Applying for a work visa with a degree in the wrong field

3 comments

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

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   **Applying for a work visa with a degree in the wrong field**

   I’m currently interning in Tokyo at a Japanese animation studio that’s interested in hiring me for the long term. I’m looking at applying for a work visa, but I’m a bit concerned after reading the wiki and seeing the requirement for a diploma. Because while I did do a Bachelor’s in my home country, it’s for engineering and not animation.

   From skimming the requirements on the site below, I’m not seeing the degree requirement for the Artist role, but I’m still not 100% sure.

   [https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/applications/status/artist.html?hl=en](https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/applications/status/artist.html?hl=en)

   Can anyone confirm whether or not I’ll be able to apply for the visa with my credentials? I’ll be meeting with my supervisor as well this week to discuss this possibility.

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2. You are not the one applying for the visa, your company is. You will also most likely not get an artist visa, this is for established artists. Animators fall under 技術・人文知識・国際業務: https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/applications/status/gijinkoku.html

   For other jobs I’ve found that usually the specifics of the degree weren’t that much of an issue (working in IT with a history degree), but your mileage may vary and I haven’t met anyone who works as an animator. [This page](https://visa.office-ishizawa.com/anime/) states that it may be hard without having gone to 専門学校 in Japan, but this informtion is 4 years old and/or may not apply to your situation.

3. >I’m not seeing the degree requirement for the Artist role, but I’m still not 100% sure.

   Like u/nijitokoneko said: You’re not getting an Artist visa. That’s for fancy-schmancy artists with gallery showings, residencies, and all that jazz.

   Working artists (like animators) are more likely to fall under the Engineer/Specialist in Humanities visa, though even that is a bit iffy.

   The long and short of it is that ***you*** shouldn’t be bothering with the details. Your company should be taking care of the details. If they don’t know what they’re doing they should be hiring an immigration attorney. All you’ll need to do is hand over the documents the experts request.