# Don't know where to begin at all.



## Sumisu

Hello everyone. I've been perusing the internet for a good while on how to move to Japan and all the information I'd need to make this a reality. My issue(s) is I'm having a very hard time finding any concrete information. A bit of back story first I guess.

So I'm 23 and live in a VERY rural part of America where dreams don't come true. My dream since a child was to move to Japan some day. Matter of fact my grandmother immigrated here (USA) from Japan towards the end of WWII and married. This brings up the first question about the heritage visa.

Only my grandmother is Japan-born and married an American. Then her daughter (my mother) had a child with an American; I am only 25% Japanese now. I have looked up a lot of information on ancestry visas but everything is so confusing. From the sounds of it I probably couldn't qualify for one. I read up on the MOFA site and it's quite vague and Google left me unsatisfied. Would this be a possible route to get a visa?

Since that probably won't work I decided my best bet would to become a Japanese English teacher. I wish there was another way I could save up and get into Japan but this seems like it's the only real solid way to get my foot in the door. I've read this requires a BA so I've been looking into online schools (no colleges where I live [at least not in driving distance]) in Sociology and minor in Japanese. I'm also self teaching myself Japanese in the mean time with full edition of Rosetta Stone.

I JUST recently got a job (still in training) that would net me around $10,000 a year. So now that I have an income I'd like to work in anyway to start making the Japanese dream a reality. If someone could help me with the information to get this ball rolling I'll be very grateful. I'm so overwhelmed with information that I don't know where to begin this journey.

Thank you for reading. Any and all help is appreciated. I have no friends or family around me. Unfortunately due to some severe family issues, I have, for the most part, lost contact with my grandmother. I can still most likely get any paperwork I need from her though and this is probably a good time for me to try contacting her again after many years of silence. Again, thank you for reading!


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## larabell

I've never heard of a "heritage visa". You said you already looked on the MOFA web site. What did you see there that sounded like a visa based on ancestry. I suspect that if your mother could claim Japanese citizenship through her mother, you could probably do the same but I suspect that both you and your mother, having been born in the US, are considered US citizens so that's not a likely path to pursue because it would involve a lot of paperwork and your mother's cooperation in abandoning her US citizenship. My guess is that you're probably stuck with coming over on a working visa like everyone else.

Your BS degree doesn't necessarily have to be in Japanese or in teaching. Any degree will do or, for those who are somewhat older than you, "equivalent experience" is acceptable. Then there's the issue of finding a job -- teaching jobs are not as plentiful as they once were but if you're diligent you can probably find something.

If you have any specific questions, go ahead and ask them here and someone will try to answer them.


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## Sumisu

Thanks for response. On MOFA they have this: Long-term resident (Examples: *persons with Japanese ancestry*, Indochinese refugee settlers, the spouse or children of Japanese nationals left behind in China, etc.)

And I've heard people mention "heritage" or "ancestry" visas but they've become more strict on them due to higher crime rate and easy exploitation. This was just from Google searching and nothing more.

So my first step into doing everything is look for a school to attend? As of right now I'm just sitting here wondering how everything will work out. I'm getting old and running out of time to actually do something with my life.

I would also like to do volunteering English teaching in Japan through a program called CHI (Cultural Homestay International) by next year.


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## larabell

It's my general understanding (and I'm far from an expert in the subject) that the long-term resident visa applies to Japanese descendants who don't have Japanese nationality because of various political issues within Asia which were mostly out of their control. It's an exceptional category for persons who would otherwise be living in Japan but, for one reason or another, don't have Japanese citizenship.

It may be a long shot but if you think you can convince the authorities to admit you on that basis, you really should contact the nearest Consulate. I really doubt anyone on this forum has direct experience with that particular category of visa. You should be able to find a postal address for a Japanese Consulate -- just write them a letter, explain the situation, and ask for advice. You're bound to get better information that way.

Good luck...


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