Open University recognised in Japan/for visa?

Hello,

Having spent a year getting into a better financial position, I'm hoping to soon be able to start a degree with the Open University so I can get a degree to finally earn my way to meeting the visa requirements of having a bachelors degree, and of course give me a speciality in something to improve my chances of finding work in, and moving to Japan. Very long term plan, but it's the only real way.

My question is though, has anyone had experience of getting a visa / work in Japan with an Open University degree? Mainly I'm just wanting to make sure that an Open University degree is likely to be recognised/ accepted by Japanese immigration for the visa side of things. Although it's an online university rather than a traditional one, I assume that doesn't cause any issues?

I know here in the UK the OU & it's degrees are officially certified / recognised (Check if a university or college is officially recognised: Recognised bodies - GOV.UK), but of course that doesn't mean it is in Japan. (actually I've recently heard from a person who got a degree with them, only to find out it wasn't recognised in Italy). I remember reading somewhere that Japan's immigration office has a list of certified unis they accept degrees from for overseas, but I can't seem to find a link to any list at the moment to check if OU is on there. I've always assumed it's only suspect/potentially fraudulent unis in a lot of countries which are likely to be an issue, but I've now just got a tiny worrying doubt weather the OU will be acceptable to them.

Thanks in advance

Ok, just phoned the Japanese Embassy in London and they said they didn't know and that I'd have to check with the immigration bureau in Japan instead. So I'll have to see if I can contact them instead. Though in the meantime if anyone has successfully gained a visa with an OU degree would still be good to hear.

Just a quick update for anyone interested, I got a reply back from the Immigration Bureau of Japan. As follows;
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"This is the Immigration Center at "Immigration Bureau of Japan" of "Ministry of Justice".
In regards to your inquiries, we will answer as following.

This is an Information Center being in a position to answer general inquiries such as the necessary documents and the outline for obtaining residence statuses and landing permissions. Unfortunately, but we are not sure whether a bachelor's degree of the online university is acceptable in Japan although there is no limitation on the type of university as for Immigration Bureau of Japan.

When applying for "Application for Certificate of Eligibility" for working in Japan, please consult with inspectors at the nearest Regional Immigration Bureau in Japan through your sponsor company.

Ministerial Ordinance to Provide for Criteria Pursuant to Article 7, paragraph (1), item (ii) of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act"
日本法令外国語訳データベースシステム - [法令本文表示] - 出入国管理及び難民認定法第七条第一項第二号の基準を定める省令
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Now I have to admit I'm not 100% sure what this means yet, but from the initial email reply I'm taking away that weather an OU/online degree is accepted is purely down to the employer who would be sponsoring the visa / offering the job. Though it doesn't seem there is a list of official/certified unis that are accepted by the Immigration Bureau, it seems it could more just come down to discretion of the person processing the certificate of eligibility on the day. In which case that's a little concerning as potentially using the OU could mean a degree with them might be worthless :/

It might be that I'm completely misunderstanding this, as there seems to be a lot of information in the link they've provided, so maybe I'm missing something, I'll have to read through it all thoroughly and see if I can make more sense of it.

I got my degree through an open university and am in year 14 in Japan. Furthermore, two acquaintances of mine had degrees and got master degrees through open universities while here, and are now working at universities here. So no problem. A degree is a degree.

nahadef said:

I got my degree through an open university and am in year 14 in Japan. Furthermore, two acquaintances of mine had degrees and got master degrees through open universities while here, and are now working at universities here. So no problem. A degree is a degree.

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Thanks, that's really reassuring to know I don't know why I was having this last minute panic about it before starting the degree. Wanted to just be sure, as the last thing I'd have wanted is to have gotten to the end of the degree only to find out for some reason it wasn't recognised.

Hello! I am thinking of doing this exact same thing and I am wondering if it worked out for you? I really hope it did! (I know this is a long shot since you don't seem to be active anymore)

IndieDevM said:

Hello,

Having spent a year getting into a better financial position, I'm hoping to soon be able to start a degree with the Open University so I can get a degree to finally earn my way to meeting the visa requirements of having a bachelors degree, and of course give me a speciality in something to improve my chances of finding work in, and moving to Japan. Very long term plan, but it's the only real way.

My question is though, has anyone had experience of getting a visa / work in Japan with an Open University degree? Mainly I'm just wanting to make sure that an Open University degree is likely to be recognised/ accepted by Japanese immigration for the visa side of things. Although it's an online university rather than a traditional one, I assume that doesn't cause any issues?

Thanks in advance

Click to expand...

In Japan, degrees from Open University are generally recognized. However, it is not just the degree that is important, but also your major and the requirements of your specific visa.