Would I be eligible for a Visa?

4 comments

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

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   **Would I be eligible for a Visa?**

   I work in tech making $100k+ for an American company. We have been getting more Japanese customers and the head of the department who manages that division says they will need to hire another person soon. Currently they do not have anyone living Japan, they just have a guy from Australia working that region in addition to his other stuff. I have been wanting to move out of the US for some time and have been reading about being a tech nomad or relocating to various countries. Japan was something we talked about during my interview (I travel there quite often). They told me if I was able to relocate to Japan, I would have the job.

   I just want to clarify this though. The company is not offering to relocate me, they probably aren’t even going to sponsor me. They are nervous about the legal stuff as there are some places where you need to prove you tried to hire in that country before relocating someone there. But, they said if I was able to relocate myself there, then I’d have that job.

   So, what do I do? In order to get a COE, I’d need a sponsor. I do of course plan to look into what my company would need to do to sponsor me, maybe I can convince them. But still, they aren’t a Japanese company. I know I can work a proxy/legal rep, so I will need to research that.

   Would it be possible to get a Tourist Visa and while there, take that new job/position and use it to get the working visa?

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2. If you don’t have a bachelors degree, you must have at least ten years of experience in your field. No hobby projects, but there’s a year or two of leeway here from what I’ve heard.

   If not, you’re kind of SOL.

   You can’t legally work on a tourist VISA. Assuming you’re from an eligible non-American country you could work part-time on a WHV, but I doubt you’d be eligible given your primary reason for going is work, plus you’d have to cut your hours.

   If you do qualify based on your degree or YoE, you could propose your employer hire you in Japan through a EOR! They would sponsor you and help you with the move, but this can be costly for your employer for countries like Japan. It’ll likely cost them 30% to half your salary per annum.

3. Does your company already have an office in Japan? If not, then it’s pretty much a non-starter. If they do, then it should not be any issue to transfer you to that office.

4. > Would it be possible to get a Tourist Visa and while there, take that new job/position and use it to get the working visa?

   No. A tourist visa/visa waiver is for tourism, you cannot do work-related activities (including looking for work) while on this status. Also, the company is not a Japanese company. They have no standing on which to get you a visa, even if you are in the country. Only a Japanese company can sponsor you for a visa.

   Options for you might include an EOR, the J-Find visa (if you graduated from an eligible university within the past 5 years), or simply looking for another job in your field.

   Also, digital nomads are not currently legal in Japan, and so we don’t allow discussion of them in the subreddit.