Hi, I just accepted a job offer in Tokyo. The company expects me to start working on January 15. Is this even realistic? I’ve tried googling the timeline for the COE and been reading some very different numbers. Wondering if anyone has recent experiences they can share?
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**COE – how long does it take?**
Hi, I just accepted a job offer in Tokyo. The company expects me to start working on January 15. Is this even realistic? I’ve tried googling the timeline for the COE and been reading some very different numbers. Wondering if anyone has recent experiences they can share?
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It’s certainly possible. If you’re applying for an HSFP you supposedly get preferential treatment. But given that it’ll be December on Friday I wouldn’t make firm plans with that date in mind.
Mine got processed in 14 days and I applied on the 17-10 received it the 29-10…..so it’s possible don’t worry just start the process and you will be fine. Im starting in January aswell and still have more than a month left.
Can be doable – I also got a new job offer in Japan back in mid October, and they wanted me to start 1st Dec as they kept quoting that the COE would most likely take only 3 weeks to receive. This was for the engineering / humanities visa, which is currently being fast tracked lately.
Looks like they were somewhat correct – the immigration law firm they hired lodged my application on 31st Oct, and I got my COE via email on 17th Nov.
That said, no way I will make it into the country by the date they wanted. My local consulate is booked out to get the visa until December, then I will need at least a week or two to settle in with the admin tasks and finding housing, so they renegotiated to an early Jan 2024 start.
Doable. Consider the COE will be shipped to a Japanese address and then the company, or EOR, needs to ship it to whichever country you are based out of now. There, you will also need to make an appointment with your embassy to translate the COE into a single entry visa.
If your embassy closes or does reduced hours around Xmas, it might take longer.
Possible? Yeah. But since you should only buy your tickets once you get your visa, get ready to pay a lot for your flights.