Hello everyone, I am a student at a Japanese university enrolled in an integrated Master-Doctorate program. I came to Japan as a private funded student and trying to use my saving to finish the degree. It will take me another 5 years and I am not sure whether I can get other scholarships like JSPS. I am seeking financial stability. However, I found several アルバイト/ part time job opportunities that can be turned into full time job. I work for one company as a part time employee now. Then, I start to wonder, could I take the full time job and work towards my doctorate degree at the same time? The full time job is a C# software engineer and the degree is information technology, both can be done remotely. Does anyone have some advice regarding VISA status, tax, and communication with schools? Is it possible to work full time and also take class, write the thesis as a full time student?
6 comments
I have a friend who finished her phd part time while working as a full time employee, so assuming you can switch to a working visa and your university allows you to switch to part time it should be fine.
You’ve asked your university about this right?
As the guy above said, go to your student center, they will have list of scholarships including jsps. You can apply for them.
If you dont get it then you can have part time job because you have student visa until you change the visa.
I’m doing this right now and the answer is yes, but it’s difficult. It entirely depends on if your company and university have compatible rules. At mine you must have a letter from your company stating they accept the time commitment at the university. My department states that you must be present at school 24 hours a week to receive credit. So I’m usually there on the weekend and work remotely two other days.
Be very careful with the limits of how much you can be earning to receive financial aid against the tuition or scholarships. Often it is around 100,000 a month. Which is, well not enough to live on anyways. You’ll have to figure out if you can make enough working to risk not receiving any scholarships. Also switching to a work visa automatically disqualifies you from almost all scholarships as well. Taxes will be paid normally no matter student or work visa, but you won’t be eligible to defer your pension payments on a work visa.
No, it is not possible to have a “full time” job as an international student since your student visa caps your working hours at 28 a week. However, you can max out those hours provided your employer understands so you can get your experience and compensation.
depends on your visa status: if you are a student, then by definition you cannot be a full time employee, and you are only allowed to work 28 hours… BUT no one limits how much you can earn per 1 hour!
On a student visa, no (part time only). On a work visa, maybe, but if you get any sort of stipend, scholarships, or money from teaching or any other source it might complicate things for work outside your visa category.
In practice, working a full time job during a PhD is generally a bad idea. There aren’t enough working hours in the week to dedicate enough time to both, and the university probably won’t like it either if they find out since it shows that you aren’t serious enough about the degree. Again, especially true if you receive any sort of money or support from them.