Post-JET Visa Advice

From HyogoAJET

Note: The Alien Registration system will be abolished in summer 2012 and will be replaced by a new Residency system. Please view the following Ministry of Justice pamphlet for more details: http://www.immi-moj.go.jp/newimmiact_1/pdf/NewResidencyManagementSystem-%28EN%29.pdf

This page will be updated when we have more information on how the changes pertain to JETs.

• Your visa is your property, not that of your employer. Your employer may not determine how you use your visa or demand that you cancel it when you terminate your employment relationship.
• A visa gives the bearer permission to reside in a foreign country for a particular purpose. As long as you are not engaging in activities outside of the confines of the stated purpose, you're fine. The category of permitted activities usually pertains to how you generate income. For example, one is not allowed to work on a tourist visa.
• Your visa stipulates a certain set of restrictions; your employment contract may stipulate others. ALTs are allowed to teach English according to their visa, but their contract forbids them from teaching privately. It's important to know which restrictions stem from your visa, and which stem from your employment contract. Your employer has something to say only about the latter.
• As long as you don't violate the terms of your visa, you are welcome to continue to live in Japan after terminating your employment relationship with the organization that sponsored your visa. Visas stipulate what activities you may engage in, but that's not to say that you must engage in those activities. One JET wanted to study Japanese on his own during the third year of his visa. He had enough savings to carry him through the entire year and wondered if he simply could live in Japan during the final year of his visa without having a job. The answer is yes. If he moves, he simply needs to register at the city or town hall of his new address (this pertains to his foreigner registration card, not his visa). Your visa does not require you to have a job or to engage in a particular activity, provided that how you actually use your time (usually related to generating income) is not in violation of the type of visa you have. As such, JETs who complete their contracts with time still on their visa are welcome to travel, live, study, write, meditate, cavort, etc., in Japan. They simply have to avoid generating income in a manner that is inconsistent with their visa.
• Attention Third Years
  As most of you have visas that will expire on the same day that your contracts come to an end, you must be careful, as you are required to either leave Japan before your current visa expires OR you must apply for a temporary visitor visa before your current visa expires. This means that you must apply for a temporary visitor visa to cover the days you will probably stay in Japan to arrange your affairs after your employment has ended. Leaving before your contract ends (or even the day your contract ends) may be possible, but you will need to use nenkyu and negotiate with your school. If you want to apply for the temporary visitor visa, see Temporary Visitor Visa.
• If your visa is still valid, you can leave and re-enter Japan as long as you have the appropriate re-entry permits. However, in order to become a non-resident and collect your pension refund you have to cancel that visa when leaving Japan (i.e. leave without a re-entry permit). Don't forget to hand in your alien registration card at immigration when you do so.
• If you want to stay in Japan and renew your visa with a new employer, make sure you hold on to your Letter of Appointment (人事通知書). If your new employer asks you for a Taishoku Shomeisho (退職証明書), your Letter of Appointment should do.

The above information was provided in part by the PAs in Ibaraki-ken
-Hyogo PAs

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Visas, etc.	Immigration Offices ・ Visa Renewal and Status of Residence ・ Reentry Permits ・ Renewing Your Passport ・ Post-JET Visa Advice ・ Temporary Visitor Visa
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