Hello!
Thank you to everyone who shared their advice on my last post about the second round of interviews.
After a third interview (the last one), I got contacted by the company that they’d like to have a meeting to discuss the conditions of the job. According to my teacher and a Japanese native friend, this pretty much means that I will be offered the job. If this is true, I’d be overjoyed!
I do realize that if this comes to be, a lot of bureaucracy is up ahead, so I’m wondering if anyone here has any experience of the visa sponsorship procedure? I’d especially like to hear about the experiences of people who moved to Japan to work in the game industry, since that is the line of work I’m doing. (I live in one of the scandinavian countries, so the terms and conditions for visa might differ from the US/other countries)
Thank you for your help!
4 comments
It honestly one of the simplest processes in the world. They ask for documentation. You send them documentation. Eventually you get a Certificate of Eligibility, which you’ll take to your local embassy to get a visa.
It really is that simple.
The procedure isn’t that much paperwork. At least not for you, lawyers will handle most of it. Since you’re an engineer, there are two visa types that you may be eligible for depending on your experience, salary, age, education, etc.
You could either obtain a Highly Skilled Professional (HSP) visa, or a regular engineer working visa. The paperwork for the former is a bit more involved than the latter. Both types have pros and cons, you can find lots of information in Google. The HSP visa has a bunch of [perks](https://www.juridique.jp/visa/hsp.php) but the main pro is probably that you’re on the fast track to permanent residency if that’s something you desire. You can obtain PR in 1-3 years depending on your points. The main drawback of the HSP visa is that it’s tied to the company. If you’re unhappy and decide to switch companies, you’ll have to start the visa process from scratch. On a regular working visa it’s easier to switch employers.
Process, like the other comment says, is that you’ll work with a lawyer who will ask for your documents (resume, degree, photo, etc, more in case of HSP), they will apply for a CoE for you, send it to you, then you take the CoE and get the visa at the embassy. Done.
Relax. It’s going to be fine. Just wait for the meeting
>so I’m wondering if anyone here has any experience of the visa sponsorship procedure?
It’s super simple. They ask for documents and information about you, you provide them.
You fill in parts of a CoE application document.
The company uses the info to apply for the CoE and send it to you. This part takes ~3 months normally (maybe longer now)
When you get the CoE, you go to the embassy to apply for the visa. This part takes 1-2 weeks.