Quote:
Originally Posted by Tsuwabuki
No. Not exactly what I'm saying. Searching for a job while on a tourist visa is, and technically always was, a violation of your landing permit agreement. If you had said you were looking for a job, as opposed to tourism, you would have been denied entry.
What I am saying is that now, MOFA will not send your COE to your company until you have established a plan to exit the country. Two years ago, you used to be able to get your COE, take it to immigration and get your tourist visa changed to a work visa. Not only can you no longer do this, but you technically can no longer wait inside Japan for your COE and then go to Korea or Taiwan to pick up your visa and come back, which is what I did, as I moved to Japan after the job offer, but before the paperwork was complete. If the Ministry of Foreign Affairs knows you're in Japan, they will not send the COE. They might not know, because immigration is Ministry of Justice, and the two don't always coordinate, so people slip through all the time. Still, it is not recommended you wait for your COE inside of Japan. It might not get to you.
You might want to save even more money to go take a trip to Taiwan or Korea and have your company send the COE to your hotel room. Then you go straight to the consulate, get the visa, and go back to Japan.
People do all sorts of illegal or against-policy decisions and they don't get caught. I did things I shouldn't have, and I did enough research to know the risk was manageable. However, with the restrictions that were added after my arrival, I am not so sure I would have done the same thing.
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Okay, you still have me a bit baffled, which may be more a reflection of the crazy way things are done in bureaucracies like this than anything.
So let's say I came to Japan on a tourist visa and found a job while there. How could I possibly get myself a work visa at that point? Or could I?