Job Discussion Forums

[photo2541]

I found this information on another site. There is no date accompanying it. I'm wondering if the information is accurate and if anyone can offer any personal experience changing their Japanese tourist visa to a work visa for the purpose of teaching EFL. Thank you!

"So, here is the catch: In most cases, you will have to first go to Japan as a tourist on a 90-day visa (for most countries). You then interview for jobs, which is legal. However, when asked at the airport Immigration desk or at an overseas embassy while you apply for a tourist visa, I certainly would not mention that is what you intend to do. I underlined this point for emphasis. Going to job interviews on a tourist visa is not illegal, but if you give Immigration or embassy officials reason to believe that is what you will do, it is not illegal for them to not allow you to enter Japan.

After arriving in Japan and finding a company that will sponsor you, you can then get your visa changed to a proper working status. Sometimes this can be done in Japan, but usually you will have to leave the country to do this. However, it is not much trouble to fly to Korea or Hong Kong for a few days. The cheap shopping might even pay for the trip, and or the school might pick up the tab as well."

http://www.jobsinjapan.com/book/visa.html

[Glenski]

The information is a bit old. People don't have to leave the country anymore to complete visa processing.

If you want to come here without a visa and do some job hunting and interviewing, you can. Just don't say that is what you are doing when you pass through immigration or customs at the airports. They will probably put you back on the plane home.

Get a job, apply for the visa/COE, and you're in. There is no "catch".

Oh, and the terminology should be tourist visa waiver or tourist status. Most countries don't require an actual tourist visa to enter Japan.
http://www.mofa.go.jp/j_info/visit/visa/short/novisa.html

[photo2541]

Thank you Glenski.

I also ran across the following. Any comments?

This was dated May 2010:

>> Had I not already lived over there for two years, this might have held some appeal for me. However, let me explain to you Japan newbies why working on a tourist visa is a terrible idea:

1. You have no contract. No recourse if the school decides to set you adrift. You may land in Tokyo and find no one waiting for you, no assistance with anything essential: cell phone, housing, bank account.

2. It's illegal. You can be deported if caught.

3. It's next to impossible to work for a reputable company without a gaijin card. That card gets you a bank account, without which you cannot get paid; nearly all companies pay with electronic transfers. Without that card, you're really, really limited for places to live (no apts, only a few gaijin houses, hotels, hostels, etc). You can't join a gym. It's a terrible inconvenience and an impossibility outside of the big cities. <<

http://www.keepingpaceinjapan.com/2010/05/getting-work-visa-without-leaving.html

Update: I just went back and read it again. Now it seems the author completely switches gears and recommends it. I think. It's very confusing to me the way it's written.

[Glenski]

If you don't mind me skipping the article itself and being a bit aggressive sounding, working on a tourist [status] is just plain stupid and illegal.

Nuff said. Nothing more needs to be said, IMO.

EDIT:
My interest in the link you gave was piqued, so I just read it.

The story that an employer wants someone to work without a visa is only part of the story. It also includes the fact that he says a visa can be acquired within Japan without leaving the country.

What is not implicitly stated is whether the employer wants the teacher to come and work without a visa until the visa is actually processed. I will assume that that is precisely what he intends, though.

Beware any employer who says, "Come on over [especially in a hurry], and work while we process a work visa for you." Unless you are 99% sure that they lost a teacher for a valid reason (family emergency in their homeland, e.g.), be very careful about coming here in such a hurry. Cases have been reported where people are kept hanging (and working illegally) while the employer lies about "delays" or "mistakes" in visa processing until the poor hapless teacher-without-a-visa has overstayed their tourist status, and then is kicked out of the school. No visa, overstayed status, no legal recourse to complain. You might get lucky and not have problems with immigration, or you might be in deep weeds.