63

I applied for a position with a small company in Japan (I live in the US). The company obtained (at their expense) the documentation for me to apply for a visa that would allow me to work legally in Japan, but the project my position was for got cancelled in the meantime (they informed me from the beginning of the application process that the position was uncertain).

The company has offered me the option of starting employment with them next year, but expressed understanding that I will likely need a job before that, and also offered to mail the documentation to me now, so that I can apply for an employment visa and look for other work in my field in Japan (it will expire before next year). Having a valid visa in hand would put me at a huge advantage in my job search.

In short, a prospective employer obtained something invaluable for me, using their time and at their expense, when I have not done anything for them. Is it appropriate to simply accept their offer to mail the documents? (I may want to work for this company in the future).

Rai
  • 561
  • 1
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
    @Rai You should call up your consulate. Information may differ depending on where you're from. I've read you shouldn't have problems changing jobs, but never working at the place that sponsored your visa is very unlikely to be okay. – Rob Aug 01 '19 at 06:44
  • 4
    IANAL, but applying for a japanese labor visa without beeing actually employed seems extremely fishy. Your other employer will have to make the paperwork again if they want to hire you anyway. I would also strongly advise reconsidering if you want to work for a company whose HR people are so sloppy as to propose you this. – armand Aug 01 '19 at 06:54
  • 4
    Does the visa tie you to a single employer (such as an H1 does in the USA)? If so, it is of no use to another company (unless it is easier to transfer an existing visa than to obtain a new one) – Mawg says reinstate Monica Aug 01 '19 at 07:00
  • 1
    @Mawg It does tie you to them, but there is no obligation to stay with that ocmpany. You can change jobs, and then just report that you changed companies. Of course, it may not look good when you try to update the visa in a year. – さりげない告白 Aug 01 '19 at 09:39
  • 29
    The title of your question says they obtained a visa for you. The body of your question says they obtained the documentation for you to apply for a visa. Which is it? What is actually included in that documentation? – jcaron Aug 01 '19 at 09:55
  • @さりげない告白 if you are sure that it works that way in Japan, that's great news. It certainly does not work that way in the USA with an H1 work visa, which is why I asked. – Mawg says reinstate Monica Aug 01 '19 at 10:07
  • 2
    @Mawg You need to fill out the official form from immigration telling them you quit/ the company went out of business, then you have... I think it was 30 days? to find a new job, and fill out the official change of job form and submit that to them. – さりげない告白 Aug 01 '19 at 10:12
  • 2
    @jcaron He needs to go to the consolate in person, or through a legal representative (that is not the company), to get a visa, so they just prepared the documents to apply for the visa. – さりげない告白 Aug 01 '19 at 10:32
  • 4
    Work visas are usually come as a sticker on your passport. Have you submitted your Passport at Japanese counsulate and obtained visa? Or your potential employer prepared the documentation (Certificate of Eligibility (COE)) of which, next step is applying for Visa? If only documentation is prepared, it's highly likely that it won't be valid as that employer no longer wants to hire you. – Swanand Aug 01 '19 at 14:17
  • @jcaron They have obtained the documentation for visa application. When I posted the question, I assumed that amounted to obtaining a visa for me, and I worded the title that way for simplicity and clarity. My question was about the professionalism of accepting a favor, but I now see there is a legal aspect to it that I had not considered. – Rai Aug 01 '19 at 18:38
  • 2
    If it’s just documentation, there’s no harm in them sending it over, though I doubt it would actually be of much use to you or have much value. – jcaron Aug 01 '19 at 18:59
  • See also our sister site [expatriates.se] which handles questions about obtaining work visas. – Michael Hampton Aug 01 '19 at 19:29
  • 1
    Due to factors beyond the company's control, their work towards your visa turned out to be pretty useless. The maximum value they likely think they can get is to get you (a) in Japan with (b) goodwill toward that company, so they can hire a good candidate for your next job. – WBT Aug 02 '19 at 03:06
  • 2
    Pretty sure this should be altered to read "Certificate of Eligibility" and not visa. – muru Aug 02 '19 at 03:30
  • 1
    They took the risk, and they've already incurred the expense. It would be churlish to turn it down now. That way nobody benefits. Thank them politely and accept gratefully. – user207421 Aug 02 '19 at 06:56

5 Answers5

112

It's OK to accept the documents but read the conditions of the visa very carefully before you move your life to Japan.

You quite likely actually don't have a valid visa (and can't get one using the documentation prepared by the company), since being employed by the company sponsoring the visa is probably a condition for it to be valid.

Player One
  • 22,679
  • 16
  • 77
  • 89
  • Agreed to fully read the conditions, but in many countries it is far easier to transfer a visa from one company to another than it is to get a new visa approved, so this is still very valuable. – David K Aug 01 '19 at 12:05
  • 10
    @DavidK for sure, but if the visa was never valid to start with then you can find yourself in some really stressful and expensive trouble even years later, as (depending on the country and the type of visa) all of the subsequent ones may have been invalid too, due to the first one. Someone I know learned that the hard way and had to pay a ton of money to an immigration lawyer or face deportation and separation from their child (who was born in the country that they didn't actually have a valid visa for). Better to be sure at the start. – Player One Aug 01 '19 at 12:10
  • 12
    Don't forget to thank the company for this gesture! It costs them nothing (since they already had made the investment), but they didn't have any obligation to send you the papers, either. – mgarciaisaia Aug 01 '19 at 18:01
  • 2
    Read the visa. In my visa working in a European country, it specifically states that I am not tied to the employer that got me the visa. I can change employer at any time, and visa renewals are done by me personally. – vikingsteve Aug 02 '19 at 08:37
29

Engineering visas in Japan do not tie you to a single employer, at least not in practice; most of my several visa renewals were done under a different employer from the sponsor of the prevous visa and the immigration authorities had no problem with this.

However, to get or renew a visa you must have a sponsor (scroll down a bit to "Employer") who will be required to show that they are capable of employing and paying you, are or are going to do so, that they have an office, and the like.

In this case, if the employer isn't committing to employing you immediately, I would guess that immigration would not issue a visa, so your problem is likely moot.

Additionally, the documentation to apply for a visa doesn't cost anything, as far as I'm aware; you just go down to the immigration office and get it (at least if you're in Japan). I've always used an immigration lawyer for my visas, but I have plenty of friends who have done the entire renewal process themselves.

cjs
  • 1,721
  • 10
  • 15
  • 5
    Legally you are required to report both leaving the job that is sponsoring you, and joining a new company in a timely manner. In practice, many people get away without doing so, but I wouldn't count on it, as it could have huge consequences if you are one of the unlucky ones. – さりげない告白 Aug 01 '19 at 10:29
15

Yes. It's okay. Take it.

The position was uncertain. So the company took a risk and applied on your behalf anyway. It didn't work out for them, not this time anyway. But the visa exists now, and I guess they thought you'd like to have it regardless.

So thank them and take the visa documents.

Nathan
  • 4,502
  • 4
  • 23
  • 34
  • Exactly, what I would do! – Crosbonaught Jul 31 '19 at 22:21
  • 16
    It's not a visa yet, it's documents he needs to apply for a visa. – J_rite Aug 01 '19 at 06:59
  • How do you know it's okay? If this was happening in my country, I would have answered like you but this is Japan, do you know the culture to be able to answer in such a way? – Nettle Aug 01 '19 at 15:55
  • 2
    Because they offered. And tbh, even this would have subtly annoyed the company not offering a job, who cares? Whether or not the documents are sufficient to live in Japan isn't what the OP asked, I'm sure the OP will understand what they are once they're in the OPs hands. – Nathan Aug 01 '19 at 20:08
7

I'm not an expert in Japanese culture or business dealings. But in many cultures, it's common practice to offer something with the expectation that it will be rejected or politely declined. It can be as simple as a gesture of goodwill or even something of value.

Strongly suggest you seek advice from someone you trust who is knowledgeable of Japanese customs and behaviors before accepting or rejecting. The 'how' you respond can also have significances.

Steve
  • 11,571
  • 5
  • 39
  • 54
  • 10
    This custom usually applies (1) to gifts of value to the giver and (2) to gifts offered in-person. If the gift has no value to the giver (as is the case of a visa) and is offered remotely then it would be a great waste for the receiver to refuse. – lsusr Jul 31 '19 at 23:50
  • 5
    I'll add that this "refuse gifts at least twice or it's rude" thing was explained to me as some weird foreign quirk of Japanese culture, an unexpected pitfall I had to look out for. Turns out, in practice, this was nonsense, it was just basic manners anyone from most any culture can understand easily, just a touch more common and sincere in Japan (generally speaking). – MGOwen Aug 01 '19 at 02:15
  • 2
    This answer makes me think of Arrested Development! – Nikos Hidalgo Aug 01 '19 at 14:59
1

Aside from goodwill value... it preserves the sunk cost in creating the data, without the costs of securing the data.

They have two risks. First in misplacing the data; you're less likely to do so since you have personal stake. That could spare them the costs of re-creating it.

Second in a data breach. Remember it's all Personally Identifiable Information, so they have to comply with the law in its handling. They don't have to for data they didn't keep.

So it makes perfect sense to offer you the file, then delete it.

Harper - Reinstate Monica
  • 14,137
  • 2
  • 31
  • 59