Advice on ways to move to Japan from US

2 comments

1. Well you need to find a Japanese company (or foreign company with a Japan office) that’s willing to sponsor your visa. If you apply for enough companies and your qualifications are good enough, you should get accepted eventually.

   Even if you don’t speak Japanese, software engineers are in high demand, so if you show a desire to live in Japan long-term and work hard to study the language, there should be no major issues.

   You could also try going through recruiters to help you find a job (although you want to be careful of sketchy recruiters in this case). The most important part is getting your foot in the door (getting your visa and getting settled in the country), as you can always switch jobs, and doing so is much easier when your visa is taken care of and you’re already in the country.

2. You’ll need to get a visa sponsorship. To do that, you generally need to have a job that operates in Japan. To get a job that operates in Japan, you’re going to need to be able to speak Japanese. Probably the best option is to take a break from working, attend a language school in Japan (they’ll sponsor a student visa), then once you’ve reached a certain amount of fluency apply to jobs that will sponsor your visa from there. Please note that you’re only allowed to work a certain number of hours when you’re in Japan on a student visa, so this may be financially difficult.

   I recommend using a service like Go! Go! Nihon in order to figure out what schools work best for you. Also, it is advised to learn as much as you can before you even enter the school. I mean it: start right away. Most beginners overestimate their abilities significantly so you will need a head start.

   r/LearnJapanese has an excellent beginners’ guide.