I've posted several times in the past, the first about whether my wife should accept a job in Japan, and then a few months ago about a situation at that job in Japan.
I've tried to write things up as bullet points for clarity. :
- My wife and I lived in Japan for 15 years until November 2018 on an engineer visa. We both tried to apply for PR at that time but didn't get it. So we left Japan.
- We moved back to Japan on HSP visa November 2023. My wifes on the HSP visa. I'm a dependant.
- She isn't enjoying her job, suffers from harassment everyday and in general the company has been trying to get my wife to quit her job.
- They've discussed putting her on a PIP, and that's due to start any day now. However, we've been fighting the company and HR and providing proof of harassment. Because of that, they've also come back to my wife with a package to leave the company.
- They initially offered 5 months, then 8 months, and now 12 months with 1 month bonus. They'll keep her employed (on garden leave) until July 2025. If she finds a job before that, she'll get paid for the remaining amount.
- My wife hates her boss / bosses boss. They make her life a misery. However, she likes her job, and shes finding the experience to be worthwhile. It helps improve her English and improve her management experience.
- Our long term goal is to apply for PR in November/December 2024 and either stay in Japan long term, or go back to the UK again eventually. But right now, other than work issues, we're having a good time and see ourselves living here.
My wifes not sure whether to take the garden leave package though. These are her concerns:
- Japan may have more jobs than the UK, but jobs that pay over 10,000,000 yen are still relatively rare.
- Shes in her late 40s. This shouldn't be an issue, but obviously in Japan. It could / will be more of an issue than we'd like.
- She's worried if she takes this package, her English will deteriorate while she looks for a job. She's only worked for the current company 8-9 months. She tried applying for a few companies a month or so ago and got to the interview stage but didn't get any offers. Likely due to the above, and also the fact she hasn't been working at the company for a while.
- Shes concerned how changing jobs will be viewed on the PR application. Either before the PR, or while the PR application has been filed. Its likely to take 12 months to receive PR (If she gets it). So if she does find a new job, she'll likely have to get that new job before receiving PR.
- So the company will need to help her apply for the HSP visa again, they'll need to pay over 10,000,000 yen and then she'll need to apply / update the PR application too.
- When we applied for PR under the 10 year route, stability was a key factor. Changing jobs many times looks bad. Any idea if it matters less with HSP?
Obviously a lot of these concerns are personal, and you can't really advise other than to say what you'd do in the situation. But outside of that. Does anybody have thoughts on how changing jobs will impact the PR process if you're on HSP?
FWIW. I've also thought this, but not sure if its possible:
When we left in 2018, we removed residency but kept our residence cards / visas valid. Technically, without a job from 2019-2023 the visas were invalid. But as far as I can tell, that was never detected by the government. The 5 year visa we had from 2018 > 2023 expired end of October 2023, and the new HSP visa was valid from November 2023. I hear you can apply for PR under HSP rules even if you're not on an HSP visa if you meet the requirements for HSP. Given that, do you think its technically possible to apply for PR under HSP rules now?
To be fair, thats probably a question for an immigration lawyer, but if anybody has anecdotes, that would be helpful.
by Bdom25