How to Change a Student Visa to A Working Visa in Japan

Status of residency in Japan can be generally divided into 6 categories:

1.     Highly skilled professional visa

2.     Working visa

3.     General visa

4.     Specified visa

5.     Diplomatic visa (Diplomatic agents, consulate staff, and their families)

6.     Official visa (Technical and administrative staff for diplomatic missions, members of the service staff, and their families)

Student visas are categorized under number three, general visas. In order to start a new career in Japan, you need number two.

Here’s a simple explanation of the different visas.

Upon receiving a job offer after the interview process (this can be done through IZANAU), the company will give issue a notice of their unofficial offer.

Once received, prepare the following and go to the immigration bureau.

Application for Change of Status of Residence

Items to prepare:

• 1 photo, 4cm x 3cm (pasted to the form)
• Passport and residence card
• Documents certifying work and academic background
• Proof of graduation, proof of employment, certificate of employment, etc (If not in Japanese, attach a Japanese translation)
• Application for change of status of residence (This will need to be filled in by BOTH the applicant and the Employer. It can be downloaded here.)

Employers will prepare:

• A copy of the Legal Record Total Table (法定調書合計表, houtei choshogoukei hyo) with last year’s earned income statement of earnings (stamped by the tax office)
•  A copy of the Registry Certificate (登記簿謄本, toukibo tohon)
•  A copy of a financial statement from the most recent fiscal year

•  A copy of the employment contract (This is often required in both English and Japanese)
• Documents detailing the work the employee will be doing, the company’s activities, etc
  • A print out from their web page tends to be acceptable, but the document should include things like the company’s name, address, phone number, history, common stock, staff, how the company is organized, number of employees, number of foreign employees, annual sales, and type of work done (main clients, business performance, etc). Here is an example from IZANAU’s parent company Active Gaming Media.
• A document detailing the type of work done at the company, and a picture of the office (This is not entirely necessary, but makes the process easier.)
• A document detailing what type of work the employee will be doing and why you were hired

The students do not have many submission requirements. On the other hand, companies have to show a lot of documentation because they are essentially taking responsibility for their new hire. With companies used to this process it is not an issue, but for companies who don’t often hire foreigners, initiative might need to be taken on the side of the employee to talk with the company about what’s required.

Once the above documentation is ready, submit it to the immigration bureau.

It usually takes about three months for the application to be processed, so it’s best to submit everything as early as possible.

3. The “Designated Activities Visa” Option

For exchange students who can’t decide what they want to do while in school, or who want to start job hunting after graduation, switching to a “Designated Activities Visa” is an option. This visa allows residence in Japan for up to 2 years before looking for work.

The necessary forms for the immigration bureau can be found here.