I'm completely desperate. Please help me.

[terriefox]

Good day to all !

I am a French Canadian who came to Japan in August 2011.

I did not go to university nor finished college in Québec. I have a high school diploma and a 7 months professional diploma as a health care taker.

Therefore, I only have a Working Holiday visa which ends in August 2012.

The only way I found to stay in Japan was to get the student visa.

Language schools are very expensive, 550 000 Yen and more. I cannot afford to pay this in one shot !

Does anybody knows if I could go to either a French or English school, or Japanese language school, for less than 500 000 Yen with a possibility of making monthly payments ?

Or any other way I can stay in Japan, besides getting married or going back to Canada ? By the way, getting a visa from a job, I can't, I already asked the immigration office, they ask for a BA as well, which I don't have.

Thank you very much.

Terrie

[KansaiBen]

Student visa requires that you pay tuition up front, for at least 6 months. No school will sponsor a 6-12 month visa when you are only paying as far as a month in advance. Only guess is to take out a loan and make monthly repayments.

With no degree, much less a sponsor, your chances of getting a visa are approximately zero.

Does anybody knows if I could go to either a French or English school, or Japanese language school, for less than 500 000 Yen with a possibility of making monthly payments ?

Or any other way I can stay in Japan, besides getting married or going back to Canada ? By the way, getting a visa from a job, I can't, I already asked the immigration office, they ask for a BA as well, which I don't have.

Thank you very much.

Terrie

[WasedaChris]

enroll in a 6 month program and extend it. pay for 6 months at a time.

[paradoxbox]

basically no there's no way
you would be smart to start a cultural activity ASAP and try to switch from your student visa to a cultural activities visa in august.

they'll check your teacher's credentials and you need to have been participating in the cultural activity for at least 6months prior to visa application, and even then they're strict

if that's impossible the only other route is a spouse visa but even then they're starting to clamp down a bit more than a few years ago

[YokohamaTommy]

You know,
I was just remarking to the Missus this morning over coffee:
You what Japan needs more of?

Under-employed lazy French Canadians who are trying to buck the system.

[Effected After]

The problem is, if you manage to find a way to get a visa, you somewhat trap yourself in Japan. I know a guy, came here on a heritage visa a decade ago, and stayed because the money was great for a guy in his early 20s. Now he's in his early 30s, uneducated, and the money isn't so good as you get older in life. But he has no skills to go back with, and no skills to advance here. It's a bit of a black hole.

Contrast this with another guy I know who came here for a year, loved it, went back home and got a degree, and now has a decent job, as well as means to go back home if/when he decides.

[KansaiBen]

The problem is, if you manage to find a way to get a visa, you somewhat trap yourself in Japan. I know a guy, came here on a heritage visa a decade ago, and stayed because the money was great for a guy in his early 20s. Now he's in his early 30s, uneducated, and the money isn't so good as you get older in life. But he has no skills to go back with, and no skills to advance here. It's a bit of a black hole.

And if he marries a Japanese woman, the only thing keeping him here legally is his wife and his spouse visa. She will hold it over him like a bad smell if he cant get a job or support himself,let alone her.

Japan is not a good place to be on the bottom of the food chain, for more than a year or two.

[BouncingAroundJapan]

Hmmm. Aren't schools more like 300,000 for 6 months? There are some reputable ones in Tokyo, I believe, that charge around that. Knew a guy who went to one...in Shinjuku ish area?
There's another in Tamachi I believe. One out in Aobadai on the Den-En-Toshi line I think wanted a year's up front payment, and was pricier.
It may be different from my days, but you have 6 months to get on top of this....unless things have changed, you can apply to start in September on a pre-college student visa. As a Canadian you join Germany as being from one of those select countries that you should be able to just transfer your WHV to a pre-college visa (I know someone who did it a few years ago, but if it's changed I apologise for my outdated information). A few years back you didn't even need to apply the 3 months (or 6 months for some schools) before (I do recall that for March, though, you had to apply November, but if you plan to change from WHV to pre-college, you then get the stamp while it's happening and it should be relatively painless). It can be done a shorter time ahead...possibly weeks, but the more time you have the better.
You may need to show funds and how you earned it (I actually think the person I knew did not, but I can't be totally sure, and you'd best be prepared). Research or others here should reveal the figure they want to see....they like to see cash for the first year. Alternatively, if you can get your family to "sponsor" you, they sign a document saying they will send you a certain amount each month. You can also say you will support yourself with work, so they can pledge a lower amount. Immigration may check when your visa is renewed after one year, but may not and if you are stuck it will give you one year at least. You could always get them to send you amounts and Western Union them the cash to do it.

So if you REALLY want to stay in Japan, my advice would be work your ___ off between now and then to make sure you earn enough. Presuming you can do that, you should have a job that you can continue part time on your pre college, and you'll be able to support yourself, learn Japanese, go to college or university in Japan, and get some qualifications.
Is your English native enough to teach? (Or just work at GABA, as they hire French natives with good English, so you should be more than native enough- I'm stating facts, not being bitchy about anything, btw).
I will be blunt and say if you can't make 300,000 , heck even 500,000 in 6 months on the WHV which you have freedom to work as much as you like, wherever you can, you will struggle in Japan.
It's a wonderful country, but consider your quality of life when you aren't on a WHV, which in my opinion is the loveliest visa in the world. All the freedom of a spousal visa, with, you know, the actual freedom part ho-ho! Then think about what it would be like when you have to work and study, or the other alternatives available to you, as without a degree
your options are limited.

[YokohamaTommy]

Japan definitely needs more philosophers. Always a huge shortage of those...

Quiet you.
I'll have you know that I'm an absolute enthralling guru at the local McDonalds.

~Until those annoying security chaps always ruin my fun.

[terriefox]

You know,
I was just remarking to the Missus this morning over coffee:
You what Japan needs more of?

Under-employed lazy French Canadians who are trying to buck the system.

Thanks for judging me without knowing. I'm presently working my ___ off as a teacher. I have 3 jobs since I've been here and I really don't understand your pathetic comments.

Do you know how impossible it is for me to go back to Québec ? Probably not. You're probably American, with that shitty attitude, can't be from somewhere else.

Maybe you should have choked on your coffee this morning.

[YokohamaTommy]

Thanks for judging me without knowing. I'm presently working my ___ off as a teacher. I have 3 jobs since I've been here and I really don't understand your pathetic comments.

Do you know how impossible it is for me to go back to Québec ? Probably not. You're probably American, with that shitty attitude, can't be from somewhere else. Maybe you should have choked on your coffee this morning.

Ooo..I love it when you talk all dirty-frenchie to me.
I used to live in Laval.
I don't blame you for not wanting to go back.

[Deathblob]

Ooo..I love it when you talk all dirty-frenchie to me.
I used to live in Laval.
I don't blame you for not wanting to go back.

On the other hand, Montreal is a fvcking awesome place.

[YokohamaTommy]

On the other hand, Montreal is a fvcking awesome place.

A Frog once spat in my Poutine when he learned I was an American










I ate it anyway.

[Bolduc]

A Frog once spat in my Poutine when he learned I was an American










I ate it anyway.

Shut up f$#&%ng dic_k !!!!

[Glenski]

terriefox,
You've been given the best advice possible here. Your choices are extremely limited. Ignore the pathetic types who flame on here (and stop referring to all Americans in a bad light; we're not all like that).

You find a way to get the money to afford the student visa expenses, or you don't. If marriage to a Japanese national (or even a fellow foreigner who has a visa, so you can get a dependent visa) is not in the cards, be prepared to return to Quebec, whether you like it or not.

[YokohamaTommy]

Shut up f$#&%ng dic_k !!!!

Heh.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I give you;


A Qubecer.
And as eloquent as I remember, too.

[ttokyo]

Initially I was going to suggest to get a 'trainee' visa, but the other posters are right. Even if you enroll in a language school, that will only delay your general problem for another 1-2 years : You will not get a working visa without qualifications or experience. Even the french school agrees to hire you as a janitor, they will not be able to not convince immigration to get you a visa.

So take one step back. WHY is it 'impossible' for you to return to Quebeck ? And why are you 'desperate' to stay ? If you have discovered that your purpose in live is to be a teacher, invest the extra years and get a proper license.

[kurogane]

WHY is it 'impossible' for you to return to Quebeck ?

Becozz, like, dood..............he totally said that, and like, it's totally impossible, like, eh!?


Surely you remember being 22, dumb, and underducated but over-entitled?

And why are you 'desperate' to stay ?.

He knows where Yokohama Tommy caches his poutine.

And he wants it.

I know where YokoTon's cache is, but it's poutine.

It's a lot like knowing where someone stashs their poopoo.


BTW, YT, the Frenchie (sic) didn't spit in your poutine because you're AmeriKan.

Franco-Spit is like the vinegar, only for poutine.


Which raises an important question:

who but a native born or an idjit eats that puke?

[Deathblob]

For some reason, up in Hokkaido they do a fries-n-cheese-n-gravy thing, that is very very close to poutine.

OP should invest in a poutine stand to make some extra cash, maybe sell some beer on the side, play a little pachinko.

[KansaiBen]

Thanks for judging me without knowing. I'm presently working my ___ off as a teacher. I have 3 jobs since I've been here and I really don't understand your pathetic comments.

No one has a right to a job in a foreign country. Immigration is in bed with you when it comes to finding work here. Its no different than people doing entry level jobs in Canada or Quebec. Im sure you moan about illegals in Canada but they work to avoid starvation.

If you have no more than a WHV then no one is going to have much sympathy for how tough it is for you in Japan. No one made you not go to college here.

You need to understand that without a work visa you really don't have any viable options to stay in the country.

[kurogane]

Immigration is in bed with you when it comes to finding work here. .

I just remembered that the Marutamachi Branch office of Osaka Regional Immigration used to have a smoking hot Big Beauty at the Info desk.

[KansaiBen]

I just remembered that the Marutamachi Branch office of Osaka Regional Immigration used to have a smoking hot Big Beauty at the Info desk.

I thought Marutamachi was in Kyoto, but whatever.

[paradoxbox]

nobody else remembers the immigration clerks that were working there 20 years ago kuro

[kurogane]

I thought Marutamachi was in Kyoto, but whatever.

Yeah, but for some reason, the Kyoto branch offices are part of Osaka Region.................weerd, eh?


Anyways, she was hot. She had a sort of Whole Lotta Rosie thing going, only in Japanese size.

[xHime]

500,000 yen is cheap. Most language schools are more than that. You also have to prove you have 2 million yen in your bank account, so it's not like just paying for the school would be enough anyway. You have to show you have access to 4 times that amount to even get the visa.

No, I'm afraid there is no other way. The rest of us find a way to make it work, no matter how broke we are. Look at it this way: you don't have much of a future without an education anyway so go to university instead of wasting your money on a language school at the end of which you STILL wouldn't have a diploma and therefore STILL couldn't get a work visa and would have to go home and have wasted all your money for nothing.