Friend sponsor for a cert. of eligibility

my partner and i are looking to find COE sponsorship in order to get a working visa. On the embassy website it says you can be sponsored by a company, school, relative etc. does the "etc" include friends?

Stupid question maybe, but it'll save a lot of hastle.

Cheers

Don't look at embassies' websites for immigration information, because they say a lot of crap. The CoE application is done with the immigration bureau, and the procedure is described here:

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

In particular, for work-related statuses, it does not ask for a "sponsor", only for your "place of employment", which is self-explanatory.

Thanks heaps for that!

The embassy's website and phone conversations are pretty confusing... They don't want you to do anything they may deem 'dodgy' I guess?
Anyone I've spoken to or read posts by say to go on a different visa then apply, but the embassy is pretty against that idea.

So basically what you're saying is: I need someone who runs a business to tell an immigration office that I'm not a criminal and hand over certain documents, then the'll hopefully give me a CoE?

The CoE application is much more than a formality. Its main purpose is to determine that the activity you want to engage in falls within the scope of your desired status of residence. Because the activities permitted under a given status are not always very precisely defined, this is often decided on a case-by-case basis, especially for borderline cases (which is why a CoE application can take so long). If you want to look at the available statuses and the activities corresponding to them, they are here (in the appended tables):

http://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/law/detail/?id=1934&vm=&re=

And also most statuses have a set of minimal requirements which are necessary (but not sufficient!) to obtain them, which are given here:

http://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/law/detail/?id=2006&vm=04&re=0...

For most work-related statuses (commonly referred to as "work visas"), the requirements include a university degree or an equivalent qualification, or several years of experience.

Basically, if you can get a CoE, there's not much the embassy can do, they must give you the corresponding visa. That's how it's supposed to work, as well. What can be more troublesome is if you want to obtain a visa without a CoE. Then the embassy has a lot more control over the process, and ability to make things difficult.

No worries!

Thanks again for your info. I'll look into it further and see what I can do...

By the way, if by "go on a different visa then apply" you mean first go on a non-work visa and then apply for a change of status, this depends on what your first status (the one you will get upon entering Japan) will be.

If your first status is "Temporary Visitor", which is the case in particular when you enter Japan without a visa if your nationality allows it, then the reason the embassy disapproves of it is that by law, if you want to change your status from "Temporary Visitor" to something else, you must demonstrate that you have "exceptional circumstances" which prevent you from going the standard route (i.e., applying for a visa). But, as you have seen, enforcement of this particular point of law seems to be quite loose currently: many people do it and succeed, but still some don't. If you want to try your luck at it, there's nothing the embassy can do to stop you, so you can disregard what they say.

If you first enter Japan with another non-work visa (say, a student visa), then you get a status other than "Temporary Visitor" (say, "Student"), and after that changing your status to something else is completely normal and accepted. However, if you apply for the change of status shortly after entering Japan, you will of course be questioned about why you entered as a student in the first place, and very probably be denied your change of status, at best. They are not stupid and they don't like dishonest people.

So basically what you're saying is: I need someone who runs a business to tell an immigration office that I'm not a criminal and hand over certain documents, then the'll hopefully give me a CoE?

If you intend on going on a work visa you need to find an employer to agree to hire you first. Then they will apply for a COE on your behalf.