Internship only with university contract?

Hello,

I am 22 years old and I come from the Czech Republic. I am pursuing a bachelor degree (last year) of International Trade at the University of Economics in Prague and currently I am studying in Germany at the RWTH University in Aachen.

To extend my experiences and fulfiI my big dream I have decided to find an internship in Japan (5-6 months). I know that for obtaining a visa I need the Certificate of Eligibility. My japanese company is already working on it (small start-up with no visa experiences), but we have found a problem concerning the sending institution. I am going to write my bachelor thesis during my internship, I will be fully enrolled at my university, but it will be an internship from my own initiative= without being a part of my studies.

Is it actually possible? Obtaining the Certificate of Eligibility only with a confirmation of study, transcript of academic records and recommendation letter from a professor (=without having a contract with my university) ? The internship compensation would be 100,000 yen/month.

It looks that the immigration office doesn't allow this. Do you have any experiences?

Thank you very for your answer and your help.

Barbora

I do not see what kind of status you could obtain in your situation.

* You cannot get a regular work visa because you do not yet have a degree.

* You cannot get a student visa because you will not be enrolled at a school in Japan.

* You probably don't qualify for "trainee" status because 1) it does not normally allow paid works (internships in Japan are usually unpaod), and 2) it requires, among other things, that the applicant intend to obtain technology, skills, or knowledge that are difficult or impossible to obtain in the region in which he/she resides.

* Your citizenship does not qualify for working holiday visas.

Maybe there is a special category of "designated activities" which will fit your situation, the company would need to discuss this with the immigration bureau.

we regularily have interns from Europe in the company where I work. we ask them for a confirmation of their university that they recommend this specific internship as part of their curriculum. in addition, we need to sign a document that we pay for all cost associated to getting the interns out of the country if they cannot afford that themselves. plus, we don't pay a "salary", we rather pay an allowance for living cost amounting to roughly the same amount that you have mentioned.

there is a lot of further admin stuff - e.g. we need to submit a detailed work plan for the intern and so on. that's why we let a professional visa agent handle this - sorry that I can't give more details on the exact process as a result.

in short, it seems to be possible, but you might need the help of someone who knows the requirements and the process well.

外国の大学の学生...が、当該教育課程の一部として、当該大学と本邦の公私の機関との間の契約に基づき...

there should be an agreement between the university you belong to and the company in Japan.
the university is the one you are paying the tuition to, probably the Czech university. you are a guest student in the German university.
a professor is not a representative of the university.
the agreement is necessary to prove that you are not a worker, and a student being sent from the university as keeping a student status.

Hi Barbora,

Have you ever thought of asking internship companies?
I know they have great connections and take care of your internship, accommodation and perhaps your visa.
http://interninjapan.com/

Let me know how it goes and good luck!