Job Discussion Forums

[Osiyo]

Greetings all,

I am sure this has been asked before, but I just want to get my facts straight, so please forgive me!

My situation: I have been offered a job in Japan, but due to time constraints I have been asked to come to Japan before beginning the COE/Visa process. This means that I must enter the country as a tourist, which at first I thought was kind of sketchy, but in fact seems to be rather common.

Anyway, I have been looking at airfares, and unfortunately (or fortunately?) the one way tickets into Japan are a LOT cheaper than buying a round trip ticket at the moment (like $770 vs $1400). Obviously, I would like to save like $600 and book a one-way ticket, but the problem is that that isn't supposed to be allowed for people on tourist visas, so what can I do?

My options are:

A.) Spend the extra $600 and just get a round trip ticket to avoid any sketchiness.

B.) Buy the much cheaper one-way ticket and just hope I don't get called out for it (I dunno how likely this is these days).

C.) Buy the one way ticket, and then buy some sort of refundable ticket to Korea or something and just get my money back for that after I enter Japan.

Does that sound about right? Am I missing anything? What should I do guys, help me! Also, thanks in advance.

[seklarwia]

Those are your options, yes.

Airlines do check more often than not because they face heavy fines for not doing so. It is people getting away with the the tourist visa and one-way ticket which is uncommon.

The refundable ticket cheapest to a neighbouring country is probably the easiest option.

Another possible option though:
If you think that you will want to come home for the holidays within the next year (and if it is an avaliable option in the US since I don't know much about how tickets work for you) you could get an amendable round trip ticket, then once you arrive change the return date to coincide with your time off.

[Osiyo]

The problem with coming home for the holidays is then I have to buy yet another ticket to go back to Japan when the break is over, so I don't think I will go that route.

What are some good options as far as refundable tickets to another country or back to the US? I was looking at getting a ridiculous refundable $2500 return ticket back to the US from United Airlines and just getting my money back after I arrive. My only concern is that they could deny me a refund if my reason for canceling isn't "covered," and their website does a shit job of explaining what is a covered reason and what isn't.

[seklarwia]

[Osiyo]

Of course, it's not the visa stuff I'd be worried about at that point, just spending more money. I'm a cheap guy, haha. I guess that's the only reason I am flirting with the notion of not buying a round trip ticket in the first place (but $600 is a lot of damn money!).

I think I am gonna go with the buying-a-one way-ticket-and-then-reserving-a-ferry-ride-to-Korea-from-Fukuoka route. Seems like it has been done before with no hitch. The little beetle ferry reservation is not refundable, but it is only like $140, which is not that much in the grand scheme of things.

[Glenski]

Get the round trip ticket or something similar. Airlines get fined about $5000 if they let people go on one-way tickets as tourists. They are the ones who will be scrutinizing your visa status and ticket type.