Short version:
6 year resident, 7 in April, but current job contract will finish then. Until now just 1-year renewed visas from ALT'ing (contracting companies, not JET) and one short eikaiwa gig. If I go home or possibly another country for around a year at least, if I'm able to find better work and come back, will that gap hurt my PR application down the road?
More info:
M34, American. At the end of this contract I'm done English teaching, and if there is absolutely no other way I'll be allowed to live here then I guess shikata ga nai。
I'm not giving up entirely on searching for other jobs here yet, still reaching out in my network and registered with Hello Work. But I did my first 2 attempts at N2 last July and December, and after failing the first time, the 2nd didn't feel very different. So with no JLPT cert, non-English teaching opportunities are unlikely to come up, even if I'm conversational and have pretty good reading comprehension.
A big part of me is burned out and ready to regroup, sukiru appu and come back with the creds and skills to find work where I can actually use the skillsets I care about.
On the other hand, being this close to 10 years just to mess up my chances at PR now seems like it would make these past 7 years a waste. Unless, of course, I can get N2, which would be way more difficult to study & prep for outside of Japan. Not only daily listening and conversation, but things like being near a good local library full of Japanese reading practice would be something I'd miss.
Ironically, even though up until now I've only gotten 1-year visas, I just got a 3-year one. But only as a shidou-joshu。Sure I'm beyond sick of being an ALT, but ngl that really felt like a weird little sign, like if I gaman suru for those 2 more years and then just ooone more, it would all be worth it. Yeah I know, sunk cost fallacy.
There's also the issue of my age, iirc 35+ is really lousy for PR points but let me know if that's mistaken.
I love it a lot here, I'm constantly learning new parts of history & local cultures outside of work, and I don't need to convince anyone how safe & simple it is to live in Japan. And I'd really like to at least secure PR and then be able to freelance or bartend or just about anything else while able to spend time out of the country. But if it comes at the cost of all the time trapped in these classrooms and wearing my genki mask every damn day, I'd need some convincing.
Would like to hear from anyone with a similar experience, especially since multiple people in person have told me the "late on just ONE tax payment, PR cancelled" story, so the whole process has me paranoid. Because if someone reads this and tells me "I left for a year and now I can never get PR" or something like that, I'd reconsider.
Either way, thanks!
EDIT Ok it definitely resets the 10 years required for PR, got it
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It's 10 years of continuous residency. It can somewhat be maintained if your (Japanese) company posts you overseas for a period of time, but outside of that, it is broken if you are away more than 3 consecutive months or more than 100 days over any 365 day period.
The general advice I previously received was: If you're looking to apply for PR via 10 years residency, you need to be on a working status of residence (SOR) for the last 5 years, and have an SOR with 3Y or 5Y validity.
You also need to show:
Last 5 years of income (showing you have 3M or more each year; +~0.7M for each dependent)
Last 3 years of residence tax payment receipts.
Last 2 years of pension payment receipts
Last 2 years of National health insurance payment receipts
(2, 3, 4) must all be paid on time. Even a single day late for one payment could result in a rejection. If you are on Shakai Hoken, (3 and 4) are not required. Same if (2) is deducted from your monthly salary also. But you will need to have your pay slips for that period showing this.
If you have changed jobs in the last 3 years, if there is *any* gap (even for 1 day) in between the last/first day, you will need to show the NHI/National Pension receipts for that gap or that you had remained on the previous employer's shakai hoken coverage for that period (usually, where you pay both the employer and employee share of the premium).
There was previously some posts where PR applications were rejected, as they did not have 3M income in 2020 due to the pandemic. But generally, you want to have a stable and consistent job/income.
I think the information on this page is pretty comprehensive: https://samurai-law.com/en/col01_09.html
"Last 5 years of income (showing you have 3M or more each year"
So if I don't have 3M yen each year for those most recent 5 years, would I get denied?
Definitely don't make that much, part of why I'm looking for other work.
Most probably yes. You don’t earn enough to support yourself in their eyes. Especially pay enough into pension to afford retirement.
My friend got rejected for that exact reason (one year of income under 3mil), so yes
One of the crucial evaluation points is that you "must have a stable livelihood in the future".
Having a stable and consistent job is essential for this. If you have been an ALT who has been on a string of 1 year contracts, or (frequent?) changing jobs without any clear career advances/salary increases, may also negatively impact your PR application review. I have also heard that the size and stability of your employer is also taken into consideration.
As you're entering your 7th year, and planning to stop teaching - now would be the time for you to secure a "permanent employee" (正社員) position at a larger company, earning at least 3M, and to stay there for the next 2~3 years. If you have not had 3M income in the last 2 years, you'd probably need to be there for the next 5.
That said, if marriage with a Japan national or PR holder is on the cards, supposedly some of these requirements are slightly relaxed, and the household income is evaluated instead (~3.7M combined). You need to be married for 3 years (with the last 1 year continuous residency in Japan); so leaving Japan and coming back later would still allow you to qualify for PR.
I appreciate the specific info, I was definitely not sure about how it would look after changing jobs. Also my 1st ALT job was with a tiny dispatch company that doesn't even exist anymore because it got bought out, so not sure how that would look.
Marriage with JP national isn't in the cards, in fact I'm reconsidering things because it might happen with someone from a different country. She's a researcher here for a project at the local university, but her program & scholarship stipulates she has to go back to share results (and glaze Japan a bit) for at least 1 year.
She wants to come back here for masters though, and she's invited me to live with her in her home country in the meantime. We both know marriage would be a big step but we're honest about the fact that we love each other, so it could be a good way to build & test our relationship.
Things like residency and remote work would be MUCH simpler where she lives, and it's a place that's definitely been on my list of countries I'd like to visit.
More than that though, being with her has made me happier than I've been in years. We can always communicate clearly (even in times when one of us, for some reason, can't clearly communicate, if that makes sense), find new ways to have fun together and encourage/challenge each other in positive ways. We even studied together for the most recent JLPT. She took N4, I'd bet money she passed!
I guess this has just made me rethink a lot of what I've been doing the past few years. I'd meet others like me (speaking about guys at least) who "made it" in Japan, and there seemed to always be this clear route:
JET (or eikaiwa) -> wife* -> PR
*(with ~50% chance of divorce based on what I've seen)
Maybe that's still the case for most people, but the fact that I started with a no-name fly-by-night dispatch company, and have just been bouncing around ever since meant that it was over from the start.
I mentioned "sunk cost fallacy" in the post, so I want to be sure I'm looking at things without misguided ideas about what the results will be about a choice like this.
Thanks for your perspective!
In general, the stability of your job over the evaluation period (last 5 years) is what matters more, so your first ALT job shouldn't have much impact on the evaluation.
Most ALTs however are on annual contracts, and that usually does not meet the stability criteria. If you've been with the same dispatch for 5 years, you are usually able to request for an "indefinite term" contract, which could possibly mitigate this; the advice I received when I consulted with an "immigration lawyer" at that time was, "you need to get a better job...".
Every ALT that I know, who qualified for PR, did so via the "Spouse of a Japan National/PR" route. The others got out of being an ALT within 1~3 years and moved into other fields. Those that remained in education had, in addition to the below, a teaching license from their home country *and* a significant number of classroom teaching hours. And, what they all had in common were:
N1 proficiency, or a the very least N2 and were actively working to get their N1.
They all leverage on their existing skills/qualifications, and work experiences accumulated.
Their "exit" opportunity came from contacts they have made/established/maintained while they were here in Japan.
ALTs are entry level, with zero chance of progression - yes, some become "head teachers" but that is just a few extra dollars allowance, for more hours of work. Taking a step back, its no different from working in fast food, with the chance of getting promoted to a "team leader". With the move to mandatory Shakai Hoken a couple of years back, most dispatch ALTs have been moved onto a 40h week contract; and with that, their hourly rate is now about on par with a fast food worker here too. It's fine for a gap year or two, but there is (and has never been) any career path in being an ALT, and by itself is not enough to fulfill the "must have a stable livelihood in the future" criteria for PR.
As your partner has a different nationality (from yours, and Japan), you will probably need to find a different subreddit specific to her country to understand the conditions you would need to meet to be able to live and work there for an extended period of time (1y?). In *most* cases, getting married could help; and that could possibly allow you to return to Japan when she is reading her Master's here on a dependent SOR.
Another tricky thing for OP is that they have a three-year visa. The new requirements to be announced this month will reportedly stipulate a five-year-visa as another requirement for PR. Hopefully in three years from now he’ll get that and then be able to apply.
Can you share any sources about this new requirement, and when it will be implemented? Or is this just conjecture at this point?
I also wonder if it would be applied to applications that have already been accepted, and are still waiting to be processed, or if it would only apply to new applications received from after it goes into effect.
Going out of the country for more than 90 days at once or 150 days in a calendar year will most likely reset your count towards 10 years.
What do you mean "hurt"? It depends on the route you apply, but e.g. at the 10 year mark, it clearly states "10 years of continued residency". So it's not that it would "hurt", it's that it'd make you totally ineligible AFAIK. Or do you mean you'd quit and spend 1 year traveling while receiving unemployment and violating the terms of your visa? (which I don't need to explain how bad it'd look, right?)
If you want to apply through the High Skill point system (you mentioned "PR points", though I don't think you can follow that route), spouse route, etc, I don't know, but I was told it's better to look like you don't leave Japan a lot since your PR application will be evaluated by a human on how well integrated you look into Japan's society/culture/etc.
Source: I was denied PR and talked with 2 immigration agencies about how to improve my chances next time
Didn't know it reset completely, but everyone has made that clear lol.
And obviously if I left I'd inform HW & all the local/nat'l gov offices, close accounts and all that
I got Highly skilled 5-year visa last year and intend to apply for PR in the middle of this year. As you said, it might affect PR application if you leave Japan too often after submitting the application. But how about before submitting the PR application? And does that "often" mean exactly? I have another company running in my home country, so once in a while, I have go back. Thanks
If you're applying for PR via 70 HSP points, you must have 3 years continuous residency in Japan. If it is via 80 HSP points, you must have 1 year continuous residency.
Continuous residency must be maintained following the application submission, and until the result is received - this could be as short as ~4m if you're living in Takamatsu; or as long as ~16m if you're in Tokyo.
Basically, "continuous residency" is broken if you are away more than 3 consecutive months, or more than 100 days over any 365 day period.
If your departure from Japan is due to your (Japanese) company sending you overseas for work, it might be good to consult with an "immigration lawyer" what documentation you should put together to support that your continuous residency has not been broken.
Thanks a lot for your information
Yeah it would hurt it by resetting your consecutive years back to zero again and you’d have to start over.
It won't hurt it, it will break your residency and the "counter" will reset.
If you’re an ALT, I would first make sure you even meet the minimum income requirement for PR. It’s not just “be in Japan for 10 years.” IIRC, it’s only around ~3M, but I know from personal experience that many ALT positions don’t even pay that much.
I know multiple people in your position who will never qualify, despite being here more than 10 years.
Just something to keep in mind when making a decision.
Important for all the dispatch ALTs to read this.
Yeah, I’ve met several people working the typical <250k/mo. ALT/eikaiwa positions who have the misconception that they just need to rough it out until the 10-year mark and then will be set for life. Not realizing they don’t, nor will ever, qualify for PR in that sort of job.
The only people I personally know who got PR working as a dispatch ALT got it through their Japanese spouse.
Not exactly uplifting info but extremely useful, thanks for the perspective
You need to move ahead with your life and your career. You will be at retirement age before you know it and you must have a lot of savings and a house paid off to live comfortably. I doubt you will get PR. I’m sorry. They are really strict now. Pick a country, get a good job that you can stick with until you retire or start your own business. You can always vacation in Japan.
One other issue people haven't mentioned yet is that while currently it is possible to apply for PR under a 3-year visa, it is currently under consideration by the Government that the requirement be changed to 5-year. My understanding is that this technically wouldn't require a change in the law to effect and could happen at any time in the near future if and when it is announced, but I have seen Japanese scriveners/lawyers state a belief that this requirement will most likely come into effect from April this year.
More information about this will probably be announced in the next few months, but unfortunately for the time being I would not assume that you would be in a position to apply for PR in several years time even if you continue to fulfill the continuous residency criterion.
The requirement for PR (by the normal route) is 10 CONTINUOUS years of residency. this means that if you leave the country for a year now, your count will restart and all the time you’ve spent in japan so far won’t count toward PR. That said, if you aren’t generating enough income, then you won’t be eligible for PR anyway, so that’s something to consider. If you’ve been in the country for seven years and getting PR is your top priority, then I guess what you would need to do now is find a job in japan that gets you enough income for the next three years. Then you could get PR after that as long as you can manage to get a five-year visa (new PR requirements to be announced this month will probably stipulate five year visa)
Yes