Quote:
Originally Posted by Sangetsu
It all depends on how soon you can find a job. It can take weeks for a work visa to be processed, and if it isn't ready before your tourist visa expires, you will have to leave the country and return with a new tourist visa.
In the past people used to take the quick ferry to Korea when their visas were about to expire, spend a couple days in Korea, and then return to Japan and get a fresh tourist visa. But Japanese immigration has cracking down on that practice. In most cases you will probably be given a second visa, but it's not a sure thing, and, if you don't find a job within the second 90 day period, you probably won't be able to get a third visa. A lot also depends on which country you are from. If you are from America, the UK, Australia, or Canada, you'll probably have no trouble getting a second (or even third) visa. If you are from anywhere else, you may not be so lucky.
To get a work visa, you must be hired by a school/company. They'll provide you with a sponsorship form which they have signed, along with a work contract which is usually for 1 year. You will take this paperwork, an original copy of your university diploma, along with your passport, and 2 pictures of yourself to the immigration office in whichever prefecture you are living. If the paperwork is in order, you will pay a fee, and the immigration officer will affix a stamp in your passport which says that your work visa is being processed. You'll fill out a post card with your name and address on it. When your visa is complete, the postcard will be mailed to you, take it back to the immigration office and collect your visa.
If you are hired from overseas the process is much easier. Some schools will interview you by telephone, so you will not need to travel. If they hire you, they will mail you the forms to fill out. Fill them out and send them back. After a few weeks, they will return your passport with a certificate of eligibility. You will then take (or send) your passport and COE to your nearest Japanese consulate or embassy, and they will make the visa for you. When you land in Japan, a 1 year stamp will be affixed to your passport.
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You also used to be able to wait for your COE inside the country, and then get your tourist visa changed. I had an easy time getting three consecutive tourist visas, but immigration decided two weeks before I got my COE, that I could no longer do the change. So I ended up going to Korea to have it switched. Now this isn't even possible at all. Everyone who has come in after my as had to follow the the method above in the last paragraph. No more hanging out in Japan to do the paperwork. You must arrive, the first time, with a visa.