ok so from what i have read what once you arrive in japan you get a residence card. Do you also get a residence card if you arrive with a toursist visa or do you need to change it to a residence card once you arrive? and once you get a residence card can you work? or do you need a work visa? if so how do you get a work visa? sorry i am just so confused about this and everyone seems to understand residence cards/visas. can someone please help and explain them it would greatly help me. also i read the visa wiki and am still confused sorry.
4 comments
Tourists are not residents so they do not get residence cards.
Residence cards state the status of residence (SoR) which is the same as the [entry visa](https://www.mofa.go.jp/j_info/visit/visa/long/index.html). If you have a working status, or another status that allows work, then you can work.
The issue generally is that people use the word “visa” for their status of residence. Technically the visa is what you show at the airport to get your SoR. After that, you no longer have, nor need, a visa. When people say they are “renewing their visa”, they actually mean they are “extending their SoR”.
https://www.reddit.com/r/movingtojapan/wiki/visas my dude
>Do you also get a residence card if you arrive with a toursist visa or do you need to change it to a residence card once you arrive?
Resident cards are for _residents_. Aka someone who has a visa term of at least 1 year. Tourists do not qualify.
You are not able to move from a tourist visa to a work visa while in Japan either. You either enter as a tourist, or under a work visa.
>once you get a residence card can you work? do you need a work visa?
Again, you need a visa of some sort to _get_ a residence card. So you’d FIRST need to _get a job_, who then applies for your visa, which then gets you the residence card when you arrive in Japan.
>if so how do you get a work visa
Find a job that sponsors a work visa.
>Do you also get a residence card if you arrive with a toursist visa or do you need to change it to a residence card once you arrive?
Resident cards are only given to residents. Tourists are not residents.
>and once you get a residence card can you work?
That would depend of your status of residence. If you arrive with a work visa, you are allowed to work. As a student you can work up to 28 hours/week if you apply for permission to work. Spouse of Japanese national can work unlimited times and any type of job. Etc
>or do you need a work visa?
See above.
>if so how do you get a work visa?
First you make sure you are eligible. You need sufficient education or experience. Then you’d apply for a job. Then they will handle it for you.
You need both education/experience and a sponsor (employer) in order to get s work visa.
>residence cards/visas
Just fyi. Visa is what get you across the border. Residence card is what you use within Japan as an ID and to show that you are living in Japan and what you are allowed to do.
You really don’t have to know details about the residence card, it’s just an ID for what it’s worth.