Question on changing from student to working visa before actually graduating

Hi everyone,

I am on a student visa attending language school in Japan. I came in the fall so I’m technically under the “1.5 years” of study course. I’ve been working part time and my company has offered to sponsor a working visa in a couple of months. I’ll have definitely finished 2 semesters of school before the working visa paperwork is submitted to immigration. Fall semester (ended back in December) and winter semester (ending this March), so I would be leaving language school early, after 2 semesters of completed study.

Can anyone tell me if this would cause any issues at immigration during the working visa approval process? Would leaving language school early without formally graduating stop me from getting the working visa despite having a company offering sponsorship? I have a 4 year university degree (bachelor’s) and my attendance & grades at language school so far have been very good.

I have read elsewhere that I only need a language school certificate of enrollment and a document showing my grades and attendance for immigration. I do not need an actual graduation certificate from the language school. Is this still true now in 2023? Thank you!

3 comments
  1. You already have a 4yr degree, and the company is going to sponsor your visa? You should be just fine. Congrats.

  2. I swapped to working visa at 6th month of study, nobody cares.

    But keep your attendance rate high at least to smoothen the process. Mine was at 70% or something, so I had to bluff… I mean write explanation letter to explain why.

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