【Case Study】The relationship of permanent resident visa and the change of occupation

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1.Introduction

We are sometimes asked if change of occupation would work against acquiring permanent resident visa.

When a person who has history of change (or many changes) of occupation is to apply for a permanent resident visa, various elements are taken into consideration including the following items.
a. Timing and number of times of change of occupation
b. The situation of completing procedures associated with the change of occupation
c. The conformity between contents of work after changing occupation and the work visa
d. The length of non-working period
e. The income situation after changing occupation

Now, we would like to talk about impacts of change of occupation on the judgement regarding permanent resident visa.

2.Permanent resident visa cannot be obtained if you have changed your occupation many times?!

There are many people who manage to receive permanent resident visa after changing jobs.
This means that even if you have changed your occupation, you may be able to receive a permanent resident visa.
Then why are there so many people who believe that the change of occupation would negatively affect the examination on permanent resident visa?

Probably, the reason is because if you have changed your occupation, you are required to go through more procedures and there are more matters to be considered, comparing to those who have never changed their jobs.

For example, in connection to checking whether necessary procedures have been completed when changing occupation (cf. above b), you especially need to check if you have properly submitted notifications regarding the organization which you belong to, etc. (Article 19-16 of the Immigration Act).
Additionally, there is another point to check with regard to the payment situation of social insurance premium. If you leave your job, you have to change your health insurance to national health insurance, and the pension has to be changed to the national pension from welfare pension (where applicable). If you start working again, your new employer will help you with such procedure regarding your pension and health insurance. If these procedures are not completed, it affects the examination pertaining to a permanent resident visa very badly.

As such, you should be very careful not to make any errors in procedures in the course of changing occupation, but it also means that if there are no errors in the procedures, the change of occupation does not affect the examination pertaining to a permanent resident visa.

Thus, it is wrong to say “change of occupation = failing to receive permanent resident visa,” but it is “error in the procedures in connection to changing occupation = failing to receive permanent resident visa.”

3.Matters that need to be paid attention regarding change of occupation if you are to apply for a permanent resident visa

The items below are the matters that need to be paid special attention when changing your occupation if you aim to apply for a permanent resident visa in the future.

・Do not forget to complete the necessary procedures when changing occupation!

If you change your occupation, you must complete immigration procedures and procedures concerning social insurance, etc. Regarding this point, please check with the administrative scriveners and social security consultants at the company which you are leaving and the new company which you are entering, in order to make sure that you complete all procedures. If you fail to complete these procedures, it will be regarded as a negative element in the examination pertaining to a permanent resident visa.

・Do not apply for a permanent resident visa right after you change your job!

During the examination on permanent resident visa by the immigration authority, the stability of your working status is taken into consideration. This is because they want to check if you will be able to live in Japan stably even after obtaining a permanent resident visa. If you apply for a permanent resident visa right after changing your job, the authority might judge that you lack stability of working status. Instead of applying right after changing your job, we therefore recommend you to apply for permanent resident visa after your working status is stabilized to a recognizable degree.

・Be careful if non-working period is long!

If you have history of a non-working period due to job finding, please check your resume. If the non-working period is too long, such fact can be negatively seen during the examination pertaining to a permanent resident visa because it looks like you did not perform the activity specified by the Immigration Act for the type of the work visa you have. Especially, if you have overstayed the duration specified in Article 22-4 (Revocation of Status of Residence) of the Immigration Act, you need to be very careful.

・Be careful of the contents of work after changing occupation!

In case that the contents of work at your new workplace are different from that of previous workplace, if you have not applied for certificate of qualification for employment, you need to be cautious. It is okay if there is obviously no problem regarding work contents under the Immigration Act, but you need to pay attention if it is unclear whether the work contents suit your work visa and complies with the Immigration Act. If you are not certain about your work contents at the new workplace, we recommend you to talk to specialists.

・Be careful of the decrease in your income due to the change of occupation!

If there is a non-working period in your work history and your income has decreased, or if your income has decreased due to the change of occupation, such facts can be regarded as negative elements in the examination pertaining to a permanent resident visa. While changing occupation is normally considered as building careers, the decrease in income may bring a doubt and have a negative impact on the examination pertaining to a permanent resident visa. For that reason, we recommend you to put additional explanation on your career plan, etc. if your income has decreased substantially.

4.Case study

Now, we are going to talk about the case of Mr. A.

In case of Mr. A, it’s been almost 5 years since he had changed his visa to a work visa, and during the past 5 years, he changed his occupations several times.

We verified the qualification of Mr. A to be granted a permanent resident visa.
As a result, we found some problems regarding the stability of working condition since there was a long period of non-working, and it had been only 3 months after he changed to his current job. For that reason, our administrative scrivener advised to change the timing of applying for permanent resident visa to any time after the working status is stabilized.

Besides, we found that the company he newly entered had failed to complete procedures concerning his income of a certain year. So, we helped submitting revised tax returns and paying national and local taxes, etc.
Other than that, there were no problems concerning the rest of requirements as Mr. A had properly completed procedures concerning social insurance premiums and the notifications on the organization entering into an employment agreement with him.

Mr. A seemed very relieved as the time for his application for a permanent resident visa became clear. After that, he submitted his application in accordance with the scheduled time frame and succeeded in receiving a visa.

5.Summary

In this article, we wrote about the relationship between permanent resident visas and the change of occupation.

I hope now you understand that the change of occupation itself has no negative impact on the examination on permanent resident visa, but failing to satisfy the matters to be paid careful attention is the one that has adverse effects on such examination.
If you are considering to apply for a permanent resident visa and have history of changing occupation, please try checking if you satisfy each requirement listed in this article.

If you would like to know the specific contents, we recommend you to use our free testing of eligibility for permanent resident visa.
Please feel free to contact us!