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Filippino Maid's in Tokyo? 2005/5/20 17:26
Our Filippino maid has worked for us for 3 years. We live in HOng Kong, however, will be transferring to Tokyo with my Husband's work. I will also be working, so we would love to bring our maid as we have 2 young boys. Any information or past experiences in regards to visa's etc., would be appreciated.
by Jules  

forget it 2005/5/22 00:03
Tokyo is not Hong Kong, domestic helpers are not the norm, so it's back to life in the real world for you.

I am sure you can arrange for someone to provide part time help, but I doubt you will be able bring your maid to Japan, at least not at anything close to a Hong Kong level salary.
by Tilt rate this post as useful

one more thing 2005/5/22 00:11
Sorry, I forgot to address the issue of childcare. Try looking at this website for advice:
http://www.tokyowithkids.com/

Hope you enjoy living in Tokyo. Good luck.
by Tilt rate this post as useful

possible, but lots of bureaucracy 2005/5/25 22:00
It is sometimes possible to bring domestic helpers with you, but it depends on your visa category. The main ones that can sponsor a housekeeper are diplomatic, business investor/manager, and I think partners in legal firms. Holders of ordinary "intra-company transferee" visas are not allowed to sponsor a visa. If your husband is being transferred to the Japan office of his current company, the easiest way is to get someone at the company to check details for you, or contact an immigration consultant. What I do know is that it is a slow, bureaucratic process and you may well find that even if you are eligible to bring someone over, her visa will not be ready in time. Some people get around that by bringing the helper over on a "tourist" visa to start with, but it is illegal to work on a tourist visa, and immigration has been cracking down quite hard on illegal Filipino workers recently.

But, as someone else said, having live-in household help is not normal in Japan. Some expats have help one or two days a week (filipinos doing part-time work away from their main sponsors), and it is quite easy to find people to do that. However, it is also much more expensive than Hong Kong: the going rate for part-time help is Y1,500 per hour plus transport costs, and I think live in helpers cost around Y180,000-Y200,000 a month, if you have an apartment big enough for them to live in too. If they have to live out it costs more.

Depending on the age of the children, there are other childcare options available (nurseries, after-school care etc). Tokyowithkids.com is a good place to ask advice/read about other people's experience (go to the "discussions" page).
by tokyo mother rate this post as useful

Thank you 2005/5/26 16:21
Thank you Tokyo Mum for your detailed answer, much appreciated. Yes, we will try and have my Husband's work apply for that type of visa and then have our fingers crossed. The reason why I want to bring her is because I am also transferring with my work, so it would be much easier on the children to have continuity, rather then getting a new Helper or putting them into full-time childcare etc. Anyway, if we can not take her, we will need to kick into gear with option 2, so thank you for that.

All the best.
by Jules rate this post as useful

another maid question 2005/5/31 17:25
I'm living in Singapore and my husband will also be tranferred to Tokyo soon and would like to bring our maid along. If she works for us live in, but can also work for other people, do we pay the full 180,000+ salary or do the other parties contribute to this salary? We really only need part-time help, but would like someone live in so we can have some night time babysitting also. Thanks for any advice.
by helena rate this post as useful

Answer to Helena 2005/6/2 09:18
Helena,

I have done more research on this topic. Basically, the minimum wage for a non-Japanese domestic helper is 150,000 Yen per month. This is about $2,300 SIN dollars per month. Although some people will pay them a bit less, I think you could probably work out an arrangement with her so that she is not paid any less then this per month. We are going to pay ours the minimum even though that is double to what she would get paid in HK. But I think that is only fair as that is the rules in country and she will be packing up her life and moving to Tokyo if her visa gets approved! Anyway, hope this helps.

Jules
by Jules rate this post as useful

Maid Visa 2005/8/20 13:35
My husband is getting transferred to Tokyo on a intra-company transferee visa.Is there any way we can get a visa for the maid as we have two small children ( 3 yrs & 1 yr). Can we apply a visa on the grounds that we need to have a maid who can teach our children our local language and custons ..is this an option
by Lakshmi rate this post as useful

employment visa for maid 2005/8/21 10:18
It is illegal in Hong Kong for your maid employed from overseas to work for other people except the employer.

I wonder if this applies in Japan as someone mentioned previously that employers can release their maids for part-time jobs in order to help paying the minimum salary!
by TW rate this post as useful

just a bump 2007/11/9 15:32
I dug this thread up to answer a more current question that has been posted on the same subject.
by Tilt rate this post as useful

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