【Case Study】Designated activities visas for waiting until joining the company

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1. How to continue to stay in Japan after receiving a tentative job offer?

In many of Japanese companies, new employees start working in April as the graduation time of educational institutions is in March. If you have found a job before graduation, there is no problem about joining the company in April, but, if you receive a tentative job offer after graduation like Mr. A, you might have to wait for a long time until joining the company in April of the following year.

Therefore, the Immigration Services Agency allows those who have received tentative job offers to stay until the time of joining the company, considering the actual employment situation of Japanese companies, by a visa called a designated activities visa for waiting until joining the company.
If your visa will expire while waiting to join the company, although you wish to stay in Japan until you join the company, you need to change your visa to a designated activities visa for waiting until joining the company.

In this Article, we will explain designated activities visas for waiting until joining the company.
This is a must-see for international students.

2. Requirements for designated activities visa for waiting until joining the company

There are 4 requirements for permission for change to a designated activities visa for waiting until joining the company.

1) The applicant must have the status of residence of student or designated activities for job hunting.
2) The applicant has gotten unofficial decision for a job, and will be employed within 1 year after such unofficial decision and within 1 year and 6 months after graduation.
3) The activity to be engaged in the company, etc. that has been unofficially decided is an activity for which the change of status visa to any status of residence related to employment such as “Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services” is permitted.
4) The applicant has the ability to pay all expenses during his/her stay in Japan.

This visa is applicable only if the foreigner starts working within 1 year after the tentative job offer and within 1 year and 6 months after graduation as stated in 2) above, so if a foreigner will start working on a date which exceeds 1 year after the job offer or 1 year and 6 months after graduation, such foreigner is not eligible for a designated activities visa for waiting until joining the company.

In case of changing to a designated activities visa for waiting until joining the company, you do not need a letter of recommendation from the school you graduated from, unlike the case of a designated activities visa for job hunting. Instead, you must submit a written pledge of the company where you are going to work which states that they will be in contact with the applicant periodically, that if they cancel the tentative job offer, they will notify the Immigration Services Agency without delay, etc.
If you wish to apply for a specific activity for waiting until joining the company, we recommend you to obtain the consent from the company where you will work, in advance.

In addition, designated activities visas for waiting until joining the company are also applicable to such case where you graduate in September and start working in April although you have found a job before graduation. In this case, you will need to change from a student visa to a designated activities visa for waiting until joining the company.

3. Are part-time jobs permitted by the designated activities visa for waiting until joining the company?

In principle, all part-time jobs are prohibited during the stay with a designated activities visa for waiting until joining the company.

Nevertheless, like a student visa, if you obtain permission to engage in activity other than that permitted under the status of residence previously granted, you will be able to work part time within 28 hours per week.

Therefore, if you obtain permission to engage in activity other than that permitted under the status of residence previously granted, you will be able to participate in a pre-employment internship at the company which gave you a tentative job offer. For regular cases, such permission allows work for 28 hours a week, but if you submit materials showing the contents of the internship and obtain an individual permission to engage in activity other than that permitted under the status of residence previously granted, you will be able to participate in the internship for more than 28 hours a week.

4. Summary of designated activities visas for waiting until joining the company

Designated activities visas for job hunting and designated activities visas for waiting until joining the company are both statuses of residence that should be effectively utilized by international students who wish to work for a Japanese company. In addition, the N1 designated activities visa that came into effect at the end of May 2019 supports the employment of international students more than ever.

It is significant that you accurately grasp your status of residence so that you don’t spoil your future with false information. We really hope that many talented foreigners who studied in Japan will play an active role in Japanese society.