student visa to work visa

Hi everyone,

I have some questions about changing my student visa to a work (specialist in humanities) visa and hope someone can help. I'm an American graduate student, but I want to work full time. What documents do I need to submit (on my behalf) other than the application and university degree?

I'm aware that as a graduate student I can work full time with permssion, but I was told that the years I spend in Japan will NOT count towards permanent resident status, and I figured that if I'm going to be here for the next 4 or 5 years, then I might as well get a work visa.

Also related, I'm traveling abroad soon and may not get down to immigration in time to get my re-entry permit. So, when I come back to Japan, I'll have a temporary visitor stamp, right? Or will I get my student visa status re-stamped into my passport? I this situation, can I still change my tourist visa to a work visa?

Sorry there are so many questions, but thank you for reading!

Your future employer is supposed to know! Your employer will have to apply for a certificate of eligibility for you, which you will then use to apply for your change of status of residence.

Documents required include personal identification, resume, copy of university degree or other proof that you have the necessary education or experience for the visa.

Your employer must also provide a copy of your contract, information on your salary, profit and loss statements and info on number of employees, type of company etc. You can get a list of required documents from the Immigration office.

As for the re-entry permit, if you don't have one when you leave Japan your student visa will be cancelled as you leave. You will also have to surrender your alien registration card so you would have to go and apply for a new one when you get back. When you come back in you will be given a tourist permit.

You are then not allowed to work until you have the working visa, which could be several weeks or more after you apply. Also if Immigration suspects you are coming in to look for work they may not let you in at all.

You can get a re-entry permit at the airport (at Narita at least) but that's supposed to be for emergencies, they do not like having to do it and it can take a while.

I really recommend finding the time to get to the Immigration office and get a re-entry permit- it doesn't take long and will make everything a lot simpler.

Thanks for the answers, but now I'm even more confused. What's the difference between my employer applying for my certificate of eligibility and taking all the documents down to immigration by myself to apply for a residence status change? I will be the first non-Japanese working at my company, so we're both clueless!