So I have a job offer lined up at a company at the start of January at 2023 for a full-time position as a software developer for a company in Japan, and am currently doing my undergraduate degree at a university in Canada (Computer Science degree). I will have finished all the courses I need for graduation by December 2022, but my official graduation date is 2023 May so I won’t have my diploma until then. Is it possible for my company to begin the process (eg. CoE and work visa) for sponsoring me for a work visa as soon as I sign my full-time offer next year in January? Or do I need a concrete diploma on my hand to begin this process?
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I don’t think the COE process can start without the diploma, like the physical diploma–you have to wait until you have that. And then add on the time for COE processing and visa processing.
Your official transcripts should be fine. But if you’re not even finishing your courses until December its extremely unlikely that you’ll have all the paperwork completed by January. In normal times 8 weeks is not unusual and these are far from normal times.
Having gone through this myself (getting a job offer prior to having had a degree).
The official CoE application process couldn’t be done until I had the physical degree. We tried using academic transcripts from the uni and were told that these cannot be used, only a degree certificate, or a degree offer can be used.
So you’de very likely need to have the concrete diploma to start the visa process.
Sir, you are a Chad.
The most important date is the official degree award/conferral date. Depending on the country/specific university, this date may or may not line up with the graduation ceremony date or the date you get your official diploma. If your graduation ceremony is not scheduled until May 2023, but your degree is officially awarded/conferred by the university in Dec. 2022, then you could still get a COE granted after Dec. 2022.
However, if the degree award/conferral date will be May 2023, the Immigration Services Bureau will generally not grant the COE until after that date has passed, unless you qualify for a visa through another route (10 years work exp., etc.).
Regarding whether or not you can file the application before your official degree award/conferral, this is up to the Immigration Services Bureau, but they will often accept early applications if they are submitted with a signed letter from your university registrar stating your expected degree award/conferral date. Even if it is accepted for filing, in the middle of the processing, submission of proof of degree award/conferral would be demanded, and the final issuance of the COE would be on hold until that proof of degree award/conferral is submitted.