The “Student” status of residence is only valid during the period of enrollment in Japanese educational institutions. Your Status of Residence will be rendered invalid at the time of graduation (expulsion or drop-out) even if your Residence Card states there is a period of time remaining until the expiration date. Please note that staying in Japan with an “invalid” status of residence is illegal.

If you are planning to stay in Japan after leaving Tokyo Geidai to seek employment or continue your study in other institutions, please be sure to take the necessary procedures to maintain an appropriate status of residence. Note that it is the Immigration Bureau of Japan to decide whether to give the permit to stay in Japan based on the individual circumstances of each international student.

Seeking employment in Japan

If you look for work after graduating from an undergraduate or graduate program in Japan, you are required to change your status of residence to “Designated Activities (Continuing to Seek Employment)” immediately after your graduation. The period of stay is for six months, which can be renewed one time for a total of one year’s stay. In this case, you will also need to obtain a permit for extra-status activities and a re-entry permit.

If you wish to apply for this, you must submit the “Letter of recommendation” issued by the university and the graduation certificate/expected graduation certificate with the other required documents to the Immigration Bureau of Japan.
To receive the “Letter of recommendation”, please submit the following 1) ～4) documents to the International Exchange Section at the Student Affairs Division (ryugakusei_immigration@ml.geidai.ac.jp) by E-mail.

1) an “Request for the Official Letter of Recommendation to change/extend visa status for Job Hunting (Word file)”　(Format: Word)

2) a photocopy of your passport　(Format: PDF)

3) a photocopy of your Residence Card　(Format: PDF)

4) documents indicating that you are seeking employment (more than 3 documents)　(Format: PDF)

5) certificate of expected graduation (only for those who change the status of residence)　(Format: PDF)

【NOTES】

・4) documents indicating that you are seeking employment

*You can submit documents such as letters from prospective employers, results of job screenings, and email correspondences with companies to indicate your job-hunting activities (these documents are required at the immigration office as well).

*The application documents to be submitted to the Immigration Bureau for changing residence status include a graduation certificate. If you apply before the graduation ceremony, you can submit the certificate of expected graduation as a part of the application, but you must submit the graduation certificate after the graduation ceremony.

*For those who wish to extend the period of stay, the documents showing that you have been engaged in job-seeking activities at least once a month since you changed your status of residence to “Designated Activities” are required.

・Number of days for the letter issuance

*As a general rule, at the earliest, it takes more than 5 business days (except Saturday, Sunday, the national holidays, the University’s summer vacation, and year-end and New Year’s holidays) from the date of receipt of your request to process your request for documents to be issued by the university. However, please apply for the request well in advance since it takes about two weeks to issue documents if there are any problems with the content of the request and also when the university office is flooded with requests for applications.

*Please note that the date of receipt of your request isn’t included in 5 business days.

[References] Immigration Services Agency of Japan “When international students who have graduated from Japanese universities are looking for a job” (Documents, etc. to be submitted for application for permission for change of status of residence / for extension of period of stay.)

Working in Japan (If you have already found employment)

You must change your status of residence from “Student” to an appropriate status depending on your job type. Please ask your employer.

[References] Immigration Services Agency of Japan “Application for Change of Status of Residence”

Attending a different educational institution in Japan

You must submit a “NOTIFICATION OF THE ACCEPTING ORGANIZATION” to the Regional Immigration Bureau to attend a different educational institution.

[References] Immigration Services Agency of Japan “Notification Procedures for Accepting Organization” (Japanese only)

Staying in Japan for a short period of time for preparation to return to your home country

Even if your Residence Card states there is a period of time remaining until the expiration date, your status of residence “Study” will be rendered invalid upon graduation. You must change your status of residence from “Student” to “Temporary Visitor”. There are no documents issued by the university. Please take the necessary procedures by yourself.

[Reference] Immigration Services Agency of Japan ” Application for change of status of residence”

Visa Implications of a Leave of Absence

According to the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act, the Japanese Minister of Justice may revoke the status of residence in the case where an international student staying in Japan with the “College student” status of residence has failed to continue to engage in the primary activity corresponding to his/her status of residence for three months or more.

Accordingly, international students who take a leave of absence must return to their home country or acquire a different type of visa during their leave of absence. For international students with a College Student visa, a leave of absence for financial reasons is not a justifiable reason (in other words, international students taking a leave of absence for financial reasons are not allowed to stay in Japan to engage in part-time work or other non-academic activities). If you plan to take a leave of absence, please contact the Student Affairs Division International Exchange Section immediately.

[References] Procedure for temporary absence from school (PDF)