I’ll do an internship with a small-sized Japanese tech company in January. Is there a possibility for the internship to turn into a visa-sponsored full-time position?
I don’t have a bachelor’s degree & can’t afford $20,000 American-priced semesters anymore, so graduation is unlikely for me.
I have a vast software development portfolio & worked for a startup in the past.
Could an immigration lawyer help me get a visa? My girlfriend is Japanese & is willing to assist with the process.
I’m just trying to figure out how to get in Japan for the long-term.
Any help would be appreciated.
3 comments
How are you getting a visa to do an internship?
Unless you have a bachelor’s degree or 10 years of relevant experience you won’t be able to get a work visa.
Internships to full time employment isn’t common in my experience. In my University, internships are a study program, where a student works somewhere, gets experience and university course credit. There is also the difficulty that even if a company wants you in, you don’t meet the Bachelor degree requirement imposed by immigration. Is marriage an option in the near future? From what I see here, that seems like the least logistically difficult route.
>Is there a possibility for the internship to turn into a visa-sponsored full-time position?
If you qualify for a work visa then its a definite maybe. The internship itself though is not a qualification. Generally speaking Immigration requires a bachelors degree or approximately 10 years of relevant experience.
>I don’t have a bachelor’s degree
This will be problematic. A completed three year diploma would probably fine for developer job. I myself only have a 3 year diploma and was able to get an engineer visa many years ago. But I did complete the program and got the paper to prove it.
>I have a vast software development portfolio & worked for a startup in the past.
A highly respected company could probably make the case to immigration that your portfolio represents a certain amount of experience. How long did you work at the startup? Close to 10 years?
>Could an immigration lawyer help me get a visa?
If you don’t meet the minimum requirements the lawyer won’t really help. They’re great for edge cases, but they can’t work miracles.
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>My girlfriend is Japanese & is willing to assist
<BAD ADVICE> If your girlfriend became your wife, you could get a spouse visa and then all your visa problems go away. </BAD ADVICE>