Just want to say that I love this sub, I’ve read many posts and you wonderful people have been very helpful; I’ve learnt a great deal just from lurking around here!
So last month wifey (F31) and me (M40) made a trip to Japan, stayed in the countryside with a couple of friends and love the country so much that we are now considering moving there, at least for a year to fully experience it. I know, we are so unique! /s
We are Asians, degree holders, currently in Singapore, quite a decent place itself.
This is not my first time to Japan, and I’ve always loved the culture. While I don’t know Japanese, I know Chinese and I’m a language lover so I think taking up Japanese will be a nice challenge.
I’ve read all the information in the Wiki of this sub (shout out to the amazing Mods for the diligent job compiling it, it has helped me a great deal!!!).
I’m self-employed, earning a decent tech salary (quite comfortable for Singapore). Wife is at the beginning of her career in Singapore and struggled a bit too adapt to Singapore but she’s getting on well.
We are exploring a few options:
1. Wife gets a visa to study something in Japan for a year (she loves craft and Japanese culture). I tag along and work remotely. Pros: we may get to experience the countryside. Cons: wife’s career disruption. She’s having two minds because while she loves to study craft, she also loves her current job which didn’t come easy for her.
2. Wife gets into a company that allows internal transfer to Japan. Pros: less career disruption, easier time adapting. Cons: It takes more time to plan this move, and we’ll likely end up staying in Tokyo, not the country side as we are hoping for.
3. I arrange for a GEO to hire me in Japan and get paid by my own Singapore company. I need to research more on the legality of doing this. Wife then can work remotely for her current company. Pros: we can live in the countryside. No disruption to both our careers. May be fast to arrange. I may be able to even get a skilled visa which will fast track me to Japan PR in 3 years (it’s not the primary concern, but seems great nevertheless). Cons: costly (GEO cost, paying Japan tax, may affect my Singapore residency if I stop paying tax).
4. Wife or myself go for a master’s degree in Japan. The other tag along and work part-time. Pros: upskill ourselves. Cons: costly. Most likely we will also have to stay in the bigger cities.
We’re still doing priliminary research and are considering those options for now.
I would love to find an option that allows us to live in the countryside without disruptions to either of our job. Option 3 seems great and we will probably research further into this.
Do you think my priliminary assessment looks correct? Did I make any wrong assumptions, or missed out on any important points? Is there any good paths that I missed out?
Thank you so much wonderful people!
4 comments
This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes.
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**Moving to Japan from Singapore, what are our best options?**
Just want to say that I love this sub, I’ve read many posts and you wonderful people have been very helpful; I’ve learnt a great deal just from lurking around here!
So last month wifey (F31) and me (M40) made a trip to Japan, stayed in the countryside with a couple of friends and love the country so much that we are now considering moving there, at least for a year to fully experience it. I know, we are so unique! /s
We are Asians, degree holders, currently in Singapore, quite a decent place itself.
This is not my first time to Japan, and I’ve always loved the culture. While I don’t know Japanese, I know Chinese and I’m a language lover so I think taking up Japanese will be a nice challenge.
I’ve read all the information in the Wiki of this sub (shout out to the amazing Mods for the diligent job compiling it, it has helped me a great deal!!!).
I’m self-employed, earning a decent tech salary (quite comfortable for Singapore). Wife is at the beginning of her career in Singapore and struggled a bit too adapt to Singapore but she’s getting on well.
We are exploring a few options:
1. Wife gets a visa to study something in Japan for a year (she loves craft and Japanese culture). I tag along and work remotely. Pros: we may get to experience the countryside. Cons: wife’s career disruption. She’s having two minds because while she loves to study craft, she also loves her current job which didn’t come easy for her.
2. Wife gets into a company that allows internal transfer to Japan. Pros: less career disruption, easier time adapting. Cons: It takes more time to plan this move, and we’ll likely end up staying in Tokyo, not the country side as we are hoping for.
3. I arrange for a GEO to hire me in Japan and get paid by my own Singapore company. I need to research more on the legality of doing this. Wife then can work remotely for her current company. Pros: we can live in the countryside. No disruption to both our careers. May be fast to arrange. I may be able to even get a skilled visa which will fast track me to Japan PR in 3 years (it’s not the primary concern, but seems great nevertheless). Cons: costly (GEO cost, paying Japan tax, may affect my Singapore residency if I stop paying tax).
4. Wife or myself go for a master’s degree in Japan. The other tag along and work part-time. Pros: upskill ourselves. Cons: costly. Most likely we will also have to stay in the bigger cities.
We’re still doing priliminary research and are considering those options for now.
I would love to find an option that allows us to live in the countryside without disruptions to either of our job. Option 3 seems great and we will probably research further into this.
Do you think my priliminary assessment looks correct? Did I make any wrong assumptions, or missed out on any important points? Is there any good paths that I missed out?
Thank you so much wonderful people!
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> Do you think my priliminary assessment looks correct?
No.
I think you need to research the dependent visa, which limits how much you can work and how much salary you can earn under that visa category, which impacts points #1, #2, and #3.
For point #3, If you “arrange” to be hired in Japan, you will be paid by the Japanese entity, not the singaport entity. Your wife might be able to work remotely, but again, she will be limited in how much she can work and earn based on the dependent visa.
I lived in Singapore for 14 years and my opinion is if you are still in a tech career, staying in Singapore is a far better option. Take your holidays in Japan and have the best of both worlds.
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