So my background is a little weird. I dropped out 1.5 years into University because I got a job in my field (software engineer), job hopped for a while, and now I work as a contractor with mostly Canadian clients (I live in Canada). I’m a dual UK/Canadian citizen. I’m looking to expand my contracting business to an LLC and hire a few programmers, and a couple sales people, by the end of next year. I have a common-law spouse who is financially dependent on me, but I intend to marry her soon so it won’t hopefully be an issue to bring her.
I’m looking at my options and it actually looks like I have 3 options, basically:
\-My partner and I both apply for a working holiday to try it for a year (what are the odds that we both get in around the same time…?)
\-I get a full-time job at a Japanese company and give up on my business for now/try to hire someone to take on the bulk of the admin responsibility while retaining the majority of shares, and finish my degree
\-I continue on with my plans to expand my business, open an office of my company in Japan next year, hire a Japanese citizen to manage the office while I figure my stuff out, and throw $50,000 at the problem, opening a Japanese subsidiary of my software company, effectively keeping the consulting side of the business in Canada and moving the product development side of the business to Japan, then use that to get the business manager visa.
Of these 3, which are the most likely routes? I’m coming from BC, Canada and am working on the language side.
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First option is possible, though I don’t have any experience with specifically WHVs from Britain/Canada so I can’t speak about the timeline.
Second option won’t be possible, you’ll need your Degree in the first place to secure a job at a Japanese Company, unless you work remotely for them from Canada and study for your Bachelor’s degree on the side.
Third option is a possibilty but is one of the harder Visa pathways to take. Ontop of the $50,000 that you need, you also need to present a rock-solid business plan and present a solid reason why your business needs to exist in Japan and not elsewhere.
This one is purely from memory and might be wrong but if you don’t make over a certain amount of money in the first year, renewing it is very hard as well.