problem, right?
I just have to think about what to do. Paying 20% taxes is really low compared to the taxes here in Germany (as some of you might know ...), but 10% would be so awesome ....
Anyway thanks for your answer! |
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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| Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 9:15 pm Post subject: |
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Ichigo,
Have you already had a working holiday visa? If so, you are right that you can't get another.
That also makes it harder to get work as an English teacher if you are non-native speaker. Not impossible, as someone seems to think, but very hard.
And, no, if you change your visa type, you do not have to leave the country to process it. |
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Ichigo
Joined: 18 Jan 2008
Posts: 29
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 10:12 pm Post subject: |
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| Glenski wrote: |
Ichigo,
Have you already had a working holiday visa? If so, you are right that you can't get another.
That also makes it harder to get work as an English teacher if you are non-native speaker. Not impossible, as someone seems to think, but very hard.
And, no, if you change your visa type, you do not have to leave the country to process it. |
I have applied for the working holiday visa some weeks ago and I can come and pick it up this week.
As I have already applied for it, it doesn't matter if I use it or not, I can never apply for it again.
I already have an English teaching job in Japan. I was just wondering if I would run into any problems if I work full time with a working holiday visa instead of a real work visa.
But as far as I understand there aren't any real problems. I have to pay more taxes though.
That's why I thought it might be a good idea to change my working holiday visa into a normal work visa once I've started working in Japan - as long as my employer agrees to this.
But it's good to hear that I won't have to leave the country then.
Thanks a lot! |
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G Cthulhu
Joined: 07 Feb 2003
Posts: 1373
Location: Way, way off course.
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| Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 3:32 am Post subject: |
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| Ichigo wrote: |
True. The worst thing that can happen is that I have to pay 20% taxes for 12 months which would suck, but .. oh well it's not the end of the world.
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The 20% is the default rate when the employer can't accurately calculate the annual rate. If they've employed you for a year they shouldn't be calculating taxes at that rate. Even if they do, at the end of the year they should re-calculate your taxes and you should get most of it back as a refund. |
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Ichigo
Joined: 18 Jan 2008
Posts: 29
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 7:34 am Post subject: |
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| G Cthulhu wrote: |
The 20% is the default rate when the employer can't accurately calculate the annual rate. If they've employed you for a year they shouldn't be calculating taxes at that rate. Even if they do, at the end of the year they should re-calculate your taxes and you should get most of it back as a refund. |
Really? Wow, that would be great!
I talked to my employer and he said it's no problem, he can sponsor me a work visa after I've arrived if I WANT to.
Now I have to think about if I should do it or not
Thanks! |
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peggle
Joined: 12 Jun 2007
Posts: 12
Location: Tokyo
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| Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2008 8:45 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
And, no, if you change your visa type, you do not have to leave the country to process it. |
I was told that to switch from my WHV to working visa, I had to leave the country - I am British and from what was said (in Japanese to my employer, who came with me to apply for my COE, so I didn't understand it all) this seems to vary according to nationality, so it may be different for you, being from Germany. I didn't try taking my COE in to get my visa here in Japan as i was planning to visit the UK anyway, so it's possible the people at immigration were wrong, but I know another Brit who also had to leave to switch from a WHV. |
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