gh14...@yahoo.com wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I've been working at a Japanese university for two years.  My current
> visa is a working visa with the status of "researcher".  The visa is
> valid for another year, but in August I will change jobs and start
> working at a Japanese company.  I'm not 100% sure, but I think the
> researcher visa is only valid for working at universities and
> government labs.  So I probably need to change the status of my visa
to
> something like "engineer".  First, is it strictly necessary to change
> the visa status or is it ok to change jobs with the current status
> since it is a working visa. My other question is how does one go
about
> doing this, i.e., what documents do I need, where do I take them, and
> about how long will it take.

1) Take Louise's advice.

2) Normally your current visa will only be valid if the job you perform
for your new employer is similar to what you performed for the previous
one. So for example if a stockbroker switches to a different firm,
there is no need to make a trip to immigration. If the new job you will
have from August is in a field that requires a different category, then
technically you would need to apply for change of visa status within 4
weeks. The period of stay granted for the new status is usually 1 year,
even if your current visa was for 3 years.