JIJ (Jobless in Japan)

[Sock]

I'm in the process of leaving my company and i'm guessing they're going to notify the immigration office.
i intend to find a new job in the coming months but it might take some time and i'd like to come back to my homeland for the holidays.
I won't be overstaying my current visa and I already have the re-entry permit.

To sum it up is it possible to be jobless in Japan while still being free to move in and out ?
Basically how seriously do they take that kind of situation, will they track me down and arrest me at the airport or will they just kindly remind me that i should apply for a change of status and leave at that ?

[sublight]

Unless they're vindictive pricks, I don't think your former company has any reason to notify immigration (I've changed jobs about eight or nine times here, including for a couple of places that did the old "quit and I'll have you deported!" threats, but not once has Immigration ever cared). If you received a visa for X years, then it should be good for X years, regardless of whether you're actually working or not. Then again, I tend to be more than a bit clueless and may have just gotten lucky.

If you still don't have a job by the time you need to renew, however, you'll be an F'ed little FG.

As for the re-entry permit, it should be the same: if your permit and visa are still valid, then there shouldn't be a problem. I went back home for a few weeks when I was between jobs and didn't encounter any visa-related hitches.

[Samurai_Jerk]

I'm in the process of leaving my company and i'm guessing they're going to notify the immigration office.
i intend to find a new job in the coming months but it might take some time and i'd like to come back to my homeland for the holidays.
I won't be overstaying my current visa and I already have the re-entry permit.

To sum it up is it possible to be jobless in Japan while still being free to move in and out ?
Basically how seriously do they take that kind of situation, will they track me down and arrest me at the airport or will they just kindly remind me that i should apply for a change of status and leave at that ?

As far as I know, as long as your landing\change\extension permit (not the same thing as your visa) are valid you can be in Japan. You maybe even be eligible for unemployment benefits if you've been paying into the system.

[amdg]

Yeah, I was in that situation. While, I think, technically you should have a job for your visa to remain valid, the reality is no one at the airport cares. Immigration officials don't seem to check up on this and when I was unemployed I traveled without a hitch.

[Sock]

Unless they're vindictive pricks, I don't think your former company has any reason to notify immigration (I've changed jobs about eight or nine times here, including for a couple of places that did the old "quit and I'll have you deported!" threats, but not once has Immigration ever cared).

They're not vindicative pricks, it's just that i'm the first foreigner to ever get sponsored y that company so they're pretty new to the whole thing. They're not notifying the immigration office to put me in trouble they're doing it because they're playing by the book. The book saying all sorts of terrifying stuff about companies being responsible for the behavior of the gaijin they're sponsoring.

Anyway, thanks everyone for the helpful answers.

[Greji]

They're not vindicative pricks, it's just that i'm the first foreigner to ever get sponsored y that company so they're pretty new to the whole thing. They're not notifying the immigration office to put me in trouble they're doing it because they're playing by the book. The book saying all sorts of terrifying stuff about companies being responsible for the behavior of the gaijin they're sponsoring.

Anyway, thanks everyone for the helpful answers.

You're right in that they are required to notify the immigration office if they are your sponsor and you leave their employment. A lot of employers never even get around to it, but technically, depending on the type of visa, you must report change of employment status on your gaiji toroku within so many days. However, as in your previous cases, this gets put on the back burner at immigrations as they, as well as the police, have a lot more heavier fish to cook. Having said that, you are never really safe on a visa that may, or may not be ruled as invalid by employment change. You should keep that in mind and try to change status as soon as possible, like new job, etc. It is similar to getting divorced on the spouse visa. Most people feel that the visa should be good through its expiration date, but that ruling can only be made be an immigration agent and you never know what they are going to do.

Good Luck

[TennoChinko]

Reporting you to Immigration is an empty threat. And, even if they did, there'd be such a disconnect that the reaction would be 'so what?'

Also, you should read this:

http://www.daijob.com/en/columns/terrie/article/1451

Breaking an Employment Contract


Note: As always, I advise that you seek professional legal and/or
labor advice before acting on any opinions given here.

While the recruiting industry typically focuses on the top end of the
job market, i.e., the engineering, banking, and management jobs, a
much bigger layer of employment and one that most of us have been
through is that of "entry-level" jobs. These are provided by vendors
of all types who feed into the larger multinationals or who are in a
commodity industry, such as English-teaching (whether it should be
treated as a commodity is another issue).

There is a place for these companies, and although you see them get
vilified on bulletin boards for low wages, without them many people
would not be able to accumulate the necessary track record to be
considered for positions in larger companies. One sector that I'm very
aware of is the IT industry, where many of the larger, more
prestigious firms, including banks, securities firms, logistics
companies, IT consultancies, etc., actually prefer to receive their
future employees from entry-level vendors, because then the candidates
are proven performers.

The problem for entry-level employers is whether or not they can make
a reasonable profit from the new employee before the economics of the
market kick in and the person is offered a higher-paying job somewhere
else. In one of my companies, which take on a lot of entry-level
people, we use an honor system whereby we ask the candidate to do the
right thing and stay two years. Most people do the right thing and if
by the end of that period we're not paying them enough to stay, we
wish them the best of luck and facilitate their move onwards. Such is
life and I'm a strong believer in what goes around comes around - that
is, many of these people eventually rise through the ranks of a larger
firm and eventually become my customers.

But all IT vendors do not hold this ideal of a long-term ecosystem,
and in some other sectors it just plain doesn't work. Again English
teaching comes to mind. For these companies, then, holding on to
entry-level people and extracting some value is enacted by way of
strict employment contracts. These contracts can be really tough,
threatening dire repercussions and penalties if the person leaves
before the contract ends. The question is: is this allowed?

The Japanese constitution guarantees the right to work, and it doesn't
say that foreigners should be treated any differently. The government
takes this right very seriously, and indeed for many decades until the
1990's made itself the only legal recruiting entity, so as to
guarantee people fair and equal treatment in their job search.
Likewise, the government has passed labor laws, which protect this
constitutional right, and thus everyone working legally in Japan has
the right to move from one employer to the next as they wish.
Contracts between an employer and employee that contravene this
constitutional right are not legal.

So why do some employers persist in writing such contracts? Firstly,
they are hoping that the person signing the contract is unfamiliar
with the law and won't challenge it. Secondly, they are allowed to
write in clauses that achieve the effect of holding on to you, and yet
not violate the law. For example, it is legal for them to require that
before leaving you pay back any educational or training expenses, also
any loans, subsidized apartments, etc. If they have you on a financial
hook and you're not able to pay them back quickly, this acts as a
guarantee to stay. Also, they can time your bonuses so that you can
only collect them if you renew your contract. And lastly, they can
withdraw sponsorship of your working visa.

Further, if you're a senior manager or a director, then the
restrictions in a job contract about how and when you can move
actually can be enforced. This is because you are no longer regarded
as an employee but rather more like a "partner" in the business and
the issue of trust and fiduciary duty start to have more influence
than labor law rights.

What can you do if you have signed a contract that effectively
prevents you from moving to another job? Firstly, you should get
advice, either from your labor standards office or from a lawyer.
Secondly, before you notify your intention to move, make sure you have
another employer lined up with a signed job offer. Once they sign that
job offer they have a contractual responsibility to hire you, and this
gives you some foundation for dealing with your existing employer and
their contract.

Lastly, I'll note that unless you have broken some other law, in
practice the Immigration people are not going to throw you out of
Japan if they know that you already have your next job offer lined up.
They know that productive foreign taxpayers are good for the economy.
So a company sponsoring your visa and threatening to tell immigration
if you leave is making nothing more than a hollow threat.

[FG Lurker]

If (when?) NOVA implodes I think we'll rapidly see how immigration decides to handle gaijin who are no longer employed.

Until now I would say it has mostly been case-by-case but the sudden appearance of 5000 unemployed teachers will likely lead to the rapid creation of a policy or two...