Hi folks!
I recently started working remotely for a Japanese company from my home country. The company encouraged me to relocate to Japan as soon as possible and promised to support the relocation (they provide visa sponsorship and relocation allowance).
Living in Japan has always been my dream, so I’m certainly happy with the arrangement. However, the problem is that I need a bachelor’s degree and only have university diploma and 5 years of working experience as a Software Engineer at the moment.
I tried to lookup the regulation here:
[https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/3626](https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/3626)
I’m not entirely sure which visa that I would belong (probably fall under “Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/ International Services”) but most of requirements of those types of visa often mention:
>The applicant has completed a specialized course of study at an advanced vocational school in Japan majoring in a subject related to the skills or knowledge
And:
>The applicant has at least 10 years of practical experience (including the period during which the applicant majored in a subject related to the skills or knowledge at a university, technical college, senior high school, the second semester course at a school for secondary education or a specialized course of study at an advanced vocational school)
And so, my questions:
1. Someone (on the internet) ever told me that I could apply for a working visa with a diploma as long as it is equivalent to a Japanese vocational school diploma. Does this mean my diploma is eligible to apply working Visa? I would really appreciate it if someone could confirm that information and explain it a bit more, especially for people experienced the same circumstances.
2. If my diploma isn’t eligible, am I eligible to apply under 10 years of “practical experience” rule? in addition to my diploma, I graduated from vocational / specialized senior high school in Software Engineering. With my 5 YoE as a Software Engineer, the “practical experience” easily added up to 10 years.
3. If none are eligible, is there any option for me to get the Visa? I’m pretty desperate since I don’t know how my employer will see this. I may lose this job if I can’t relocate to Japan.
To be clear, here’s my circumstances:
1. Got university diploma in IT (Software Engineering)
2. Similarly, I graduated from vocational senior high school in Software Engineering
3. Got 5 years of working experience as Software engineer in one of the biggest unicorn companies in my country
Thanks for your time reading til this far! I would really appreciate it if you could share me your opinion or your personal experience if you had similar circumstances.
