Changing temporary visa to work visa = possible. Just got off phone with immigration office.

[solo7100]

EDITED WITH CORRECT OFFICE THAT I CALLED

Hello all,

I've asked this in other threads here (forgot which ones) and after having a conversation with my local immigration office, I got a different answer than what I thought the answer was. Just seeking clarification if anyone can offer.

My question to the immigration office: can someone come to Japan on a temp visa, like coming for a vacation or visiting family, and apply for a work visa while in country?

Immigration office answer: Yes. One can come into Japan and apply. You still need the letter of guarantee, letter of invitation (for this particular situation) and all other relevant documents. You submit at immigration, they check things over, issue a COE, you go back to the immigration office, get your visa/residence card.

I have never heard that before, but it's straight from the horses' mouth. The worst that could happen, he said, is the COE is not issued and the person would have to leave Japan (as per the duration of their temp visa), and try again outside of Japan.

Anyone have experience with this flow? Did the person maybe not understand my question? Thoughts? Thanks!

[RetireJapan]

My question to the ward office: can someone come to Japan on a temp visa, like coming for a vacation or visiting family, and apply for a work visa while in country?

I would not trust this answer, because the ward office has nothing to do with issuing visas etc. You need to ask the immigration office. Make sure you make a note of the person's name etc. as they often give conflicting information when asked.

[solo7100]

Oh my, I made a mistake. It was the immigration office that I called. I am going to actually go down there one day and confirm, but yea...it was the immigration office. Brain fart...

[adamu]

I've asked this in other threads here (forgot which ones)

Here: https://www.retirejapan.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=31929

Thread should probably be merged.

I have done that process for Working Holiday → Engineer, but I've never seen it done from Temporary Visitor.

It's certainly a grey area. Here is the the wording of the law (Immigration Act, Article 20, Clause 3, emphasis mine):

If an application for a change of status of residence has been filed as set forth in the preceding paragraph, the Minister of Justice may grant permission only if the Minister finds that there are reasonable grounds to grant the change of the status of residence based on the documents submitted by the foreign national; provided, however, that in the case of an application submitted by a person whose status of residence is "Temporary Visitor," permission is not to be granted unless the application is made based on special unavoidable circumstances.

In the OP's case, it definitely doesn't seem to be unavoidable, but rather intentional. However, I'm not the Minister of Justice, so it's not up to me

[solo7100]

Thanks for finding my old post. At that time I was an infant with this whole process. Having months to research and finally calling helped. But, I continued to research and stumbled upon other pieces of info that agreed with your research that says,

"...in the case of an application submitted by a person whose status of residence is "Temporary Visitor," permission is not to be granted unless the application is made based on special unavoidable circumstances."

So, I suppose the immigration person was correct technically, but it seems we'd be hard pressed to be in a special unavoidable circumstance.

Well, there it is. Thanks again for the help!

[mule96]

A friend of mine could do this during covid. If he would have left he couldnt have come back (it was when Japan was still closed). This probably goes under special unavoidable circumstances.

[KCLenny]

It’s always been possible. I did it back in 2019. Had a job lined up, came on holiday visa, got the contract confirmed, then applied for visa change, took about 4-5 weeks if I recall. The first guy I spoke to at immigration office just made up some BS about there not being enough time (3 months isn’t enough time apparently!), came back the next day, saw someone else, done no problem.

[Teflon]

There is also the backdoor approach using the Japanese Language School Student Visa loophole. Some of the larger Japanese language schools (e.g., ARC Academy, KAI, etc) have agreements with immigration that will allow a tourist visa to be converted to a Japanese Language School Student Visa in-country. The catch is that you need to sign-up for an intensive Japanese language course for a duration of 3 months up to 2 years, which can be expensive.

The school will ask you to fill out a simple form for the application and you can check the box for "apply for work permit" which is a special work permit for students limited to 28 hours of work per week. Since immigration has a special relationship with these schools, it's a bulk submission and pretty much guaranteed you'll get the visa and usually in less than a week. After that you can get a job and, if you find one that you really like and they agree to hire and sponsor you, the Japan based employer can convert your Japanese Language School Student Visa to a Work Visa in-country. I know people who have done this successfully.

Obviously, this is a very unorthodox approach since it would be much cheaper and faster to apply for Japan based jobs from your home country and then, if they agree to hire and sponsor you, wait a couple of months for your COE to come through and then pick up your new Work Visa at the Japanese consulate. Of course, if you want to learn Japanese while trying out different part-time jobs in Japan, then the Japanese Language School Student Visa approach might work well for you. At the very least, it's a great way to get your foot in the door.