First a bit of background–I have been living in Japan for about 11 years now. I came over on JET, did 5 years and then went to grad school on the MEXT scholarship, which I’ve now been on for 5+ years. The change from an instructor visa to a student visa was painless, and I applied for the work permit at that time.
Now, when I applied for the work permit I wasn’t aware there were any restrictions beyond not being able to work in any ‘adult’ industries. I assumed that freelance work was fine, and began doing translation work. The work is paid by volume, not hourly. I never kept track of how many hours I worked, but I would assume it would generally be less than 28 per week (the amount stipulated for students). I’ve very recently found out that freelance work like this is in fact, not explicitly allowed under the student work permit. I’m also under the impression that it is not strictly prohibited, either, and exists in a sort of legal gray zone, though I could be wrong about this.
Currently I work part-time at a university (only a few courses a week, so well under 28-hours, though again the contract doesn’t stipulate hourly wages, only pay by ‘koma’), while still doing some freelance translation work (much less than before I started working at a university). This is basically enough money to get by.
Now, I’ve renewed my student visa twice with no problem, as submitting tax documents etc. wasn’t required iirc. However, now that my time as a student is about to end, I’m looking at options for changing visa.
My current options are 1. an instructor visa as I think I make enough money a year to qualify for a self-sponsored one; 2. the highly skilled professional visa as I think I just barely have enough points to qualify for it, or 3. a marriage visa–though I’m not married yet, I’ve talked to my girlfriend about it and we are both fine with getting married sooner rather than later, and the visa eligibility would just be an added benefit.
I’m of course not trying (willingly) to commit visa fraud or anything like that–I wasn’t aware that I might even outside of the bounds of my visa work restrictions until very recently, though I realize it’s on me for not having looked it up.
Anyway, I would much appreciate advice. Thank you for your time.
4 comments
The easiest path would be marriage, as you would have no restrictions.
Instructor would also be fine.
And if you qualify for HSP that is fine too.
Teaching at a university is generally OK as the hours can be (somewhat) objectively tracked. Your translation work was probably technically out of line, but immigration is unlikely to notice or ask, and even if they did that is not the type of thing you are likely to get in trouble for.
But you seem to understand what your options are, so choose whichever one you are comfortable with (= if you have been with your girlfriend for a while and can see it lasting for the long term, marriage -> spouse -> PR is a nice path to take!)
>instructor visa
Is just for those who teach at compulsory education schools. You’d need a ‘Professor’ visa to teach at universities. Neither instructor or professor can be self sponsored. So you’d need a a compulsory education school/BoE/ALT dispatch company to hire you for instructor. Or a university/university dispatch company to hire you for professor.
>highly skilled professional visa
HSP(i)(A): Advanced academic research activities
And
HSP(i)(B): Advanced specialized/technical activities
Cannot be self sponsored.
As for HSP(i)(C): Advanced business management activities
I guess it’s maybe possible to self sponsor… if you start your own business? But then you’d need a business manager visa. So not really sure how that works.
>spouse visa
This would be the best and easiest route, especially for freelancing
you should aim for the HSP (ETA I just read other comments, this is IF you qualify, it sounded that you knew your points) because from there PR is an easy step and whether you have a partner or not, you should always seek for independent visa status (if you dont understand why that matters, search for divorce in this subreddit).
regarding the grey zone/ hours issue: You did not keep track of it, but you did full time student and other part time as well. I think it is a safe guess you did not work yourself to death without noticing.
(rather than the hours, the actual issue is the income and taxation/pension/NHI, but I guess that is as well documented as the hours and not a groundbreaking number even if maxed, so I dont want to make you nervous. in the beginning we are all figuring it out, if you can still figure it out now, that would be great, if not then let it rest)
> Now, when I applied for the work permit I wasn’t aware there were any restrictions beyond not being able to work in any ‘adult’ industries.
Really? I thought they were stamping a writing to the behind of your residence card that says 「許可：原則週28時間以内・風俗営業等の従事を除く」
Are there times they don’t do this?