Working Holiday Visa Questions

4 comments

1. This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes.

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   **Working Holiday Visa Questions**

   Hi guys!

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   So myself and 2 others are going to Japan for 6-12 months very soon on the working holiday visa and are making some final arrangements. So we have a few questions regarding the working holiday visa if you guys dont mind helping me out!

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   So for the most part we dont plan to work at all. I know its perhaps unorthodox (though im not sure) but were happy not to as weve all saved a lot for this and are prepared to chew through money to have the experience we want.

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   So my first question then is would we need a Japanese bank account if we dont plan to have an employer that needs to pay us, etc.

   Another question is, ive loosely heard about the fact you have to register an address after moving to Japan. So we’re just wondering how would this work if we plan to move around a lot in airbnbs (From 1-2-3 week or maybe a month stays)

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   Thanks guys 🙂

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2. >So my first question then is would we need a Japanese bank account if we dont plan to have an employer that needs to pay us, etc.

   Need? No. But it might still be a good idea.

   >Another question is, ive loosely heard about the fact you have to register an address after moving to Japan. So we’re just wondering how would this work if we plan to move around a lot in airbnbs (From 1-2-3 week or maybe a month stays)

   You need to have a “home base” where you can receive mail for the entire duration of your stay. Some people use a friend’s house, if such a thing is available.

   If you don’t have a friend’s house or something like that you’ll probably want to adjust your plans, because registering and re-registering every couple weeks is going to be a bureaucratic nightmare.

3. EDIT: Me and dalkyr82 posted at the same time but they covered the gaps in mine, listen to them. Mine are just anecdotes.

   > would we need a Japanese bank account if we dont plan to have an employer that needs to pay us, etc.

   Nope. You probably wouldn’t easily get one beyond a JP Cash Card anyway unless you have a good sponsor. Very few services accept only Japanese cards in my opinion.

   > Ive loosely heard about the fact you have to register an address after moving to Japan. So we’re just wondering how would this work if we plan to move around a lot in airbnbs (From 1-2-3 week or maybe a month stays)

   I had trouble with this. Firstly, you can’t register AirB&Bs and hotels, it flags on their system that it’s a ‘hotel’ like property. Also, if you do register a residence in one place and move, you’ll need to: Go back to current city hall to register leaving the area, then go to the new city hall and register you’re joining the area. It’s a nightmare. I’d love to know how you could have done this. In my case I was in a hotel for like the first 3 months but went to register in the first week and they just left mine blank until 6 months and no one ever cared.

   > Ive also heard that you need to register with the national health insurance in Japan once arriving? Is this true and if so can we not use our travel insurance instead or is it compulsory?

   You don’t have to register, but maybe you should. You can use your travel insurance but it likely won’t pay out until you’re back in your country and you’ll be footing the bill until then (I did this and I’m many thousands out of pocket until I go home). I have the public health insurance, it’s quite costly tbh but cheaper if you’re unemployed. I pray you never need to use the system though because the quality is absurd, despite paying only 30% you’ll see so many doctors to get a proper diagnosis that you’ll pay 200%. Don’t get sick, but if you do, ambulances are free, don’t hesitate to call.

4. I recently finished a WHV year – if you don’t plan to work, you don’t need a bank. I didn’t, and I did have to borrow a friends when the government owed me a refund though.

   Basically WHV’s don’t support moving around like you want to. Crazy, I know. If you don’t register an address within 90 days and immigration finds out, bad stuff could happen, so…do it. My solution was to use a friends house, but if you don’t have a friend, it’s very tricky to do it by the books.

   For health insurance, if you arent working itll be about 1200 yen a month, which is worth having the card for. Just in case something happens, using the Japanese system will be easier than your travel insurance IMO. Youre also supposed to register for your pension with Japan, but you can opt out of paying the pension for 1 year at the same time, so…