Couple Moving To Japan

Hello,

We am trying to find anywhere can to get advice from anyone who can help us. Because it is the holidays its very hard for us to get an answer and get an idea where we should be going with this. So my boyfriend got a teaching job in Japan and of course we do not want to be apart so now we want to move to Japan together, only problem I do not have a job in Japan and I don't have a higher education than High School. I almost had my Associates Degree but fell very ill and had to give up. We are looking at a Artist Visa, or a Cultural Visa. Is there a visa that I could work with? If I went as a tourist could I change it to a work visa? Also, just throwing this out there if we were engaged is there visa that works for fiances? By the way we have two months before the plane sets off. March 29 to be exact!

You need to plan better (and from earlier)! No, there is no fiance visa; you will be eligible for Dependent visa only if you are married, which allows you to do some part-time work.

I see that you are residing in the States, and I will assume you are a US citizen, and Working Holiday Visa is not available to US citizens.

You could come in on Temporary Visitor status, and IF you qualify for a type of work visa (one of many different categories) and find an employer you could get work visa, but lacking special training or bachelor's degree OR work experience in a specialized field, and employment offer, you will not be able to just switch to any work visa.

Artist visa means you need to have an established portfolio already (no college requirement), and an employer.
Cultural visa means you have been engaging in Japanese culture related field and you want to pursue advanced studies at an institute in Japan. Anything applies to you?

If not, all I can think of is that you just visit him as Temporary Visitor, no paid work allowed, and up to 90 days at a time. Or you can enroll in a Japanese language school full-time (application must be made and tuition needs to be paid ahead, so you will not make it in time for March), and study and do part-time work.

The easiest way to get a visa in your situation would seem the dependent visa, which however requires the two of you to be married.
Other visa options depend on your ability to find a job in Japan that is willing to sponsor your visa. Not an easy task.
As previous poster said, getting a student visa is an other possibility. It will allow some part time work, but it also causes costs for the school. So likely more than the money you can make will be spent on school.

Visas take their time, ie several months. The only one that as a US citizen you get immediately is the tourist visa.

Do some more research on visas and jobs, but unfortunately Japan (as some other countries) is not very immigration friendly. And getting a work or even only �gliving �g visa can be difficult.

I hope you will be able to enjoy your life in Japan!