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How can I stay in Japan? 2016/10/3 02:35
Hi everyone,

I'm 23 and I just graduated from university in Belgium. I decided to take a year off to go to Japan to experience the life there and to improve my language skills (been studying Japanese for 3 years)
I've been living in Europe for my whole life so I'm not familiar with all these visa issues since we can cross borders freely here.

My plan is to work in a guest house in exchange of free accommodation, I have already found a few places that I like on workaway.info
However, Belgium doesn't offer the working holiday visa and it seems like I can only go to Japan for 90 days without visa. Would this be fine even if I want to work in a guest house ?
The problem is that I want to stay longer than that since I took a full year off and if I understood everything right, there's no way for me to be sure that they will allow me to extend my stay or to reenter the country after the 90 days.
I thought about enrolling in a language school but if I register now, I would only be able to start in April.

Summary of my questions:
1) Is working in exchange of free accommodation totally fine without any visa or can I run into trouble ?
2) Is there any way for me to be sure that I will be allowed to extend my stay to more than 90 days?
3) Does someone recommend any other option besides going to a language school for me to be allowed to stay in Japan longer ? It seems very unlikely that I'll be able to find a job to get a working visa, right ?

Thank you for your time!
by MarSch27  

Re: How can I stay in Japan? 2016/10/3 12:22
1. Yes, if you don't get money it's fine.
2. There is zero chance of you being able to extend your stay without leaving Japan, or to just do "visa runs" for one year. The only way you could stay in Japan for one year without a proper visa is to overstay, which is quite risky.
by Firas rate this post as useful

Re: How can I stay in Japan? 2016/10/3 12:30
1) I am not 100% sure "accommodation" given to you for "free" will be considered unpaid. Check what the "few places that I like" say about that point.

2) No.

3) Any internship that is offered by a company in Japan that interests you? Note that that would require a visa as far as I know, something like "cultural" visa, that the application/review process will take time.
by AK rate this post as useful

Re: How can I stay in Japan? 2016/10/3 13:51
(1) purpose of visit is not tourism, but to work, so that is a problem before you get into other issues like living expenses. I have met someone (from Sweeden) doing an internship at a ryokan, but they are on a proper visa.

(2) under visa waiver, doing four stretches of 90 days in a year is do-able, but you can expect some questioning about what you are doing, especially given (1) above. If you were in country for tourism, then there would not be a problem.

(3) Legally to stay in Japan, follow one of the standard visa routes. There are 2.3 million foreign residents and while it seems to me that a lot are in service industries (like house keeping), there are others doing all sorts of different jobs.

by JapanCustomTours rate this post as useful

Re: How can I stay in Japan? 2016/10/3 13:54
purpose of visit is not tourism, but to work, so that is a problem before you get into other issues like living expenses.

It would be a problem if entering without a visa was only permitted for tourism purposes, but this is not the case.
by Firas rate this post as useful

Re: How can I stay in Japan? 2016/10/3 17:03
Yes, that is true. Entering for business is also allowed (as an example), but in this case, wanting to stay a year would stretch that a little.
by JapanCustomTours rate this post as useful

Re: How can I stay in Japan? 2016/10/4 15:33

Is working in exchange of free accommodation totally fine without any visa or can I run into trouble ?

This is for U.S. citizens. However, I assume, the rules would be applicable to you.
Unauthorized Employment:
U.S. citizens entering either visa free or with a tourist visa are not allowed to work in Japan

My plan is to work in a guest house in exchange of free accommodation
Entering Japan with tourist visa, and working in exchange of free accommodation constitutes working illegally.

You may want check the above information from your local Japanese embassy or consulate.
by * (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: How can I stay in Japan? 2016/10/4 15:38
The above message is wrong in every respect, including the advice to consult Japanese embassies/consulates.
by Firas rate this post as useful

Re: How can I stay in Japan? 2016/10/5 09:09

I can only go to Japan for 90 days without visa. Would this be fine even if I want to work in a guest house ?

If you are going to work in Japan, you need a different visa.

by * (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: How can I stay in Japan? 2016/10/5 09:14
If you are going to work in Japan, you need a different visa.

That is not entirely true, as it is possible to work in Japan on a temporary visa without financial compensation. The WWOOF program, for example, is built on this premise and they have been active in Japan for a long time. Guesthouse work in exchange for free accommodation might fall into this category, but you'll have to check. The bigger problem is that this is probably not sustainable more than 6 months. After that, you'll probably start raising flags with immigration.
by yllwsmrf rate this post as useful

Re: How can I stay in Japan? 2016/10/5 09:56
Thanks to all of you who took the time to reply.

I will probably have to try leaving and reentering one time for 90 more days. Even then, I have no guarantee that I will be allowed to do that.
Then, after these 2x90 days I would either have to start language school or to find a job (the latter seems more unlikely)
The purpose of my visit is not just work, I would only be working for 4 hours a day, 5 days per week. The rest of the time I would visit places and basically be a tourist. I know that hosts on workaway welcome guests on tourist visas but I was more worried about the border control. I will ask the hosts about it

@Firas: Why wouldn't it be a good idea to call the Japanese embassy in my country to ask about it ?

Thanks again
by MarSch27 rate this post as useful

Re: How can I stay in Japan? 2016/10/5 12:13


@Firas: Why wouldn't it be a good idea to call the Japanese embassy in my country to ask about it ?

Your question is more than just a routine travel query. Consider information from this forum as " personal opinion" only ( it can be out of date, or completely wrong). Do not take them as gospel truth. You should obtain detailed information from the "official authority".
by * (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: How can I stay in Japan? 2016/10/5 12:28
Well, even if the primary purpose of your stay is not to work, work such as "4 hours a day, 5 days a week" is a type of jobs that are typically done by those on Working Holiday Visa, the special visa that allows young people to travel/sightsee extensively while giving them a way to earn pocket money to help with travel expenses (sounds exactly like what you want to do, right?), which is unfortunately not available to Belgian nationals.

I again encourage you to check with the guesthouses who offer you that set-up that the Temporary Visitor status is OK to for working for free accommodation.
by AK rate this post as useful

Re: How can I stay in Japan? 2016/10/5 14:10
it is Œ»•¨Žx‹‹. it is considered as a non-money salary in income tax law. thus, taxable.
even if the guest house owner says OK, it does not prove legality.
by ken (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: How can I stay in Japan? 2016/10/12 09:16
This morning's paper reports an arrest made of a couple of guests (tourists onTemporary Visitor status) at a guesthouse who worked for free accommodation at the hostel and of the hostel owner, who advertised in English for people to work in exchange for accommodation. The guests thought it was ok because they were not receiving cash. The first such arrest I have read about.
by AK rate this post as useful

Re: How can I stay in Japan? 2016/10/13 00:15
that sounds terrible... Thanks for letting me know about this recent event.
Well, seems like I'm screwed unless I can find an alternative way to stay in Japan during my year off :(
by MarSch27 rate this post as useful

Re: How can I stay in Japan? 2016/10/13 07:16
by AK rate this post as useful

Re: How can I stay in Japan? 2016/10/13 07:48
Yes I read that article earlier today. I'm not willing to risk it anymore, even though the chances of this happening are very slim, I would constantly feel like my stay could go wrong at any time, which wouldn't make my trip very enjoyable.
So I have to find another way since I don't want to waste that year off
by MarSch27 rate this post as useful

Re: How can I stay in Japan? 2016/10/13 07:57
20 hours a week falls under the 28 hours allowed by the special part-time work permit, but is still quite a lot of work.
by JapanCustomTours rate this post as useful

Re: How can I stay in Japan? 2016/10/13 08:24
20 hours a week falls under the 28 hours allowed by the special part-time work permit

This isn't really relevant though as the 28 hour allowance for part time work is for those with residency classes such as student or dependent, and the allowance must be applied for in advance. There is no part work allowance for temporary visitors.
by yllwsmrf rate this post as useful

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