Working from Home - Visa Required?

Hello,

I am 24 years old. I work full-time from home as a game developer / artist / web developer / freelancer, and would like to move to Japan. Will I be required to obtain a work visa for this or how should I go about handling something of this nature. I do all of my work at home and generally acquire contract jobs and sell my games via email or forums. I have been doing this full-time for a few years now, and I do not have a university degree (I read somewhere that one is required for a work visa).

Thanks in advance!

Anderu,

Will I be required to obtain a work visa for this or how should I go about handling something of this nature.

Yes, you will need a Work Visa (or other visa that permits work) to engage in any paid activity. And as you require a sponsor (employer) for a work visa, freelance work is generally not an option for people when they first move to Japan.

I do not have a university degree (I read somewhere that one is required for a work visa).

Unfortunately, that will make it very difficult (i.e. pretty much impossible) to find visa sponsorship in Japan.

Just as I feared. It looks as though I'll have to get a degree then. That, or get married. ;)

Thank you for the response Dave.

How would they know whether he's working or not?
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Aside from that, how do you plan on staying in Japan long term? What visa did you plan on getting? Only work?

Since you don't have a Uni degree and don't qualify for the work visa, alternatively you could come here on a student visa. And with that you can work part time, as well as pursuing your degree, so that you can be sponsored with a work visa one day.

Options are going to a japanese language school then a japanese university or trade school. Or, go to an American University in Japan.


Or, you could start a business here and sponsor yourself on a Investor/Business Manager visa. That might be a bit expensive though.

Just a few options if you dont want to marry anyone. But there's some classified ads online too about women who wanna marry someone and they can sponsor your visa.

Thanks for the response Reina.

I have been able to support myself for some time by just doing business online from home. The work visa would just be a formality, as I would continue doing my job online internationally (though, I suppose it would be necessary to pay taxes for living in Japan).

My current plan is to utilize the 90 day tourist visa to visit as much as possible. I can develop things as a hobby while there and sell them when I get back in America. I don't know if this is frowned upon, but my job is the same no matter where I'm accessing the internet from.

I would like to avoid getting married as a means to immigrate if possible, but I'm not against the idea if it's the only way. I would much rather fall in love with someone while visiting Japan and do things the natural way.

Thanks again!

Somebody else just asked about doing back to back 90 day tourist oermit stays as a means to stay in Japan long term- here is the answer I posted on that thread:

The first time you do this it is likely, although not guaranteed, that you will be allowed in again. If you try to enter Japan a third time within a one-year period after having stayed 90 days on both previous entries, chances are very high that you will be turned away at Immigration and not allowed in for another 6 months.

There is an unwritten limit of 180 days in any one year. Sometimes there are exceptions to this, but they seem to be getting less and less common.

The Japanese Immigration authorities' position is to grant visa/residence status to those who need to be in Japan, be it for work (your employer needs you here), be it for study (you need to be here for your studies), or be it for family circumstances (your spouse is Japanese, you are of Japanese ancestry, etc.). In that sense, it has not really provide for any status for people who don't have to be in Japan for any of the above reasons.

I believe there have been a few threads by people like you - who simply wanted to live here, do not need to work here (are able to work from home), and wondered how they could do that.

The conclusion so far seems to be that there isn't any way, apart from starting up a business in Japan, employing a few locals as employees, and going for Investor/Business Manager visa status, which seems to be quite difficult to obtain, though, from what I hear, or studying here and getting Student status, etc.

And marriage for the sake of residence status (not for love, that is) is illegal, so please don't event think about it :)

I believe that even if you are somehow able to repeat the 90 days thing, once the number of days in a year you are in Japan exceeds 180 days, you might incur some tax obligations (I forgot the details) for whatever income you have, but for you to be able to pay taxes you need to be a resident, you need to have a resident status, which goes back to the original question.

A foreigner couldn't come to your home country to freelance from home..unless they had a special visa, that is not easy to get. So why should Japan be any different??

Thanks for the replies everyone.

I am in no way trying to break any laws or cheat the system. I am merely trying to figure this whole thing out.

It seems that I should get a degree, so I'm going to start doing that right away.

Thanks again.

Working and doing business while in Japan (eg making sales) would be illegal under a "tourist" (Temporary Visitors Permit).

You cannot make sales, you can however make purchases etc for your business to bring back to your home country and then sale (that is permitted). But making sales or conducting the business within Japan is not permitted under a temporary visitors permit.

Also that does not address how you plan to be in Japan "long term" since temporary visitors are only 90 days.

If you get a University Degree you still need to find a job in Japan to sponsor your visa (it is not automatic), so you will still need to work at least full time while trying to maintain your business.

Unless you had 5 million yen in cash right now, then you can start your own business in Japan and get an Business Investor Visa.