this question may have been asked many times already so i apologize in advance, i only saw posts with deleted answers
i have a friend in Japan who’s been here for a little while, currently on a WH visa. idk how this stuff works but she wants to switch by eventually getting a work visa
however she’s in her 2nd year of university, she has 1 year left before getting her BA degree (it’s 3 years back in her country) and she was wondering if it’s possible to get a work visa before getting her degree? i’ve heard that it’s like IMPOSSIBLE to get one in japan before you finish university but i’m not the most informed and i didn’t have the heart to tell her anyway 🥲ðŸ˜
she doesn’t seem to be open to the idea of going back home *at all*, it’s pretty bad apparently but she’s been stressed out about this, so i was wondering if any of you had experiences with this or had any insight. thanks!
8 comments
> she was wondering if it’s possible to geta work visa before getting her degree?
Tl;dr not possible
Other people may reply about having 10 years experience in industry, etc. etc. but particularly given your friend’s circumstance, it’s bachelor’s degree, graduate technical school in Japan, or dependent visa as a spouse. There aren’t other options for her to stay longterm.
I think without a bachelor’s degree your friend need to show at least 10 years of experience in the profession that they want to work
It’s a strict requirement by immigration if you don’t have 10 years of documented experience for your field of work, but since you mention WH visa, immigration has recently started enforcing the rule of not changing WH to another visa type from certain countries
>i’ve heard that it’s like IMPOSSIBLE to get one in japan before you finish university
You are correct, as painful as it is to tell your friend, that one particular rule is set in stone.
Also, to add some information: You have to get a job / employment offer from a company **first, before** you are able to apply for a working visa.
Ya I want to fucking kill myself cause didn’t finish my degree and didn’t get pr
You won’t get a visa without a degree
Get married ya no work visa.
Just finish the fucking degree
I ‘ll share that I got my first work visa through the 10 year experience route. Before that I had a student visa at around the age of 23. When I applied for my student visa I believe I submitted work experience stating I was interning & designing since 15 years old. I wrote it for proof that I was working & making money to support myself. I listed the companies & roles I had.
When I finally tried to get a work visa for an agency my having over 10 years experience was consistent for me to get my visa with a digital marketing agency from having enough experience.
My advice to your friend is to go through that one year to get a job. I went back for two years to self study & landed my first agency job. Tell her to prepare herself to earn the life she wants. One year isn’t a long time.
She needs to go back and finish the degree. One year is not a lot of time in the grand scheme of life and it is a worthwhile investment to unlock opportunities all over the world.
There are always exceptions, but typically those are reserved for the *exceptional*.
Before I finished my degree, I was able to get a humanities visa based off of the amount of work experience I had earned outside of the country (I think they required either 3 or 5 years, I can’t remember).
Is it 10 years now?