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Visa & Immigration procedure in Japan

Changing jobs in Japan

Your working visa is valid until it expires, even if you change your job. Your former employer can not take your visa away, and you can work at a new place under the visa you obtained with your former employer, if the type of activities remains the same.

If it changes however (for example from English teacher to an IT engineer), the category of your visa will no longer be appropriate, so you will need to change your visa (status of residence) as well.

In any case, it is highly recommended to apply for the Certificate of Authorized Employment when you change your job. This procedure will allow you to check with the Immigration office whether your new job enters within the type of activities that you are allowed to engage in under your current work visa. This procedure will avoid any problem at the time of your visa extension and will make it easier.

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Self sponsorship

If you don't work full time for just one employer but work for a few different employers or have contracts with several clients as a freelancer, it is still possible to ask for a work visa. This procedure is often referred to as a self sponsorship.

Although there is no such thing as "self sponsor visa", you will be applying for an ordinary working visa such as "Specialist in Humanities and International Services" or "Engineer".

You will need to prove that your contracts with different employers/clients are stable and that they will generate enough income to support yourself.

This means that you already need to have conracts signed by different employers/clients when applying for a work visa as self sponsorship.

If you are planning to start a new business but don't have fixed clients as yet, you might like to consider applying for the "Investor/Business Manager" visa.

Private lessons don't count unless they are organized continuously by a Japanese company.

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Your company is sending you to Japan
without a local hosting structure

In this case, you will firstly need to set up at least a representative office. To do this, there is no registration procedure required, but you do need to have a dedicated office.

You can then apply for the visa (status of residence) "Intra-Company Transferee" if you have worked more than a year for your company overseas. Immigration will examine the documents handed in to make sure that the office really exists (if the lease contract mentions about its office use, if there is a dedicated office space, etc).

If you haven't worked long enough for your company to apply for the Intra-Company Transferee visa, you can still try to get other visa such as "Specialist in Humanities and International Services" or "Engineer".

By registering your office as a Japanese branch office (shiten) of your country overseas or by setting up a subsidiary company, the possibility of getting your working visa is in some cases increased, as it is recognized and registered at Japanese Legal Affairs Bureau which will issue a certificate of registry.

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Student and "dependent" visa holders wishing to work

Students and "dependent" visa holders are not supposed to work full time, but they can engage in part time works if they ask for the permission from Immigration.

It is called "Permission to engage in activities other than that permitted under the status of residence previously granted". You will be working illegally if you don't obtain this permission in advance.

This Permission allows you to work within limited hours described as below:

  • College Students : less than 28 hours a week / less than 8 hours a day during vacations
  • College Students who attend courses as auditors or research students : less than 14 hours a week / less than 8 hours a day during vacations
  • Pre-college students : less than 4 hours a day
  • Dependents : basically less than 28 hours a week (with certain flexibility depending on each case)

Dependents will have to see also for the social security. You can be covered by your spouse's social security until you go over certain limits. These limits are :

  • less than 3/4 of working hours compared to regular workers
  • less than 1.3 million yen of annual income
  • less than half the annual income of that of your spouse

If you exceed in one of these limits, you will then have to join independently to the social security. These limits are different according to the type of social security that your spouse has joined, so it is higly recommended to check with his/her employer or the organization in charge of his/her social security.

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Working holiday visa in Japan

Japanese Government currently has agreements on Working Holiday Visa with UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany and South Korea. Each agreement is slightly different in its way of how it works :

Conutry Age limits Initial length of stay Extension Change of visa status
UK 18-25 (can be extended up to 30) 1 year No No
Canada 18-25 (can be extended up to 30) 6 months Another 6 months Yes
Australia 18-25 (can be extended up to 30) 6 months Another 6 months, then further extension is to be decided by Japanese authority Yes
New Zealand 18-25 (can be extended up to 30) 6 months Another 6 months Yes
France 18-30 1 year No No
Germany 18-25 (can be extended up to 30) 1 year No Yes
South Korea 18-25 (can be extended up to 30) 1 year No Yes

You need to be a citizen of each country and to live in the country at the moment of application. You need to provide a proof that you have sufficient money to support yourself during the initial days of your stay in Japan. The application is to be submitted to the Japanese Embassy or Consulate close to where you live. It is not possible to submit the application at the Immigration office in Japan.

For more detail, please also see the following web sites:

Japanese Embassy in UK

Japanese Embassy in Canada

Japanese Embassy in Australia

Japanese Embassy in New Zealand

Japanese Embassy in France

Japanese Embassy in Germany

Japanese Embassy in South Korea

Japan Association of Working Holiday Makers


When the working holiday visa expires, British and French citizens can not change it directly to another type of visa, whether it's a tourist visa (temporary visitor) or a working visa such as Specialist in Humanities. Citizens of these two countries will therefore have to leave Japan once and come back if they wish to change their visa status, or apply for the Certificate of Eligibility first then apply for the change of status once the COE is issued.

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Certified as an Immigration Lawyer by the immigration office, we can help you with obtaining an appropriate visa and with other immigration procedures.

For more information, click here.



眞嶋行政書士事務所　Yoko Majima - Legal Advisor / Conseil juridique
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