I have a friend who’s student visa is about to expire. While she was studying, she was also working part-time at my place of work. In preparation for her visa expiring, she made an arrangement with my company that they would Sponsor her work visa so she can stay here and work in the kitchen.
Well last week, the visa application was rejected. Immigration gave her no reason, just that it was rejected. So now she’s in a bit of a pickle because her visa is supposed expire in one week and she doesn’t know what to do. She’s planning on just going home even though it’s not a great situation and she wants to stay here in Japan.
My question: is there any leeway when it comes to a visa expiring and she can stay longer than it says? Or can she request and extension so she can stay here longer and look for work or perhaps retry with the visa at my company? Any help would be appreciated!
15 comments
No amount of advice on our part will reverse the decision made by immigration.
Absolutely cannot stay longer. Prepare to depart before visa expires. Overstay will be much worse situation.
Kitchen work would almost never qualify for a work visa.
At this point she better go to immigration ASAP to first get a temporary extension and apply for a tokutei katsudo SOR.
If she finished her studies and got a Bachelors or technical degree, she should try to find a full time job while having the tokutei katsudo SOR.
Friend’s visa, huh? Sure, bud, sure.
Talk to immigration again or say sayonara.
Kitchen work is almost certainly ineligible for a work visa sponsorship. If she doesn’t meet the other requirements for a work visa like having a four year degree or ten years of experience in an eligible field she needs to go back, get those requirements, then apply for a new job/visa and come back.
If she overstays the visa she has now, she will likely not ever be allowed back. If she is deported it could also hurt her in the case she wants to go to other countries because that is usually a question when applying for any visa. It’s not worth it.
Overstaying the date on the residence card will end in disaster, they will block you at the airport, make you miss your flight, detain you and then make you buy an overpriced one way ticket and ban you from Japan for 5 years.
If you need time to prepare to leave, ask for a short extension for that purpose, or convert to a tourist visa (3 months).
Time to say bye to your friend. If she’d done any research at all, she would have seen this coming. You can’t get a work visa for any old job. Kitchen work won’t cut it. Take it as a lesson learned.
>Well last week, the visa application was rejected. Immigration gave her no reason, just that it was rejected.
That’s because the she is doing is “blue collar”. There is no Status of Residency for that type of work. Apart from a few exceptions (working holiday visa, and the exploitative migrant worker visa)
Whether this is about your friend or it’s actually you **do not overstay.**
Okay, say this to your “friend”:
-There is no visa status for unskilled kitchen work. She asked immigration to give her unicorns, they dont exist. You dont need a reason.
-Did she had permission to work part time during her student visa? If not, she is now on immigration’s bad side.
-Of course you can extend your status. So to extend a student visa… you need to keep studying. The school will arrange everything for your friend, there is nothing to worry. Unless she wants to extend a student visa without the intention or the means to study… that is a no-no.
-She can totally try for another student visa via her sponsoring school, or a work visa at your place if your company sponsor her a valid visa (white collar, not unqualified labor). But you cant sort it in one week. Getting the CoE could take months, and the visa application even more. You have to plan these things.
-She must really like pickles. You just dont wake up with a one week time limit to sort your residency situation. She better take this as a life lesson.
Whatever she decides to do, do not overstay. If very, very lucky, she can get a special “designated activities” status to sort out the return (15 days to 3 months). She should go back to her country, prepare and plan, and get a new visa.
Good luck to her.
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But if she overstays, I really hope she gets caught and spend years at a detention center. We dont need more law-breaking foreigners.
When your SOR (visa) is rejected your are given a single opportunity to go in and sit down with a case worker and have it explained (in roundabout non-committal, but quite clear terms) why your application was denied.
Your friend may wish to bring an immigration professional with her.
If she graduated from a university she is probably eligible for the job hunting status. Also a single rejection does not preclude her from re-applying if she can meet the requirements. (Or, perhaps in this case, find a job that appropriately meets the requirements.)
Of course her visa wasn’t approved. You can’t get a visa to do menial jobs like that. If she has a student visa she should be able to apply for a designated activities visa for job hunting purposes, but I think that’s **only** if she’s attending university here, not a language school.
There are english teaching jobs for kids that sponsor a visa. Your friend might want to look into it as she explores her option.
Everyone here is saying that you can’t get a visa for kitchen work, but that is not true in all cases. I’m on a skilled labor visa working as an executive chef. Granted, I have over 25 years of experience in this field and work at the only restaurant in Tokyo that offers this specific style of this cuisine. It can be done, but it is not easy. My first application was denied, but during my interview with the immigration officer he detailed exactly what I needed to provide to get approved. I submitted more documents and received approval. The whole process took nearly 9 months.
If your visa expiree, go home. You have no right to be here anymore. This is not Germany.