Additional info on the situation:
I’ve been in Japan about 20 years, I’m a US citizen but got Japanese Permanent Resident status about 10 years ago. A year ago I got a job with a US based contractor working on a project at a US base in Japan. I was not required to change to SOFA status at this point, so I kept the PR since I knew the job would be ending when the project finished. We’re coming down toward the end of the project, and I’m now looking for another job. Many of the positions I’m looking into are on the base (haven’t been having much luck reaching out to my contacts off base), but the jobs I’m looking at now would require changing over to SOFA status, which in turn requires revoking the PR status. Note that the jobs on base generally pay a bit better than most of the jobs I’ve had off base over the last 20 years.
SOFA is not without its advantages. I would get access to many, if not most, of the services and facilities on base. It’s possible my income would be essentially tax-free as I’d still be residing outside the US (living off base) long enough to claim the exemption, and Japan doesn’t have tax jurisdiction over those with SOFA.
I am married to a Japanese national. Acquiring a spouse visa, were I to seek employment off base again in the future, shouldn’t be an issue. There’s also the possibility of moving to the US in the future, though probably not for a few more years.
Disadvantages: I would lose Japanese national health insurance. Still looking into things, but I would probably end up getting US medical benefits via work. Our first child is due toward the end of the year, I assume our child would be covered under my spouse’s insurance while we live in Japan. There have been some situations where having PR allowed me to get around some of the “no foreigner” rules such as when I started renting an extra storage space. I’m also not sure how changing to SOFA status might affect things like my Japanese drivers license, Japan post & Rakuten bank accounts, etc. (I’ve got some more research to do on that side of things).
Are there any big drawbacks I’m missing? As the title says, am I crazy for considering switching over to SOFA?
1 comment
Not an American so I can’t fully relate to the dilemma but I have some perspective thoughts… how permanent are the SOFA-requiring positions on base? How likely are you to get one? How satisfying would you find the work vs what you have off-base? It wouldn’t be worth giving up for a 1-year contract … but might be if there were great long-term prospects.