"Special Permission to work under the Cultural status" May 21, 2002
RealAudio
And now we'll bring you the information on immigration related issues. Today we'll  talk about a case presented to us by a listener, who resides in Japan under the  working holiday visa. He wrote, "after graduating from a high school, I worked for a  year in Canada, and came to Japan under the working holiday visa. In Japan, I'm  currently teaching English for a living, and at the same time I continued my training  on Karate. As my skills in Karate get better, I was promoted to second Dan. So,  on the expiration of my present visa, I would like to continue my Karate training  here and learn more about Japanese martial arts. To do so, I need to keep my  part time job as an English teacher to finance my studies and living expenses. My  teaching job at present is about twenty hours per week. I wonder whether I will be  allowed to work or not if I'm no longer a holder of the working holiday visa." Well, the first thing he needs to do is to have his residence status change to one  that fits his intention of stay after the expiration of his working holiday visa. Now,  which residence status fits in accord to our listener's later intention? Any foreign  nationals who wish to be in Japan so as to receive Karate training or to study any  of the Japanese martial arts, would mean that they would like to study one of the  Japanese culture. Therefore, the category falls on cultural activities. In such a  case, they will be granted the residence status of cultural activity. Considering that our listener has just received a certificate of promotion to a  higher rank in accord to Karate skill, and that he has the strong wheel to continue  his training, he is assured to get the cultural activity status. However, one has to  be aware of the fact that a holder of the cultural activity status is not allowed to  work under the immigration law. The cultural activity status is granted to those  who will engage in academic or artistic activities that provide no income, or to  those who will engage in activities under the purpose of pursuing specific studies on  Japanese culture or arts under the guidance of experts. This fact then is a  problem for our listener as he wishes to continue his teaching career while  receiving Karate training. In Japan the resident of status for foreign nationals who  teach English or any other foreign languages falls in the category of Specialist in  Humanities or International Services. In view of this status, we are sorry to say  that the probability of our listener to acquire such status is very low. Why?   Because of the fact that he is not a university graduate, and he couldn't meet the  requirements of three or more years of experience as an English teacher or  interpreter considering that his working experience in Canada after graduating from  high school was only one year, and we don't even know the nature of his previous  occupation. Now, knowing our listener could be granted the cultural activity status, the problem  left is whether he could have a part-time job as an English teacher under such  status. As I mentioned earlier, cultural activity status holders are basically not  allowed to engage in any activities that provide income, as this is not a working  visa. Under the immigration law, foreign nationals who are granted the cultural  activity status must have the financial capacity to sustain their living and support  their studies in Japan, either by means of their savings in the bank or parents'  support. In short, they are not expected to work for a living in Japan. In contrary,  holders of working holiday visa under the category of designated activities are  permitted to work full-time provided that the nature of the work is not against the  law. Although we have mentioned before that one could ask permission from the  Immigration Bureau if one would like to engage in activities other than that  permitted under the current status of residence or "Shikaku-gai Katsudo" in  Japanese. Such rights do not simply apply to holders of the cultural activity  status. Even the Shikaku-gai Katsudo will be granted, the activities allowed will be  very limited and restricted. For holders of college student visa or pre-college  student status, the permission to engage in activities outside the school of their  resident status or Shikaku-gai Katsudo could easily be granted, as they are being  evaluated through their transcripts of records in university attendance. Unlike the  college students or pre-college students, the holders of cultural activity status  have no means to prove their credibility in their studies as there is no detail  curriculum, no transcript of records, no attendance records, no diplomat present to  the immigration bureau. So holders of college student visa or pre-college student  status are allowed to do 28-hours per week of part time jobs if they have excellent  academic record and they have more than 90 percent attendance. But such  discretion is not clearly defined for the case of the cultural activity status holders. For our listener, what then are the possible part-time jobs? Since our listener's  intention is to continue his training on Karate, and learn more about Japanese  martial arts, the possible part-time jobs must be related to Karate activities. For  example, working as an assistant trainer at any Karate training grounds, as a public  relation officer for the promotion of the Karate sports, or to help out during  competition, again, in Karate. By now, you could imagine how limited are the  allowed activities for the cultural activity status holders. So, it is then difficult for  our listener to secure affirmation to work as an English teacher as to work as an  English teacher is to request for a working visa. Now it makes a big difference if one could be granted the working visa. If you're a  holder of the working visa, engaging in any activities that provide no income like  undergoing Karate training or attending Japanese language school requires no  permission from the immigration bureau. However, one must request permission for  Shikaku-gai Katsudo from the Minister of Justice, if he or she wishes to engage in  an activity involving the management of business, or remuneration other than that  defined in the current status. In summary, if one wishes to study Japanese culture, but would like to work for a  living in Japan, it would be best to apply for a working visa provided that one should  have enough qualifications for the job he or she wishes to engage in. If one is not  eligible for the working visa but would like to continue his or her studies on  Japanese culture, he or she should settle with the residence status of cultural  activities. Bear in mind that the allowed part-time jobs are very much restricted  to the nature of their studies. By the way, there are a number of groups that are giving free consultations for  foreign nationals on immigration related issues. The Osaka Prefecture  Administrators Group provides free consultation in English, Spanish, Chinese and  Hangeul, every second Wednesday of the month, from one to four o'clock in the  afternoon held at Osaka Prefecture Gyosei-shoshi Kaikan. You can call the Osaka  Prefecture Administrators Group at 0669437501 for details. The Zaidan Hojin  Toyonaka Kokusai Koryu Kyokai of the Toyonaka International Center  incorporation with the Gyosei-shoshi Nyukan Tetsuzuki Kenkyu Kai also gives free  consultation every Friday from one to four o'clock in the afternoon. You can call  the Toyonaka International Center at 0668434343. Call them in advance if you  would need a translator for your mother tongue. Using the IT technology, now  there is also a twenty-hours Internet free consultation website, which one can  access on the first three consecutive days at the beginning of every month. The  address is http://ajisai.sakura.ne.jp/~gnk/. For further information, send in your  email to gyonyuke@mbox2.inet-osaka.or.jp. Or call 0722329346. If you have any  problems concerning immigration issues, don't hesitate to approach the support  groups I just mentioned.