Any options than a vistor visa?

It has been my dream (for quite some time) to live in Japan. I took a short (1 month) trip there about a year ago but I really wanted a longer stay (atleast 1 year). I was initially planning on trying to get into the JET program but I ended up quitting (for now) my school and never got my degree.

A degree although useful is not super important in the type of work I do (Linux system administration/support). I currently work for web-hosting company as a system administrator but I want to take a cut in pay and go back into support as it will provide me with the possibility of working 100% remotely.

I have talked to my boss about this a little but I am not 100% sure if I will be able to do it or not but the chances I think are pretty good I will. Now my only problem is a vistor VISA is only 3 months. What can I do? I guess I could take a plain trip to taiwan or something every 3 months but I was looking into the different VISA's to see if there are other options.

I was wondering if the cultural VISA could be an option? I don't really need to work in Japan since my income will actually be coming from my current job which I will be working remotely from Japan.

Should I just try to take something up (like calligraphy?) or can I just use my love of the Japanese language and desire to get more practice/use out of it as a reason for this VISA? I basically want to know what my options are.

I took 6 semesters of Japanese in college and was planning on a Japanese major. So I don't really have too many issues with communicating in Japanese. The last class I took was over 2 years ago and since then (other than my ability to write kanji) my Japanese has improved quite a bit but I feel like I am hitting a wall.

I still have about 3 classes left to finish up my general-ed until I can transfer to a 4 year and finish up the requirements for a Japanese Major which will probably be atleast 1 more year at school. This is my backup plan if My work will not let me work remotely.

My total monthly income when I go back to support will probably be ~$3000 USD. I don't think I would have any problems supporting myself as I have about 25k in saving as well which I can dig into if needed. So anyone know any alternatives to a 90 day VISA? If not anyone know the best method to keep renewing that for long term stay?

Any responses are appreciated.

Thanks!
Sandon.

Sandon, the usual maximum that Immigration authorities will give you in any one year on tourist permits is 180 days, and if you were unlucky you might not even be given the second 90 days, so don't rely on that idea to stay in Japan long term.

If you have a reasonable number of years experience in your field and can find an employer here to sponsor you you may qualify for a working visa (no need to capitalise "visa" by the way- VISA is the credit card!), but jobs for expats in IT are pretty competitive these days and the lack of a degree would make it hard.

Really if you want to stay in Japan long term your best option is to finish that degree- a lot more doors will be open to you.

Failing that, you could come on a student visa (but will need to attend classes here full time), or find a Japanese national to marry so you can get a spouse visa!

I haven't seen any definitive answer on this, but I don't think that the Japanese immigration authorities will allow people to live in Japan,
work remotely from home (unless your non-Japanese employer has a rep office in Japan of course), earn income from that, while not paying taxes on it, not paying resident tax, not paying insurance contribution, not holding some kind of working visa.

So you do need some kind of visa status that will allow you to live/work in Japan. As Sira said, you cannot rely on getting the 90-day temporary visitor status repeatedly. Furthermore, you are not supposed to engage in any paid work on that status. Japanese Immigration is of the approach that they grant visa status to those who NEED to be in Japan - because their employer needs you to be in Japan, or you need to be in Japan to study (whatever the subject).

And a bachelor's degree is required by immigration as the minimum educational background (or work experiences in place of that), it is irrelevant whether your job needs a degree or not. So... getting a degree and finding an employer in Japan sounds like almost the only option.

So is the cultural visa just not an option? There isn't anything else I can take up to try going for the cultural visa? I assume there wouldn't be a way for them to *know* I am working remotely while doing that, right? I don't need to work in Japan so I thought that might be an option.

Also even if I am not paying taxes I don't think I would be a negative to Japan since my income is not taking money from Japan's economy. In fact all my money would come to the U.S. but would be being spent in Japan so I would think it would actually help Japan's economy?

a working visa looks like pretty much the only option.

As for tax, if you live in Japan, you will be using public facilities in Japan, which is paid from tax, to which you must contribute if working in Japan.

To get a cultural visa you need to be seriously studying some kind of Japanese art, and have your past study in this documented, along with recommendation letters from current teachers saying how dedicated you are to the art. It's not a visa you can just come in on when you don't qualify for another category.

If you have been studying a Japanese art in depth and will be able to put the study time in once in Japan to meet the visa requirements, then by all means go for it.

While theoretically you are not supposed to do outside work without paying taxes in Japan, practically I imagine there are many people doing this.

Finish your degree and keep working. With your degree in hand, head to Japan after the economy gets better, job hunt, land a job, and move to Japan. That or marry a Japanese national. Nothing else will work out the way you want it to. Why? Because you are looking at this from the wrong direction. You're thinking, "I have a job that I can work from remotely and I make enough to live in Japan." Japanese immigration is looking at as "This guy has a job in the States and is not contributing anything to the Japanese social structure. When he loses his job in the US and has no money he will be a drain on OUR resources."

Sorry, it is not nice, but immigration officers in any country are not there to be nice. I know, I know, you're saying to yourself "But I'm not going to lose my job." Again you are looking at it from the wrong direction. Immigration looks at you from both what you can contribute as well as what you will take. What you are proposing has more negatives than positives because your income is not contributing to the social structure through things like income tax, health plans, etc.

I don't think I would be a drain on the Japanese economy especially when I am just putting money into it and not taking money away from it. I do understand how an immigrations official could see things differently though.

Also losing my job is a null-issue. If I lost my job I would simply return to the U.S. Also even if I did I would have plenty of time before even remotely running out of money since I have 25k USD in saving (per my original post). I could definitely live off that (most likely for an entire year or more) if I had to.

I was not really thinking about the drain on the local economy as I was talking about the attitude of Immigration; Japanese Immigration will grant visa status to those who NEED to be in Japan. That's how they will look at; they will grant a working visa (if sponsored by a local company) so that you can work for them. They will grant a student visa if you need to be here to study. So if you work remotely you don't *have to* be in Japan - it's not a country you can simply move to and live.

Unless you are willing to enroll in a Japanese language schoolschool full-time (of course pay full tuition and attend the classes properly), stay on a student visa that way, and hide the fact that you are earning your income remotely, I think the only way is to really get a degree (to fulfill Immigration requirements) and to find someone in Japan who is willing to hire you and sponsor you for a working visa.

Japan isn't the only country with specific requirements for anyone wanting to live there full time. I couldn't move to the USA or France, for example, and decide to live there full time. There are visa requirements That I would have to meet. Not one of the 1st world countries will let you live in their country full time if you do not have an official source of income for example. If you live in one country legally and earn income in another you MUST declare income in BOTH countries. This what happen to senior citizens, for example, who live in country B with their retirement pension from country A. It doesn't mean you pay taxes in both countries but you MUST declare your income in both. Also it is pretty much mandatory in any of the G8 countries that you are covered by the health care plan of the country your permanently reside in. Otherwise if you have to go to a local hospital your 25 K will not go very far! there are also all sorts of businesses like banks, landlords etc. that will ask you to prove that you are a legal resident.

Ok, so after some more thought I really think I need to get some sort of work VISA. It sounds to me like if I know someone who owns a business which is in Japan (I happen to know two people) they can sponsor me for work VISA and if I quit or whatever and they don't report me to immigrations then I can basically keep the work VISA.

I know its fruady for me to do something like this if I have no intention of actually working at the company and basically call in a favor from a friend but I was thinking of possibly doing this (if I could).

So anyway I talk to one of my good friends (non-japanese) and currently moves between USA and Japan several times during the year and is currently in USA. I was talking to him about doing something like this and he said that it costs the business around ��1,500,000 to sponsor someone for a work VISA when he did it but wasn't sure how much it is now. Is this true? I thought it just required a bunch of paperwork for them but I didn't know it cost this much money! I mean I could afford to just pay my friend the 15k to reimburse him for the sponsorship and continue with my plans or I might even be willing to work for him as he said he is starting up a managed dedicated server business which is right up my ally.

Another possible option is the company my dad works for as they have an office in Japan and could possibly sponsor me as well. So my question is this, does it really cost a business this much to sponsor someone or is my friend mistaken?

He also told me that when you are dealing with immigrations you should never mention that you want to live in Japan. He said like they showed him where it was written or something that they will deny people entry into the country if they show desire to live there, I don't know if that is true or not or what.

Any input is greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

It costs a company exactly 0 yen to sponsor someone for a work visa. Also, if you do not meet the Immigration criteria for sponsorship (i.e. having a university degree or sufficient years experience in the field you plan to work in), it doesn't matter if a company wants to sponsor you, you still don't qualify in the eyes of Immigration.

If you are serious about this contact Japan Immigration for concrete details rather than getting sketchy info from acquaintances and anonymous people on internet forums!

It does not cost the employer any money apart from the time spent on paperwork to sponsor someone for a visa. However, it costs money to *hire* someone - so he may have been talking about the initial pay, social insurance enrolment, health benefits enrolment, etc., to get you started. He sounds reluctant anyway.

But if you don't fulfill the basic requirements, as Sira mentioned, anyway you are very unlikely to be granted a work visa even with a potential sponsor. Just because someone wants to hire you in Japan, it does not get automatically granted.

Thanks for the info. I don't think the requirement from immigration would be that much of a problem simply because my friends business is in my field and both companies are IT-based. I have 3 years experience working for a web-hosting company (linux based web-hosting) as a linux system administrator and 5 years of work experience in the IT industry in general. Simply on the 3-10 year experience rule vs college degree I think I would be ok on that front wouldn't I?

It's up to the discretion of Immigration. By all means try, but be prepared for the possibility that you won't be granted the visa.

If you do get the visa, make sure you come back and tell us so that other people know it's possible. Lots of people in your situation never seem to come back and say what happened.

Your friend was right about one thing- if you arrive in Japan on a tourist visa, don't say anything about planning to work or change to a working visa. Although plenty of people do change, you technically aren't supposed to look for work on a tourist visa, so if you are asked at the airport, you are here to go hiking in the Japan Alps or whatever.

if you have that much experience, you might have a chance.

if you can find some company that will hire you and really pull for you on your visa application you might be able to get a visa on the basis that you have experience rather than a degree.

however, if you can't pull off the visa this time, just finish your degree as fast as you can, online if necessary. come to japan on a student visa and change your visa to a working visa once you finish your degree.

good luck

My friend is telling me its a minimum of 10 years experience. Just out of curiosity where did this 3-10 years experience come from? I am guessing it changes depending on the industry but where would I go to verify what it is for my industry? I checked the MOFA site but i couldn't find it (maybe I am blind)?

Actually, "3 years" is a number I've heard only for English language teaching - for others, I've heard of a case where the company really had to push through with someone with 7+ years of experience in finance (10 years seemed to have been what Immigration would have wanted to see on paper).

Ok, so I now see I don't have very good chances then. AK, I saw in another thread you talked about getting a student VISA and you listed enroll in a Japanese language school. Is this college or a school specifically for learning Japanese, if it is for specifically learning Japanese can anyone do it? How many hours/week of classes would it require? I would actually be quite willing to go to school while I work for my current company (remotely) and be on a student VISA as I love studying Japanese. I took 6 semmesters in college and took conversational Japanese twice. Assuming it isn't more than 10-15 hours a week of classes and the cost isn't outrageous I would love to do this. Do you know where I could find out more about doing something like this or approximate costs?

Thanks!

you have 6 semesters under your belt? you may as well just finish your degree online if possible, or finish it at home. you could probably do it in 4-6 months online.

other than that the only other options you have are to marry a japanese girl or to enroll full time into a japanese school. that is expensive and only allows part time work.