Working Holiday visas

I decided that I wanted to go to Japan and teach English about three or four years ago, and slowly everything has fallen into place as the date got closer and closer.
Because I always knew I wanted to go in my gap year before University I had to find a visa that accommodated up to a year long stay but not longer.

The work visa is valid for up to three years (at the discretion of the Japanese issuing authorities) and is much more restrictive. The work visa ties you to an employer, who will probably also be your sponsor (this is very beneficial - you can get your transport costs paid and subsidised accommodation close to your workplace).

Or there was the JET (Japan Exchange Teaching) program where they will sort out your work visa for you and fly you out to Japan to work. But you have to have a Bachelor's degree in any subject or teaching qualifications, which I don't have being only 18.

By the way, most of my information here is coming from 'Japan: A Working Holiday Guide' by Louise Sutherland, which is an amazing book and I recommend it to anyone even remotely interested in Japan, but it's perfect for people wanting a Working Holiday visa like me.

So one of the last options for me was the Working Holiday visa, and I liked this idea. I've always been interested in travel, and the prospect of flying to a country I loved and travelling around and experiencing it first-hand was just incredible.
So I looked into it and found that it could actually happen!
To be eligible for a Working Holiday visa to Japan you need to be:
- from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, France, South Korea, Germany or Britain (and living in your home country when you apply for the visa)
- aged between 18 and 25 (or 30 in some cases)
- in possession of a valid passport
- in possession of a return flight ticket (or proof that you have sufficient funds to buy one)
- in possession of enough money to support you in Japan until you can find work (I am told this can take 2 months) - when I applied in September 2007 I needed to prove I had £2500
- in good health, and not have a criminal record.

So if you fit those criteria, go for it! Apply for a Working Holiday visa.

You can apply for the visa any time between six months and three weeks before you want to enter Japan. You must enter Japan in the six months after you receive the visa, otherwise it probably becomes void (although don't quote me on that) and you may not be able to get another - as you can only get one Working Holiday visa for Japan in your lifetime. Incidentally, if you leave Japan after entering on a Working Holiday visa without a re-entry permit (it will cost you ¥10,000, which is about £50 for a multiple re-entry permit but it's cheaper for single re-entry at ¥6,000).

You have to apply in person at your nearest Japanese Embassy or Consulate in your home country (see the bottom of this post for addresses and contact information).
You can call and ask for the visa application sheet to be sent to you or you can pop in and collect one in person (not convenient if you don't live anywhere near the Embassy).
I got contrasting information from several different sources about what I actually needed to include in my visa application but below is what I was actually asked for when I got to the Embassy.

- My valid passport
- One copy of my application form (collected from the Embassy - remember to specify what type of visa you want as the application form is the same for all visas) including a 2-inch x 2-inch photo that I attached to the sheet with a paperclip although they gave me glue there
- 1 CV including my Personal Information, Work Experience/Employment History and Hobbies and Interests (shockingly, my interests were very Japan orientated)
- 1 copy of an itinerary for your plans for the first 6 months of your trip (this scared me a bit because I really don't know but I wrote down where I planned to be each month, even if it was a move from Tokyo to Chiba over a month - the man at the Embassy said my application was good because I wanted to move around a lot and it is a Working Holiday visa. He also seemed impressed that I included a labelled map of my plans, although this isn't neccessary)
- 1 copy of a written reason for applying for this type of visa - I included all my interests in Japan, and my wish to travel around the country, meet the people, learn about the culture and learn the language. They seemed impressed that I had attempted to teach myself the language. He even asked me a question in Japanese - お勉強は？(O-benkyou wa?), to which I replied: "Er, something about studying?". He laughed and said, "I asked you how your studying was going." Put on the spot, the only thing I could think of saying was: いいです。(Ii desu, or 'It's good'.) Way to go Miles.
- Bank statements for each of the last three months previous to your application to prove you have at least £2,500. It doesn't matter if they are from different accounts, print-outs from Internet banking or official bank-sent ones as long as they add up to the required amount. He (I wish I knew his name, an English man at London's Japanese Embassy anyway) said it was good that he could see where my money was coming from, in my case Cadbury Schweppes.
- A special delivery pre-paid self-addressed envelope so they can return my passport to me. I weighed my passport and it was about 30g I think so that's what I paid for. My local post office was very helpful when I explained what I needed and it cost me about £3.
- £5 cash to buy the visa, very reasonable methinks (you get a receipt back with your passport).

Well, that's what I included in my application, although different Embassies may differ in requirements so it can't hurt to check their website or ring them up. Remember they probably won't be open on weekends or public holidays.
I was told I'd need duplicates of each form so I photocopied them - I didn't need them though. I didn't even need a passport photo despite the Embassy's website telling me I'd need two. They said it was easier to just use the 2-inch x 2-inch photo I supplied with my application form.

I took the coach from Birmingham (where I live) to London, luckily I don't live too far - only a 3-hour journey with National Express and it only cost me something like £15 for the day-trip down. It was very worrying as if I'd forgotten anything I needed I was pretty far from home and not really in a position to pop back and pick it up from my bed-side table. Thankfully, I hadn't forgotten anything and it all went smoothly.

I was told I'd receive my visa (it was much less like a competition than I expected, it seemed to operate on the idea that if someone met the criteria, they got the visa) a week later but it actually arrived three days early. It took me a while to find the visa inside my passport as they didn't use the first or last page inside, they seemed to choose a random one half-way through. But I got the visa, and it's very very pretty.
I was actually scared into applying earlier than I needed to (September, when I'm going in January) because I'd read they can only issue 400 visas per Japanese fiscal year (April-March) but I rang the Embassy and they said they rarely run out of visas so worry not.

Now, the rules of the Working Holiday visa.

- You can work full- or part-time but your trip must be 'deemed to be primarily a holiday'.
- You cannot work in nightclubs, bars, gambling parlours etc.
- You pay 20% income tax, although if you have private students, I don't see how they can take it from you
- The visa is single-entry, you must pay for a re-entry permit if you want to leave and come back during the period in which your visa is still valid (see above)
- The visa is valid for 6 months to start with, but you can extend it for another 6 months, to a total of 12 (or 18 if you're Australian). You have to visit your nearest Immigration office with your Alien Registration Card and ask them to extend it for you.

When I applied they also included these two rules:
- You cannot get a sponsor e.g. be employed for a year in one workplace
- You cannot organise work before you go to Japan

But it now (in 2010) seems as though they have retracted these rules, as you can apply for a year's work at companies such as Gaba from your home country.

So I hope this has been helpful if you are interested in applying for a Working Holiday visa, if you have questions you can either comment this post or email me at miles_davies@hotmail.co.uk

Embassy Addresses and Contact Information

United Kingdom:

Embassy of Japan
101-104 Piccadilly
London
W1V 9FN
Main Tel: (020) 465 6500
Visa Tel: (020) 465 6565
Website: http://www.uk.emb-japan.go.jp/
Consulate-General
2 Melville Crescent
Edinburgh
EH3 7HW
Tel: (0131) 225 4777

Ireland:

Embassy of Japan in Ireland
Nutley Building, Merrion Centre,
Nutley Lane, Dublin 4, Ireland
Tel: 01-202-8300

Canada:

Embassy of Japan in Canada
255 Sussex DriveOttawa, Ontario K1N 9E6
Tel: 613-241-8541
Website: http://www.ca.emb-japan.go.jp/

USA:

Embassy of Japan in the United States
2520 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20008
Main Tel: 202-238-6700
Visa Tel: 202-238-6800

New Zealand:

Embassy of Japan in New Zealand
Majestic Centre
100 Willis Street
Wellington
Tel: (09) 473 1540
Website: http://www.japan.org.nz/

Consulate General
ASB Bank Centre
135 Albert Street
Auckland
Tel: (09) 303 4106

Australia:

Embassy of Japan in Canberra
112 Empire Circuit, YARRALUMLA, ACT AUSTRALIA 2600
Tel: +61 2 6273 324

I am sure there are several more, particularly Consulate-Generals across the world but there are links to them from the above websites, or failing that google knows all!