May be moving to Japan

[ijf8090]

Hi - I'm Irish now living in the US, my partner is being considered for a two year assignment in Tokyo, we have to make a decision quickly and I am overwhelmed trying to do the research.
I have the following questions, if this is the wrong forum I would appreciate some advice on where to look/post.

1. we are not married, will that cause visa problems for me

2. would I be able to get a work visa? I'm an IT engineer w. 20+ years of experience

3. would I be able to find work, last few years I have been doing Open Source web development, LAMP/Drupal. But I have broad range of experience.

4. I have maybe 6 words of Japanese but am pretty good at picking up the rudiments of other languages, how difficult is it to acquire a sufficient working knowledge for (a) day to day activities e.g. shopping (b) IT work.

Thanks in advance

[Taro Toporific]

1. we are not married, will that cause visa problems for me

Yep, especially since your age precludes a working holiday visa. A mariage of convenience would make your Tokyo life easier.

2. would I be able to get a work visa? I'm an IT engineer w. 20+ years of experience

Maybe. You will need job offer from a company willing to sponsor your visa. Hiring is down in general and your being over 40 years of age can be an issue.

3. would I be able to find work, last few years I have been doing Open Source web development, LAMP/Drupal. But I have broad range of experience.

Solid experience and mad skillz are always needed. Try the IT recruiters here in Tokyo. IMPORTANTLY, you [color="Silver"]most likely[/color] need to find work before you can get a visa.

4. I have maybe 6 words of Japanese but am pretty good at picking up the rudiments of other languages, how difficult is it to acquire a sufficient working knowledge for (a) day to day activities e.g. shopping (b) IT work.

"Picking up" Japanese

"(a) day to day" --Point and gunt with money in your fist always works [color="Silver"](with the ladies)[/color]
"(b) IT work" --Point and gunt, say "hai, hai, hai..." and maybe they won't notice.

[Iraira]

1. we are not married, will that cause visa problems for me

There is no "unmarried partner" VISA. Meaning you will have to find your own VISA.

2. would I be able to get a work visa? I'm an IT engineer w. 20+ years of experience.
3. would I be able to find work, last few years I have been doing Open Source web development, LAMP/Drupal. But I have broad range of experience.

2 and 3 are essentially the same question. I have no idea what the IT field requires, but just coming here and knocking on doors isn't going to get you anywhere. If some companythat you work(ed) for in the US/Ireland has connections to a company(subsidiary) in Japan, that would be your best bet to get an introduction. And that might mean living in a different part of Japan than your "unmarried partner".

4. I have maybe 6 words of Japanese but am pretty good at picking up the rudiments of other languages, how difficult is it to acquire a sufficient working knowledge for (a) day to day activities e.g. shopping (b) IT work.

For a) for day-to-day life (limited to one broken sentence exchange with a store clerk or asking & understanding very simple questions)....3-6 months, but you'll be speaking like a 3-4 year old. Still, there are lots of people here that get by with a 200 word vocabulary, inability to read any of hiragana, katakana, or Kanji. b) Unless the company that does decide to grant you an interview really doesn't need you to have J skillz or needs you for your IT & Engrish skillz, start studying yesterday.

[Coligny]

Can't you do freelance work for us customers ? Got a friend who is web dev, got few big customers back home, but work for them in quite a few countries... 1 year in Nagoya, 2 years in Philipinnes...

[Taro Toporific]

Can't you do freelance work for us customers ? Got a friend who is web dev, got few big customers back home, but work for them in quite a few countries... 1 year in Nagoya, 2 years in Philipinnes...

He could do that but he has a visa problem. Getting a Japanese business visa as a business owner would take quite some time, planning, incorporation paperwork, language skills and/or most importantly money.

[Mike Oxlong]

Maybe enroll in a Japanese language school, securing a student visa. Then do the freelance work for foreign clients. The lang schools wanna get paid. Shouldn't be much problem to do a two year program, and get the visa renewed after the first year as long as the school gets their money. Grades will be secondary to being a paying customer.

[gaijinpunch]

There's a lot of work available for what you do (check Craigslist) but you will find some will require a visa, and some will require Japanese. But, it's worth a look.

Also: Find a head hunter once you get here.

[Iraira]

Find a head hunter once you get here.

Below are some guys who found a head hunter once they got here.

[damn name]

Realistically, you're unemployable in Japan in your field.

Ask yourself this: could you get a job in the US if you knew only six words of English and didn't have a visa?

Headhunters are looking for what their client companies want - business-level Japanese.

[Samurai_Jerk]

Realistically, you're unemployable in Japan in your field.

Ask yourself this: could you get a job in the US if you knew only six words of English and didn't have a visa?

Headhunters are looking for what their client companies want - business-level Japanese.

You're way too optimistic.

I would say that generally speaking they want native-level Japanese (which is a code word for Japanese only) and business-level English.

[Greji]

Below are some guys who found a head hunter once they got here.

No head hunters involved at all. I caught those two with one of my best goats (pictured center front).

[Russell]

No head hunters involved at all. I caught those two with one of my best goats (pictured center front).

Why was your goat terminated after succeeding to catch those two fruits? Kind of ungrateful, i'nt it?

[McTojo]

Hi - I'm Irish now living in the US, my partner is being considered for a two year assignment in Tokyo, we have to make a decision quickly and I am overwhelmed trying to do the research.
I have the following questions, if this is the wrong forum I would appreciate some advice
[color="Pink"]<big snip by Taro>[/color]

Hey! Don't move your a$$ here without checking-in with me first. Leave your Irish whiskey and mannerism there, don't bring it here. And don't dumb down our language here either with that Welsh crap you spit out. Your wife should dump you and marry a Japanese guy. Welcome to my world - Japan

[omae mona]

Your wife should dump you and marry a Japanese guy. Welcome to my world - Japan

ijf8090, don't mind McTojo. He is our foremost expert on being dumped and left for a Japanese guy, and for some reason he likes to remind everybody of it frequently.

The only thing I would add to the advice of other posters is that if you plan to enter Japan on a tourist visa and search for a job, be VERY careful of how you travel. J-Immigration really wants to believe tourists are not planning to stick around. You'd better have a return ticket, and I would furthermore suggest not being seen with your partner (it might look questionable when part of a traveling couple is staying long term, and the other part has a visa that would not allow them to stay together for long).

Best bet is to get married, engaged, or hired for a job and attain the appropriate visa ahead of time.

[Taro Toporific]

...be VERY careful of how you travel. J-Immigration really wants to believe tourists are not planning to stick around...
...Best bet is to get married, engaged, or hired for a job and attain the appropriate visa ahead of time.

[SIZE="3"]DITTO.[/SIZE] (with prejudice)

This is the truth. Omae Mona and I are friends in the "real world" and we both have worked in IT in Japan for more than while.

Any Japanese Immigration scam is possible and I've done more than a few over my 27+ years in Japan. However, you have gotta play your cards close to the vest if you plan to come to Japan on a tourist visa to illegally live with your Squeeze.
Doing so is possible.
And, money makes most problems go away (you could live here 6 months while doing freelance IT work and then sleep on the beach in the Philippines for weeks(s) and then return to Japan on another tourist visa).

[Coligny]

+1 the web guy I was speaking aboot had to leave after 1 year and was not allowed in here again (denied visa)

The fact that he married with a Nagoya based hostess from philipine with an entertainer visa didun't exactly help.

Now before you go wild. The bloke is flawless, martial art practitionner (not the bully kind, more the training from 6am to 10 am before working for money then more training in the evening), the girl is cute as a button and not a cheap ass money money. They now live in the philipine together... And they have 2 cats...