Hey, how are you doing guys? I was wondering about how foreign people start living in Japan. As I… - Feed Post by Xymo
Hey, how are you doing guys? I was wondering about how foreign people start living in Japan. As I saw in a few videos, to live in Japan for an ammount of time, you need a visa to work there, right? Well. That is not forever, it depends on th eworking seasons. But what about those who just want to live there forever? Do they also need a visa? Is the citienzship brought only by marring someone there?
posted by Xymo
Comments 9
You need a visa. Working visa, spouse visa, student visa, working holiday visas are the most common. Immigration is not so easy.
To be qualified for a working visa, you need a degree or 10 years experience in your field, as well as an employer in Japan. For translators/interpreters, you need 3 years experience or a degree. For English teaching, you need a degree and near native level English. To naturalize, you need to have lived their for at least 5 years, as well as met other conditions.
So there is NO WAY of just staying there for a ''long vacation'' (which will be extended forever)?
This guide for immigration to Japan has probably the clearest explanation I've found:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2221.html
One of the interesting things that is mentioned is the 'working holiday visa', where you can go to Japan for up to a year as a tourist and are actually allowed to work whilst you're there, which helps you earn Only people aged 18-30 can apply for it and only for people from certain countries--the UK is one of those countries. :)
To live in Japan longer, you will need a work visa. You can keep extending you work visa for as long as you can find a job in one of the specified areas of work which you allowed to do on your visa. Once you've worked and lived in Japan for usually around 10 years on your visa, you can gain 'permanent resident' status as long as you have the assets or ability to earn an independant living. Once you are a permanent resident you can do any work you want.
Or as Kimbo said, after 5 years of living in Japan it is possible to gain Japanese citizenship, but you have to permanently give up your current nationality (Japanese doesn't allow you to have dual-nationality).- To get on a work visa in Japan, it's supposed to be pretty easy to get a job as an English language teaching assistant. The only things you need are native English language proficiency and usually a degree (a degree in absolutely anything).
In this video, a guy from the UK who is living in Japan explains how he got his job as an English language teaching assistant:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JksaPXrD73s
His videos are really funny and helpful and excellent. ^^ In one of his first videos he shows off his apartment and mentions how his rent is only 100 pounds a month!--subsidised by his work scheme. I definitely recommend watching some (ALL!) of his other videos on his youtube channel, 'Abroad in Japan':
https://www.youtube.com/user/cmbroad44/videos 
Thanks for all this info mog86uk, because this is a topic I have been wondering about for a while now. I also liked the ending of the video never thought about cheese in Japan;).お休みなさい.- You won't be able to extend a working holiday visa (with exception to Australians, I think), and a degree is not required. You need to show have enough money to support yourself and return (usually something like £2000+). The main purpose is to holiday, but you can work to support yourself. 1000 UK spaces a year for the working holiday visa.
If you have a degree, you can get an English teaching job with the JET program, or a similar program that will sort most stuff out for you. JET renew you every year for a maximum of 5 years I believe, but with 5 years experience, you should be able to get most schools to sponsor your visa.
I wouldn't worry about trying to live there permanently before you've even been there. Firstly, just try to get over there, if it's for a year or whatever, then aim to extend your stay or go back in the future.
For those without a degree (like me), it is still possible to get over to Japan. With a standard tourist visa lasting 3 months (and certain countries like the UK can renew this to 6 months), working holiday visas, student visas, and spousal visas, all allow non-degree personal. - Interesting, thank you guys :)
lol no.. you cant just sneak into Japan and live there forever.
The easiest way to live in Japan forever is to marry someone from Japan and you will be granted duel citizenship. But before you can do that you need to get a job and live there for awhile before you can meet someone.
Unfortunately, the only job you can get is English teacher in Japan, and for that you need to go to college for 4 years.- @empiresx I don't think you can gain dual citizenship by marrying someone from Japan.
If you marry a Japanese citizen or permanent resident, then you can get a 'spouse visa' and do any work you want in Japan.
If you are married to a foreigner who is on a work visa in Japan, then you can get a 'dependant visa' but this does not allow you to do any work in Japan.
If you marry a Japanese citizen and you want to become a Japanese citizen yourself, then you have to give up your current nationality citizenship forever! And you also have to achieve one of the following statuses before you can become a citizen:
A) Married for at least 1 year + lived in Japan at least 3 years.
B) Married for at least 3 years + lived in Japan at least 1 year.
If you marry a Japanese citizen or permanent resident and you want to gain 'permanent resident' status yourself, then you also need to have been married for at least 3 years and lived in Japan at least 1 year (I don't know if the other way round works too for this).
You keep your current nationality if you just become a permanent resident, so you are not a Japanese citizen and therefore can't do certain things like voting. There's still no way to gain dual nationality, even through marriage. ^^
