What kind of visa/job for a self employed US Citizen?

I've been living in Japan for about 4 + 1/2 months or so, and I've been trying to figure out what to do for work etc.... I am a US citzen curently staying on a tourist visa--- I'm not sure if I can get a cultural visa or not, I don't think that I can...

When I spoke to the consulate(?) before leaving they seemed to say that my only options as someone who was self employed was to get a work visa from a client, get a job in Japan that provided a visa, or get married.

I REALLY DON'T want to get married in order to faciliate a visa--- I don't have a batchelors, I left school in 1993 to work as a programmer for 11 years, (I've heard of 10 years of experience being a plus--- but where?)... Right now I've been living on the money I've made from my own independant work, but it's expensive and I'd like to work as well to supliment that.

How many times can you leave the country and come back to renew your visa before they start asking questions?

Ack! Help... It seems like it used to be that people could show up and get a job, but now it looks like that has dried up, unless you have a batchelors degree which isn't worth the paper it's printed on in the US, thanks to the boomers who got theirs and let their kids suffer--- sorry to lash out

thanks for any advice.

Brace yourself,

yukio_neko^_o said:

I've been living in Japan for about 4 + 1/2 months or so, and I've been trying to figure out what to do for work etc.... I am a US citzen curently staying on a tourist visa--- I'm not sure if I can get a cultural visa or not, I don't think that I can...

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Tourist visas are good for 90 days.

yukio_neko^_o said:

How many times can you leave the country and come back to renew your visa before they start asking questions?

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Since you overstayed your visa - a fact they will draw to your attention when you try to leave or apply for any kind of change of status (necessary to get a work visa etc) - they will ask you questions right off the bat. Your only hope is to be very, very, very sorry for what you have done and apologize over and over how embarrased and humiliated you are for having done such a thing. You might not really feel that way, but it is the difference between a light fine and a "cover-up" making it look like you renewed your visa for a short extension (like what happened to me), or deportation.

By over-staying your visa you have cast your fate into the hands of the immigration bureaucracy. I do not mean to be alarmist, but you need to start getting your situation taken care of today not next month, not next year. Your visa is only a month overdue, and with a bit of luck you can get out of this, but if you have a Japanese company or person willing to go to bat for you, you will stand a much better chance. You are looking for character witness here, since you aren't sponsored by an offical program - sadly, your lack of a degree might make the pencil-pushers less inclined to help. But understand that if any Japanese person goes to bat for you, you will never be able to repay the debt. Choose you champion wisely.

In short, plan for the worst and hope for the best.

You need to get ready for a bureaucratic ride that could be a simple fine, to a one-way trip back to the US. Don't take this lightly. You want to be the most humble, remorseful foreigner ever to renew a visa. Your continued presence in Japan is at their discression and you want to give them no cause to kick you out, which they are fully in the rights to do.

I would contact any family you have in the US and get them ready for that possibility. I would also contact the US Embassy in Tokyo http://japan.usembassy.gov/t-main.html. They can't get you out of this mess, but they might have advice for you and things you should watch out for.

Right now, all your other concerns are secondary - get your visa situation fixed ASAP

yukio_neko^_o said:

When I spoke to the consulate(?) before leaving they seemed to say that my only options as someone who was self employed was to get a work visa from a client, get a job in Japan that provided a visa, or get married.

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If that is what the consulate said, those are your legal options - sorry they are not rosier.

If you have any connections and people who owe you favors, cash them in now. The longer you wait, the longer your tourist visa will be past-due, and the higher chance you stand of getting deported.

I hope it works out for you, I really do. We can't do much from out here, but let us know how it goes.

I thought that might be confusing, sorry, I am on my second tourist visa, I left Japan and went to Korea, returned and am now actually on my second Gaijin reg-Card as well. Sorry for the confusion!

Also, I'm not adverse to teaching, btw---- Nova (good or bad), says they want someone w/ a bachelors.... sigh.

When you say you really don't want to get married just to obtain a visa does that mean that you are in fact in a long-term relationship with a Japanese-national and have discussed marriage? Or are you just talking hypothetically and in reality would have to dash out to 'Spouses-R-Us' in order to facilitate such a course of action?

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mr.sumo.snr said:

When you say you really don't want to get married just to obtain a visa does that mean that you are in fact in a long-term relationship with a Japanese-national and have discussed marriage? Or are you just talking hypothetically and in reality would have to dash out to 'Spouses-R-Us' in order to facilitate such a course of action?

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No, at the moment I am living w/ my girlfriend in what would be I guess what you call a "long term relationship".... though, Spouses are us... what is the number for this--- Spouses are Us ???

yukio_neko^_o said:

I thought that might be confusing, sorry, I am on my second tourist visa, I left Japan and went to Korea, returned and am now actually on my second Gaijin reg-Card as well. Sorry for the confusion!

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Thank god! Then take my post as a word of warning so you don't let this visa thing slip! Just run a search for "Japan visa overstay" on google and you will get quite a number of even worse - and more importantly true - stories.

As for how many times you can go out and come back on only a tourist visa before things start to smell fishy, I wouldn't push your luck. If this is your second, I would be really worried if you had to do it a fourth time, and I would expect a solid grilling on the third (ie have your affairs in order).

But how do you have a gaijin card? If you have a tourist visa - the assumption you are going home soon - why file for a card that will probably take longer to get than the length of (for most) their stay?

Now for some brainstorming (much of which you probably already came up with)

I would still recommend calling in favors to find a job ASAP. Hopefully your girlfriend has a large family with an extensive network of friends, and hopefully you speak Japanese very well (for all the keigo you are going to need to pull this off). Your boss has to be willing to sponsor you for a work visa however. Job does not = visa, job + sponsor = visa.

I don't know all the rules surrounding issuing work visas - some say they can only be had outside of the country, but I do not know if this excludes a simple change of status process which can be done inside the country. At any rate, a full work visa - like you would get with NOVA, is only good for the company that sponsors you - if you leave NOVA (or someplace else), you need to find another sponsor. Keep that in mind when you are looking.

If you become a student, you can stil work either 10 or 20 hours (check first) part-time. Are there any language schools in your area you could enroll in? again, school + sponsor (the school) = visa

You could work a factory job if you pound on enough doors and speak enough Japanese. They will treat you like the boatloads of immigrants who they hire as "trainees" pay them less than minimum wage, work like dogs, and then get dumped when their visa expires, but it would give you more time in-country to work out what you want to do. However, I don't know if these visas can be issued inside Japan. Also, I would start with the network of friends and family first and choose something with a little more future.

The most costly, but safest route - go back to the US, regroup, get a degree in something you might find mind-numbingly dull but which will serve your career (computers, languages, whatever), then try and immigrate to Japan.

Mandylion said:

Thank god! Then take my post as a word of warning so you don't let this visa thing slip! Just run a search for "Japan visa overstay" on google and you will get quite a number of even worse - and more importantly true - stories.

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Yep! Before I left, I had read of a couple of girls who accidentally over-stayed their visas by a few days--- they were locked up at some place god knows where at the airport, and then booted out never to be allowed to return for 10 years. The same was said by the consulate when I talked to them about visas----

Mandylion said:

As for how many times you can go out and come back on only a tourist visa before things start to smell fishy, I wouldn't push your luck. If this is your second, I would be really worried if you had to do it a fourth time, and I would expect a solid grilling on the third (ie have your affairs in order).

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I've only been out and back in once, so maybe one more time or so before people start to ask questions, they seemed a little suspicious -this- time.... but who knows---- I suppose it all depends on what gaijin on the news recently commited whichever crime really

Mandylion said:

But how do you have a gaijin card? If you have a tourist visa - the assumption you are going home soon - why file for a card that will probably take longer to get than the length of (for most) their stay?

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I've had one twice, though I've not had any idea why I needed one, as my visa doesnt permit a permanant stay--- my girlfriend pushes me in this direction--- I live with her, with the intent on staying for a while--- so I guess that's her reasoning.

Mandylion said:

If you become a student, you can stil work either 10 or 20 hours (check first) part-time. Are there any language schools in your area you could enroll in? again, school + sponsor (the school) = visa

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This is what I would like to do--- though I don't know what level of Japanese you need to be to attend school--- lets say that my Japanese is not perfect, ESPECIALLY for business Japanese as you've mentioned.... I started studying Japanese about 5 years ago, off and on, afer friends form the states left to go back home for Japan, I didn't continue because I had no idea that I might need it (I had no plans to live in Japan)---- Living here just sort of materalized, and I've renewed my studies here----

I have a friend who might be able to get me something in the range of English tech support--- I'm not sure--- I'd love to go to school and then get work part time--- but who knows, I suppose I will start calling in those pleas for favours now!

Thanks very much for the affirmations/confirmations/suggestions/etcetera----

Call me crazy, but maybe you should consider returning to the US and completing your degree before trying to find a job in Japan. It's hard enough for a US Citizen in the United States to get a job without a degree (and in fact, most of my colleagues have masters degrees). So combine that with visa issues, and it gets much harder.

As for attending a Japanese university, generally you will have to pass JLPT L1 first. If you spend all of your time between now and next December studying your butt off, you *might* be able to pass it. But even in the best case, the earliest you will be able to start taking real classes wouldn't be until sometime in 2007. Not a bad plan if you can pull it off and you have the money to be in school that long, although from your earlier posts it sounds like that might be difficult financially. (?)

So you knew before you came here that your chances of getting a visa allowing you to remain in Japan and work legally without a degree were pretty close to zero, yet chose to ignore that information and figure that somebody would be able to provide you with a workaround after you were here?

By the way, even for the people who used to be able to "show up" and get a job in Japan.....that was almost exclusively people with degrees. Absent a degree (and/or a spouse), it's pretty damned hard to get permission to remain here.

And speaking from personal experience, this gaijin job market in Japan is not something you really want to be in without a degree anyway. Since a bachelor's degree is considered the minimum requirement (whether by Immigration or by the bulk of prospective employers), it funtionally translates to the societal equivalent of a high school diploma in the U.S.

Mandylion said:

You could work a factory job if you pound on enough doors and speak enough Japanese.

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Unless he has Japanese ancestors, I believe he isn't eligible for that sort of visa. The Peruvians and Brazilians you're most likely thinking of fall under a special classification.

They will treat you like the boatloads of immigrants who they hire as "trainees" pay them less than minimum wage, work like dogs, and then get dumped when their visa expires

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That's an inaccurate and unfair assessment of the situation.

mikecash said:

So you knew before you came here that your chances of getting a visa allowing you to remain in Japan and work legally without a degree were pretty close to zero, yet chose to ignore that information and figure that somebody would be able to provide you with a workaround after you were here?

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Well, you know sometimes you do things soely out of the experiences that they will afford you, rather than the idea that it will all work out a certain way in the end--- I never figured that someone would just provide me with a workaround to the problem, I moved to live with a girl whom I was fond of and hoped for the best, which is all you can do sometimes.

I bring in money from the outside and dump it here, I don't take away any jobs from the native Japanese--- assides from not being Japanese, and being here--- I'm a perfect resident.

mikecash said:

Unless he has Japanese ancestors, I believe he isn't eligible for that sort of visa. The Peruvians and Brazilians you're most likely thinking of fall under a special classification.

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Thank you - I'll look in to that if I have a free moment. I was speaking indirectly to the Trainee visa http://www.mofa.go.jp/j_info/visit/visa/appendix1.html which does not include a nationality clause, but you might be correct howthe visa is actually granted.

mikecash said:

That's an inaccurate and unfair assessment of the situation.

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Perhaps I was being too general in my haste. Could you please direct me to some articles looking at the other side of the coin? I have read a lot of criticism about the trainee visa (there is even a specific line in the trainee visa criteira banning applications from employers who have abused the system in the past 3 years (last line of the trainee section)). If I have been misled or my sources too biased, I would like to balance things out.
- Thanks

When it comes to the trainee visa, there is certainly enough anecdotal data to justify your assessment of it. It would probably be a close race as to which class of visa holder gets abused more: "trainee" or "entertainer".

But the great bulk of factory workers in Japan are those of Japanese descent, primarily Peruvians and Brazilians, who have been given visas ostensibly to come to Japan and visit their relatives. The actual fact of the matter is that they were brought in to do manual labor that young Japanese turn up their noses at. They're here in such numbers that some towns where there is a high concentration of them have sprouted rather thriving communities, complete with businesses, churches, and schools that they run themselves. Drive down some streets in certain towns here in Gunma and you'd seriously question if you are even in Japan anymore. The point being, that far from being here on short-term visas, being underpaid, and being tossed out, they're here sufficiently long enough and with sufficient income to set up their own thriving societal infrastructure. Unless Japanese mothers get with the program on the birth rate, I look for the government to continue to encourage their presence here for some time to come.

Thanks Mike!

After reading your posts and the replies, unless things have changed, without a 4 yr degree I see no other option for you to stay in Japan without getting married and obtaining a spouse visa. Even if you do find work being single, I think the authorites may still require a degree.

I know that that is not what you want to do at the moment, but if you continually keep getting a tourist visa it may rouse some suspicion by the immigration authorities at the airport one day and you may be refused entry or given a shorter stay visa. If you get into some kind of minor legal trouble, like not having your passport on you, they may deport you and refuse you entry for ten years.

I would seriously think about that if it is your desire to remain and work in Japan. By getting married all kinds of options will be open to you and you will be able to work virtually anywhere.

One final option. You could attend one of the various universities in Japan to complete your degree like Sophia University, or International Christian University, as they have annexes that are strictly taught in English for the foreign student. That is if you are serious about getting one. They are not cheap, but it will still give you a way to stay in Japan without risking getting turned down for another tourist visa of being permanently deported.

Good Luck!

Thank you all for the responses---- I'll take them into consideration. My first goal is permission to stay--- Obviously I'd like to work, but a visa that permits my residency is paramount to that. Thanks again.

You can get a visa w/ 10 years work experience as long as you have a sponsor -- the bigger the better. Going to be impossible without that.

GaijinPunch said:

You can get a visa w/ 10 years work experience as long as you have a sponsor -- the bigger the better. Going to be impossible without that.

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I have a client in England and I was thinking of having them sponsor me--- I'm looking now, but do you have any idea of the costs of this sort of thing to them? They have workers who go over seas all the time, so this might be my best bet.

I ask this, the consulate mentioned it--- it seems as if you would need Japanese sponsorship, but I'm not sure. The answers on the web aren't conclusive---

Thanks.

If your client in England has business relations in Japan and it can establish a representative office, maybe you can be the representative in Japan. This should be cheaper than setting up a subsidiary company in Japan for your client. In Singapore, we have Japanese expatriates at the various Japanese Prefectural Representative Offices here too. Some basic info here:
1.1 Types of operation in Japan | Section 1. Incorporating Your Business - Setting Up Business - Investing in Japan - Japan External Trade Organization
Ken

1 seoution that will land u a 2 year visa is to enrole in a language school, for 2 years the standard price is around 1m yen then your alowed to work 4h a day at sertain types of jobs(nothing in dark places like bars or clubs). When you enrole to one you take a test and your placed in a clas equal to your skill. it's a bit to late to enrole for a 2 year period, but you can aply for a 1.5year period that starts at the end of the summer. These schools are avalabel almost all over japan.
best of luck to u, hop u find a alternative that fits your needs

ullvarg said:

When you enrole to one you take a test and your placed in a clas equal to your skill.

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So there is a skill assessment test, rather than a requirement to be at a specific level determined by the assessment tests. The only problem is the money itself---- Japan hasn't been the cheapest place to live, and money I have earmarked to help my girlfriend out would go right into school.... thanks for your help as well!

ps. Your sig is both entirely scary and humorous at the same time!