Hello
I’m staying in Tokyo with a student visa (university exchange program), my semester ends in July, but my visa expires in January 2024. I see mixed information on internet about this so my questions are:
– Can I REALLY stay in Japan until January, or my visa will expire earlier since my classes end in July? (There was no change, it was planned from the beginning that I will study here for fall 2022 and spring 2023)
– If yes, will I still be allowed to work ? I currently have a baito, not more than 28 hours a week of course.
Thank you!
4 comments
Student visas are only valid while attending that school. After graduating or otherwise stopping attendance, your visa becomes invalid and you have a set period of time to either leave the country or apply for a change of status of residence.
[For the third time today.](https://old.reddit.com/r/japanlife/comments/11rdhhw/my_student_visas_expiration_date_is_much_later/jc85x41/)
I’m starting to understand why people get so salty here.
In any case, you probably would be able to hang around for a while without any problems despite it not being allowed, but working for another half year or so might actually be another story. I personally wouldn’t risk it if you plan on ever coming back, but if I were you, I’d just looking into switching to that so-called “job hunting” visa. Not sure if you can work part time on it though.
OP you’re an exchange student. We dont know the conditions, please consult with your home uni about this. Whoever send you on the program should know best.
I was in this exact situation just a couple months back, so I feel quite well informed to answer all of those.
I asked that directly to immigration office here in Osaka, and they told me it was okay to stay using the student visa. The trick here is, that if you stay with the student visa, it has to be for “student” reasons, like, you aren’t allowed to do tourism for example, you are supossed to be looking for a school to join or something like that.
Of course there is no way to check that, so its not like they will throw you into jail.
And now the stinger. I also know this for a fact from the Immigration Office in Osaka. No, you can’t work, the day after you finish your studies and graduate (or leave), you are not allowed to continue working anymore.
Answering to the edit, they did the same to me, and no, that’s just an extension of your normal student visa, nothing changes there.