Dual Citizenship applying for remote jobs

6 comments

1. When in Japan, behave like the Japanese. So be japanese?

2. You can apply with one and switch it after. Anything to do with taxes or withholding can be worked out after you accept an offer. That’s normal. They’re going to need to get your ID again anyway, without a doubt.

   Being Japanese is an advantage in the Japanese job market, pretty much universally. There are many jobs that aren’t open to foreigners or non-Japanese speakers, and most of the ones that are still prefer to hire a Japanese person. This seems to be true for pretty much every job market except for certain special cases like teaching english or some specialized software engineering roles. There are english speaking companies, but unless it’s legit a western company they’re probably going to prefer someone Japanese. If you’re Japanese and bilingual, congratulations, you’re a very desirable candidate for basically any job you’re otherwise qualified for. Especially at the Japanese companies that have a partially international workplace (woven planet, mercari, rakuten)

   I don’t know if the same would apply for someone who is visibly biracial or doesn’t speak fluent Japanese. I can imagine if you look Japanese and they see that you’re a citizen and you show up and can’t speak Japanese, it might not reflect positively on you. And my understanding is that visibly biracial folks are not always treated as insiders. Basically, the privilege of being Japanese in japan only seems to apply to people who can pass like they grew up in Japan. It’s not about ethnic identity like it is in the US, it’s also about cultural and national identity. If you look or sound like a possible foriegner, you may be treated as one, even if you’re not.

   One thing to keep in mind is that salaries are lower in japan than in the west, especially right now. One of the things that came up several times when I was talking to people in Japan about jobs was “your wages will probably be much lower here, is that OK with you?”. I think that Western candidates are seen as expensive; they expect more pay, they often need relocation assistance, there are higher costs associated with hiring them because of lawyers and etc. There is also a perceived risk that the candidate may be too different from their colleagues to acclimate to their workplace. The easiest jobs to get as a foreigner seem to be the ones that few people in Japan has experience doing; the added cost is worth it because it’s so hard to find candidates.

   This is all very hilarious to me because in the US we hire foreigners for tech jobs all the time, often preferably, because they often expect less pay or are willing to take less pay in exchange for visa sponsorship. (The ethics of this practice are questionable and it is not universal, pay equity is a concept in the US sometimes). I think in Japan they hire people from India and other part of Asia in the same context.

   There seems to be at least one Japanese company that says publicly “we value diversity and inclusion, American SaaS style, and we’re hiring foreigners on purpose” but that seems to be extremely cutting edge for Japanese work culture and it’s very rare. That company is Woven Planet. I don’t know how true it is. They have a need for very specialized staff that are hard to find anywhere, much less Japan.

   The other thing at play here is the basic psychology of hiring someone who isn’t local. There is an inherent risk associated with hiring someone from out of town who’s planning to move for the job. Things often go wrong, people’s plans change, and someone from out of town could be really different than you are. Given a qualified local candidate and a qualified out-of-town candidate, for an in-person job, the local candidate is usually more competitive. Some people will even get sketched out about candidates with a long commute, because they wouldn’t make a long commute themselves.

   Most of this shit is really dumb IMO, hiring people for jobs can be accessible and equitable whether you’re American, Japanese, European, or anything else. Equitability in hiring is a cross cultural value, and it benefits everyone involved. Language barriers are real tho.

3. Employers care that you’re legally allowed to work where you are working from. So wherever you are intending to live while working for them use the passport that gives you the right to work there.

4. I was in a similar position as you until yesterday when I told my boss about moving to Japan and my employer wants to keep me even in Japan (we’ll see in what form as an employee or contractor).

   I am a naturalized US citizen who just got 5 year spousal visa (as a former Japanese citizen) 2 days ago. My CoE came last week (via a judicial scrivener) and had to FedEx to L.A. consulate since they only accept visa application via mail.

   Since I wasn’t sure, I was looking but gave up after finding most jobs that were advertising WFH anywhere paid less than my current job. I also talked to many US recruiter for 100% remote jobs and most weren’t open to working from Japan. Those that sounded like they were ok with it didn’t pan out.

   So my advice? Do what you can so that your employer sees you as irreplaceable. That’s what I focused on and seems to have worked for me. Good luck!

5. Please remember that you don’t pay taxes twice. USA or Japan but you only pay either or, depending on the situation. What your employer considers your citizenship as far as taxes is immaterial unless you are subscribed in the Japanese tax system. Then make sure that this is noted on your US return. Assistance is available for a fee all over the internet.

6. US citizenship impacts here. Also, pls note the concept of domicile too.