I recently had an interview with them and offered me visa sponsorship. However they want me to pay 100,000yen for visa, housing placement etc.
They claim that I’ll reimbursed the 100,000 yen after 3 months of employment. They want the deposit to make sure I don’t ‘run off with the visa’.
In addition, they want me to come to Japan before I am given a job placement.
This seems a little shady to me.
Has anyone heard of anything similar ?
22 comments
After you deposit the 100,000 yen , I believe you have to suck the owner’s **** and make his dinner. For these reasons and only these reasons I DON’T recommend this company.
That seems like a scam. I’ve not heard of them, but you should enter the country with your work visa. Check with immigration if you can switch from a tourist to a work visa, because it doesn’t seem likely.
I would be very careful about giving money to a company.
Obvious scam. That’s not how employment works.
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If they want money for moving to Japan costs, it’s probably a scam. I’ve never heard of an eikaiwa requiring you to pay for your visa, and housing is deducted out of your check. They want the deposit so they can ghost you after you wire the funds.
Scam. Never pay a company money just to start working there
Had a look and they dont advertise any jobs or anything. I’d give them a miss.
Illegal practices, I’m pretty sure.
When your gut feeling say run you run
Though I dont think all places will pay for flights I think even the shittiest of places will sort everything out for you. 100k is a lot of cash, they might not be scamming you but there are plenty of other places who will be happy to take and you might get you plane ticket free too.
Seriously? The only purpose of a job is to get paid. If a company is asking YOU to pay THEM, it doesn’t get much more obvious.
This has to be a scam. The visa process is not expensive at all. The visa process requires a couple of pages of a fill-in form, passport, photo, university diploma, and the company submitting a couple of pages of tax documents, etc. They want the 4000 yen stamp when you pick up the Zairyu card.
There’s no reason to use a service and pay money to get a job in Japan. This company is taking advantage of young, inexperienced people who don’t know how to live independently yet.
This service offloads the cost of settling you, the new employee, when the ALT dispatch companies or eikaiwas already do this. Don’t pay the employer’s overhead costs!
Nearly everything they claim to offer is usually handled by the company or institution that hires you. The rest, ask in r/movingtojapan.
You enter on the visa – humanities or instructor – that’s issued by the embassy or consulate.
The **government’s JET Program and sister city programs** take fresh grads and unqualified people to work as ALTs and provide extensive settling-in and social support.
OP – link us to their website so we can name and shame these evil scammers!!
A company requiring ypu to pay them?
When an agency recruited me, they paid for my flight to Japan, documents, housing, language training, pocket money, etc.
Obvious scam. Avoid and report.
Think of all the Weebs so desperate to come to Japan they’ll pay 100,000 yen for the privilege.
I’ll do it for 50,000
That’s a scam.
The visa doesn’t cost them anything, a huge red flag. Absolutely don’t give them any money.
#Can you change a tourist visa to a work visa?
The answer technically has always been no. You’re not supposed to look for a job while on a tourist visa because that’s an activity not covered by the visa itself. But before, this was a huge grey area because while this wasn’t technically allowed, many applications to obtain a work visa after being hired by companies while on a tourist visa were approved. However, the system has gotten much more strict around the end of 2019 and this is no longer a viable option. While not all applications may be rejected, much more reportedly are than before.
So, if a company hires you and asks you to come to Japan on a tourist visa while they process your work visa, know that it’s not a good company to be working for as you aren’t allowed to work at ALL on a tourist visa, AND it’s become more difficult to obtain a work visa from a tourist visa.
If you are hired by a company while in Japan on a tourist visa, you should go back to your home country and apply for a proper work visa with a Certificate of Eligibility. Since you’ve already been hired (and your company is helping sponsor your visa), then the process should be much smoother and a much higher guarantee than taking a risk to see if your application will be approved while still in Japan. Otherwise, it’s just best to start the job-hunting process from abroad to begin with.
Keep in mind if you get caught you won’t be able to apply for another job or get a visa for 6 months after. Not only that but the notation might affect you in the future if you decide to become a permanent resident.
I did a quick google search of the company name + review. The reviews seem average, but honestly, that “deal” sounds suspicious. You can’t “run off with a visa” >> you’re required by law to report any job changes / address changes / change in visa status with either the local immigration office and/or your local hall.
I’ve never heard of a company asking a potential employee to pay 100,000 yen (or any sum, for that matter) up front. If anything, they should be paying YOU to relocate your life halfway around the world, they should be arranging housing for you on their dime, and then working for a couple of months before they even pay you. F that.