I’m moving to Japan in 2 weeks and preparing to find a place. I am an Australian working full time for an American company and will be paid in Australian dollars for the foreseeable future, planning to transfer part of my salary each month to my Japanese bank account via Wise.
I will register as a sole trader and pay tax at the end of the year.
I am specifically looking for people with a somewhat similar setup who have a lease in their name. What sort of documents did you need? Was it a particularly difficult process? Would my employment contract be enough, though it’s in English and Australian dollars? Bank statements showing income in Australia? Savings in my Australian account? What can I prepare to make life easier and get an apartment within my first few weeks there?
For what it’s worth, my wife is Japanese and her father will be our guarantor, but she won’t be working.
4 comments
I was in your situation a year and a half ago. It will probably be easier if your wife is the one getting the lease. Some rentals don’t like foreigners, but Japanese with a foreign spouse is a bit easier.
It’s difficult to say what they will want for paperwork, everyone is a bit different. In our case, employment or lack of employment for my wife did not matter. Luckily we had left a big chunk of money in my wife’s bank account in Japan and having the cash for all the initial payments was what mattered. If you need to set up a new account for your wife so she can be the lease holder, then be careful with the staying under the gift tax limit.
It will take more than a couple weeks to get everything sorted out. If you are not looking now, you need to start yesterday. Find places you are interested in online and start emailing the agents. Explain your situation and that you are arriving soon so you can get a head start on getting a place that will accept you. Figure at least a month, maybe a bit longer to actually get everything sorted out.
>will be paid in Australian dollars for the foreseeable future, **planning to transfer part of my salary each month to my Japanese bank account via Wise.**
As an FYI, this will open your entire income stream to taxation in Japan. It sounds like you’ve done your research, so you’re probably aware of that, but… Just in case: Remitting *any* of your overseas income makes *all* of it taxable.
Other than that… Pretty much everything /u/VR-052 said. You probably *can* get a lease based as a foreigner with foreign income, but it’s going to be super complicated. Put your wife up front on it to make everything significantly less complicated.
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I am a real estate agent in Shinjuku. I take on a lot of clients arriving from overseas who are in a similar situation.
If your father-in-law signs on as a guarantor, it doesn’t matter how you are paid or whether your wife is working or not. You father-in-law will basically be co-signing the lease, promising to pay the rent on your behalf if you lose your income or suddenly disappear, so the financial situation of your father-in-law is key.
You will have to state your income and work situation on an application, but your English language documents will be irrelevant for 9 out of 10 guarantor companies.