Hello. Do let me know if this is the right place to ask. I am from Malaysia and I am aware that there have been many questions regarding this topic. I have been offered a position at an Eikawa company. To my knowledge, Eikawa would go for Specialist in Humanities Visa but the company asked me to provide evidence that I did 12 years of schooling in English. I had provided letters from my elementary school, high school and university but they told me that they weren’t enough and I need to get my ES and HS transcripts. I am unable to get transcripts from my elementary school and high school ’cause back then, they didn’t have a proper system (and my mom threw most of my results out). I am checking with the company which visa they are offering me. While I am waiting for their reply, can anyone advise me on what I should do? Is it normal for the authorities to ask for transcripts? I graduated with a history degree. Am I eligible for Specialist in Humanities Visa?
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Yes, you’re eligible. They might ask you to prove your language abilities though for example with an English test like toefl.
once you get here, please find a job at an international school. that History degree would probably be useful.
anyway, I am Malaysian as well and wish you all the best.
I think your intuition is correct. The 12 year rule for schooling in English is for English teachers on the Instructor visa such as ALTs.
Eikaiwa workers on work visas would be on the “Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services” visa which does not have a 12 year requirement baked into is in the same way, and I think are usually a little easier for non-native English speakers to get granted.
Occasionally the Immigration Services Bureau does give people from non-typical native English countries a hard time with the visa and will ask for sufficient proof that you are native or that you have a degree related to teaching or the English language, etc., but there is no requirement to submit school transcripts at the start of the application, only if they request them.
As a side note, native English speakers who do eikaiwa almost always fall under the “International Services” subcategory, which has zero requirement for their uni degree to be related to the work, just that they have language and cultural knowledge by virtue of their upbringing in their country.
The “Specialist in Humanities” subcategory, on the other hand, has a somewhat nominal but still sometimes relevant requirement that your degree be related to your work in Japan to some extent (they usually are not super strict about this these days, but it comes up occasionally).
I wasn’t even aware that elementary schools provided transcripts
Hello fellow Malaysian! Previously I just gave the company HR a copy of my MUET, SPM and maybe UPSR or PMR results, plus university degree transcripts. Then the HR people get to work with the Immigration Office in Japan for the COE. If those are what you need, try contacting your primary/secondary schools to look into getting your copies of those certs. Good luck!
Fellow Malaysian here! From my personal experience, you’re unlikely to get the Instructor visa as technically we only have 11 years of English schooling. I had an offer once from a company and this matter was brought up and even though he told me “your English is perfect, I can’t even tell you’re non native” basically they couldn’t move forward with it due to the visa. I have a feeling that even with the transcripts, it might not work :/ tho you could ask about the TOIEC or go and take the TOEFL exam if they tell you to? I came into Japan via the Humanities visa and most eikaiwas actually sponsor this type so you might find a different place with no issues with visa sponsorship. Good luck!