Anyone with experience of switching from student visa to self-sponsored freelance?

Per the title, does anyone here have direct experience / know anecdotally about someone with experience of freelancing part-time while on a student visa and then switching to self-sponsoring for freelance work? There are a few previous threads asking about freelancing on a student visa, but I'm thinking more about the change of status when leaving language school, though I would still be interested in experiences of freelancing as a student, anything that might be good to know.

I was reading the freelancing page on the wiki about how self-sponsorship is only available for renewals and that a change of status of this kind isn't unheard of, providing you have a major Japanese client willing to support the application. Has anyone gone through this, any tips or things to be aware of that you wish you'd known before you set out? I read that you have to show evidence of contracts and income, but are there thresholds for these that you have to meet, minimum earnings etc.? Do people get turned down and if so for what reasons?

The context is that I currently freelance as an editor in my home country and plan to continue doing so in order to support myself through language school. During language school, I would focus on gathering more clients within Japan, hopefully helped by improving my language skills. I am looking at language schools that offer support for students finding work.

Would be very grateful for any insight on this please! Thanks.

by Sea-Artichoke-6013

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