Hey guys. I’m in a position where I could potentially move to Japan for work in a few months.
Even though nothing is set in stone yet, something occurred to me and I would love to hear what you have to say on it.
I’m from Tunisia, and the law there prevents us from bringing out more than 2k usd. Meaning I would have to move to japan with a mere 2k.
Knowing how expensive relocating is and add to that it would be in Tokyo, I’m pretty sure 2k is not going to get me anywhere.
Anyone had to face a similar situation? If so, what did you do?
As an extra note, I’m applying through a recruitment agency and I
if I actually get the job the base salary will be a minimum of 7M. (Having graduated just a year ago as a software engineer. I think that’s pretty good)
7 comments
Make sure when negotiating your compensation that you ask for a housing allowance and relocation assistance. Those are pretty normal parts of any international hire, and it should help you out with getting started.
Good luck!
Bitcoin.
Assuming you have more than $2k in Tunisia, you can pay for the flight and the shipping of your belongings before leaving Tunisia. Ideally the company should pay for this, but it’s likely they’ll only reimburse you when you get your first month’s salary after you’ve worked there for a month.
If you’re willing to stay in a sharehouse, you can avoid a lot of the large fees associated with housing. The ones in Central Tokyo will cost around $700-800 a month, but you can find cheaper ones if you’re willing to commute further. I don’t know much about them, but there may be some willing to accept payment from overseas.
When I moved, my company provided accommodation for the first month, maybe yours has similar perks.
If you can settle those things before you move, $2k should be enough to tide you over while you wait for your first paycheck.
Absolutely make sure that your future/current employer understands that part of Tunisian law. If they do, then they should be understanding and offer a relocation package.
On a side note, that’s rough. Does the government worry about people leaving Tunisia that much?
Is there no way you can put money into an account on Wise and then withdraw it in Japan?
So… Moving on $2k USD is going to be pretty tough. My initial gut reaction was “not gonna happen”, but… It’s doable. Not going to be fun, though.
There are a few things that tend to eat up a bunch of cash in the moving process. Some of them you can (maybe) pay for before you leave. Some of them you can (hopefully) get your company to help with.
Like u/SkittyLover93 mentioned, you should be able to pay for flights/shipping before leaving, and a sharehouse will reduce your upfront costs.
But… It’s still going to be tight. The biggest problem you’re going to have is that payroll in Japan is almost universally paid monthly, in arrears, on a fixed date unrelated to your start date.
For example: Your company pays on the 1st of each month. You start on October 15th. You’d get paid on the first, but that’s going to be 1/2 salary (Less, actually, because Insurance is paid *in advance*, so your first paycheck will have 2x insurance payments). So your $2000 (plus that tiny less-than-half salary paycheck will have to last you six weeks.
Say you bring $2000. That’s roughly 250,000 yen.
Your salary will be 7million. After taxes that’s ~400,000/mo. Your first paycheck will probably be closer to 100,000 after the extra insurance/pension costs.
So 350,000 to go 6 weeks. Can’t forget rent. A sharehouse room in Tokyo is going to be in the 60-75,000 yen range. 2 month’s rent in that 6 week period. So 120-150,000 yen.
That leaves ~200,000-250,000 yen to cover everything for those six weeks. Food. Any household supplies you need to buy. Clothes.
It’s doable, but you’re going to need to be *really* frugal.
If you can get some sort of debit card that you can top up like Revolut or N26, not sure if theyre available in your country, you could transfer your funds to that then use the card in Japan.