What is an Engineering Visa?

1

Hi guys, I am currently a CS student in a Canadian university.
I am thinking about moving to Japan after getting a few years software development experiences in Canada.

I think I will have good skills and experiences after getting a few years experiences in Canada. And then I want to move to Japan.

I am aiming to get into a large company that has an office in Japan, so I can transfer to Japanese office. Does anyone know how hard to transfer from foreign office to Japanese office? I mean do hiring managers not prefer to hire engineers from abroad?

If this plan does not work, I will have to come to Japan to look for a job.
I found there is an engineering visa. Does anyone know how hard to get this Visa? Also, does it mean that I have to apply for the visa before landing to Japan and then start looking for a job? Or I have to land a job offer first, and then apply for the engineering visa?

Also, what is the chance I can get a software engineer job with no visa or maybe working holiday visa? Assume I have 3-5 years software development experiences, 1-year student exchange experience in Japan and I speak native Japanese.

2

Unfortunately it is hard to answer these questions with any specifics, as ultimately it comes down to “it depends”.

While it is possible to transfer to a Japanese office of a large company, it requires a relevant position to be open and you to match the requirements. So while there is a chance, I think it is also pretty exceptional, especially if you don’t have fluent Japanese ability, as often the Japanese offices of large companies will focus on the domestic market.

In Japan, you need a company to sponsor your visa. So you don’t get a visa until you have a job offer. If you have a company wanting to hire you, and you have a BSc in CompSci (or equivalent), you’re basically guaranteed a visa.

Your odds of getting hired while living in Japan (on a working holiday visa) are far better than those getting hired remotely while in Canada. Beyond that, it really depends on too many factors to say if you’ll be able to find something.