Advice on handing in my COE in Japan

I will be going to Osaka as a paid intern for about 6 months. According to my employer the application for the certificate of eligibility is currently in process. I am considering to enter Japan early on a tourist visa so I can get to know Osaka a bit more before I will be working 24/7. The CoE will be sent by my employer to my hometown, now if I could change this with my employer to for example pick it up myself at the company, will I be able to get the VISA in Japan as well? Is it true that I simply need to full in the form and hand in the CoE and get my stamp within a week?

I am afraid it will be too much of a hassle or too time consuming. I heard stories that people were waiting weeks for their VISA (as it only takes a couple working days at my local embassy).

Upon arrival I got 2 weeks left before my work starts so I need to get it handled by then.


Yours sincerely,

Furious
The Netherlands

The "regular" procedures is, yes, as you say, the employer in Japan applies with Immigration authorities and obtains the CoE for you, which the employer will send to you in your home country, you take it to the Embassy of Japan in your country and based on CoE you get a visa (= permission to enter Japan, so to say).

CoE is to get a visa (= permission to "enter"), so strictly speaking it is not valid once you are in Japan. Where you go to get a visa based on CoE is Embassy of Japan outside Japan. So it used to be that people who were already in Japan on Temporary Visitor ("tourist") status had to leave the country once for the purpose of having the visa issued.

However, it has been acknowledged that it is too much of travel expenses involved if people had to leave Japan once to get visa based on CoE, so Immigration authorities do accommodate, when the applicant is already in Japan with Temporary Visitor status, the applicant applying for Change of Resident Status (from Temporary Visitor to whatever resident status your work visa entitles you to), and getting the new resident status while staying in Japan. (Please note distinction: "visa" is a permission to enter Japan, and once you are in Japan, you hold a "resident status.")

But this is not guaranteed, and you will need to ask your employer if the alternative arrangement is (1) possible (they will need to call up Immigration or their attorney - if they use any - to confirm), and (2) OK by them, because if you (for any reason) cannot complete the Change of Resident Status in time for you to start working as planned, it will affect the employer.

Also, by the time you file your Application for Change of Resident Status in Japan, you should have a postal address; usually Immigration sends you a postcard to an address, in a week or so normally (but not guaranteed), once the change is approved, and you need to take that postcard to Immigration to get the stamp in your passport.

I heard stories that people were waiting weeks for their VISA (as it only takes a couple working days at my local embassy).

I don't quite understand what you mean. I know that CoE process "can" takes months, that is normal. But once you have the CoE (through your employer) and take it to the Embassy of Japan in your country, it will be a matter of a day or two to get a visa based on CoE.

Upon arrival I got 2 weeks left before my work starts so I need to get it handled by then.

The difficulty may be knowing when you will be given the CoE.