Working Part Time; Visa Requirements

Hello everyone,

I'm currently an English teacher in training and a part time musician / DJ and I'm hoping to land a job as an English teacher of some sort in Japan (as with the other 10,000 hopefuls) with the qualifications I will soon obtain.

My question is, would it be possible for me to engage in part-time remunerative musical activities such as DJ-ing or performing with a visa for teaching or would I need a separate one for that?

If I understand correctly, a ''Working Visa'' would allow me to do both. But then again, I'm a complete dunce with matters pertaining to immigration and such, so any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

http://www.mofa.go.jp/j_info/visit/visa/04.html

"Working visa" comes in different categories - there is no general "work visa" that allows you to engage in any kind of paid work. if you get hired as an English teacher, your sponsor will apply for and obtain for you Instructor status so that you can work for them. But I suppose DJ would fall under... maybe Entertainer?

Staticitch,

My understanding is that, technically, if you have a working visa that allows you to teach, you are not really supposed to do other jobs (such as DJing). However, so long as you don't upset your sponsor, there's probably no real problem. Note that your sponsor may possibly include a clause in your contract that explicitly prohibits you from doing part-time work elsewhere, so make sure you read the fine print.

Although some employers do include "no outside work" clauses, they are not legally enforceable.

Theoretically you are not supposed to do work outside the scope of your usual visa- it is questionable whether the usual Humanities and International Services visa would insclude DJing, and the Instructor visa that many ALTs get definitely doesn't. It is possible to apply for "permission to engage in other activities", but if you apply very soon after arriving in Japan you are more likely to be turned down.

Thats right, you'll probably need to apply for what is called "Permission to Engage in an Activity Other Than That Permitted by the Status of Residence Previously Granted"

Good thing I posted my question here. Well, the "Permission to Engage in an Activity Other Than That Permitted by the Status of Residence Previously Granted" thing seems viable, and I don't intend on DJ-ing immediately after reaching Japan; probably about 4 - 5 months after settling in. Plus I would need my employer to be my guarantor, so I'd definitely need to get that sorted first.

The only other option would be to get married to a Japanese, which is highly unlikely at the moment.

So yeah, thanks everyone for the head's up! Much obliged.