Are side hustles while on Engineering visa usually approved?

Asking for a friend who is on an Engineering visa. Said friend would like to take up some weekend-only paid freelance work with a boutique Japanese ad agency that is completely separate from their full time sponsored Engineer visa job. Responsibilities would be some video production, copywriting and translation of ads.

It seems that the only legit way this can be allowed is if said friend asks for their employer’s permission with documentation and to submit the paperwork forms etc to immigration. Is this correct?

In reality – if said friend decides to not follow the exception procedures and does the marketing side hustle anyway, what is the likelihood of prosecution and punishment? I know the risk is if the company finds out and wants to cause a fuss, they could technically fire said friend. But in reality if it does not affect work performance and is otherwise completely a separate work schedule, does it just fly under the radar with minimal repercussion or consequence?

Obviously we are getting into dicey territory with tax reporting etc but just wonder what is possible and generally permissible?

by Huskeranien

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