To the foreigners who want to live and work in Japan- updated

Our office frequently receives the phone calls and messages from the foreigners who want to stay in Japan by working and asking the work which our office can’g help.

Before contacting the office, please read the followings;

1. Our office is not an agency to introduce the jobs in Japan

Our office is providing the legal service once the foreigner is hired by or finds the job which is required to obtain the certificate of residency, and not the agency to introduce the job or employer for you.

So, even the query says ‘I want to live in Japan. Please help’, the office is not able to help as such.

Please contact appropriate person or entity which advises and/or helps to find the job for you. Once you find the job and the employer accepts to be a sponsorship of your certificate of eligibility, please check the following website and contact our office what kind or help you are required.

2. The differentiate between Visa and Certificate

Most of the foreigners calling or messaging me do not understand the differentiate between Visa and Certificate.

Visa is the permission to entry into Japan. When the foreigners originating the country which is within the visa waiver program, it does not need visa for entering into Japan. Please see the following link and check whether you need visa or not.

https://www.mofa.go.jp/j_info/visit/visa/short/novisa.html.

If your country is not one of the countries within this program and you need to obtain the visa, ask the Japan consulate in your county and do the process. This is relatively easy process and easier to get the visa for the person living that county than our office locating outside of this foreign county.

If your country is within this waiver program and you want to work or stay with your families or any other reasons to stay longer than the visa permitted (depends on the country but mostly three months is the maximum) in Japan, then you need to obtain the certificate of eligibility.

This is the requirement under immigration law. Please see below.

http://www.immi-moj.go.jp/english/tetuduki/kanri/shyorui/01.html

To obtain the certificate of eligibility, various types of the status exist. Although the below link is only Japanese and no other language page, please check and translate into your mother language.

http://www.moj.go.jp/ONLINE/IMMIGRATION/ZAIRYU_NINTEI/zairyu_nintei10.html

the following website might be more helpful which is created by Addison Sears-Collins although I can’t guarantee the accuracy of this information;

https://www.visahunter.com/visa/japan/

Once you acknowledged yourself you may eligible to apply, please contact our office and discuss the procedure. I recommend you to choose appropriate representative in Japan and come to the office to move forward the procedure smoothly.

3. Ask the professional

Please note even you roughly understand the process after checking the link above, to obtain the visa requires some technique and skill.  Also it happens frequently that the status and requirement are changed, added or vanished. Therefore,  the best way to obtain the status is to ask the professional for helping this process. The fee paid to this professional might be worth for you.