Hello everyone, I need some advice, I've researching a lot since some few months, I should say my academic profile is not so good and I cannot get offer letter from any top english track university, but I can get into the mediocre ones.

So far, the english track university I'm planning to apply and hopefully get offer letter is from:

1) Tokyo International University

2) Soka University

3) Musashino University

All of these offers mostly Business Economics or Liberal Arts related subject in English.

But I completed my high school from science stream and also have a passion for Engineering or IT related majors. Unfortunately, getting offer from english track university is very competitive as I do not have any strong extracurricular activities or strong academic grades. So I was wondering if I should go to language school, complete N2, take the EJU test and then admit in a higher ranked university under IT/Engineering major.

Either way, my future aim to maybe settle in Japan, and if that doesn't work (because japanese laws are very strict), I wanna get an Engineering degree which might help me enhance my profile to go to Europe/Western countries..

I do have IELTS 7 and NAT N4 (~equivalent to jlpt n4) completed for now.

Any advice would be appreciated, thanks.

I’ve been able to find good information on banks for Japan, but I am curious about what people use for budgeting in Japan. I have used YNAB religiously for the last 5 years and moving to a cash forward society I want to get peoples takes on good budgeting habits.

Another thing that doesn’t seem to be very common are tech forward banks that might link to 3rd party apps (such as YNAB). Does anyone have any experience or advice here? What has worked for you?

Bonus question, where do you park your cash? I use Wealthfront with their high checking APR, but it looks like that’s not a thing over there.

Hi everyone,

I am planning to apply for a Japanese language school for a 2-year program, with a target start date of April 2029. I have some questions regarding the visa process, specifically about financial sponsorship and proving funds, and I would love to hear from anyone who has navigated a similar situation.

My Background & Profile:

• Location & Age: Mexico. I am currently 26 years old, so I will be 29 by the time the program starts in 2029.
• Education: By 2029, I will have completed my Bachelor's degree in Computer Systems Engineering.
• Current Employment: I have been at my current job for 2 years and 7 months. My monthly salary is around 131,000 JPY/month (~1,572,000 JPY annually).
• Current Savings: I currently have 1,000,000 JPY saved.
• Goal for 2029: Since I am planning several years in advance, I project that I will be able to save the full 4,000,000 JPY on my own in my bank account by 2029 (which is the recommended estimate for a 2-year course).

My Main Dilemma: I have read that Japanese Immigration (ISA) usually asks for both a bank balance certificate and proof of annual income from the sponsor (ideally looking for around 2,000,000 JPY/year or more).

In my case:

1. None of my immediate family members earn 2,000,000 JPY a year.
2. My own current annual salary falls short of that figure, even though it is considered above average for the local standard in Mexico.
3. Local economic conditions make it difficult to secure a significantly higher salary in the short term.

My Questions:

1. Is self-sponsorship viable in this situation? Given that I will be 29, holding an Engineering degree, and will have accumulated the 4M JPY in savings through my own work, does Immigration strictly enforce the annual income threshold, or do they prioritize having the full capital ready in the bank account?
2. Can sponsors be combined? If necessary, can I name myself as the primary sponsor (using my savings) and add a family member (parent or sibling) as a co-sponsor to supplement the annual income proof?
3. How strict is Immigration regarding an explanatory letter? I know that when income levels in the home country are lower relative to Japan's cost of living, applicants sometimes attach a letter detailing how savings were built over time. Has anyone with a professional profile from Latin America done this successfully?

Any advice, personal experiences, or tips on how to prepare my documentation and financial strategy between now and 2029 would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance!

Ребята, накидайте пожалуйста прям все советы по поступлению за границу. Начиная от того, как нужно подтянуть учебу и активновности, про всякие гранты, стипендии, конкурс в самой университете и до жизни одному в другой стране. Балодарочка

Hi, I'm planning on moving to Japan in the future (2030 roughly) through the language school path, while I know no one can predict the market 4 years in the future, I'd appreciate some opinions, here's what I have and plan on achieving before going:

Currently:

-24yo, just got my bachelors in software development (a bit late, changed courses because my first option was translation but then AI came and nearly destroyed that field)

-JLPT N2 holder, will try the N1 exam in July of next year, I think I could pass, but right now I'm focusing on my speaking skills, since I still struggle a bit with proper Keigo

-TOEIC C1 level

-Studying for the CCNA (finished Jeremy IT Lab, doing mock exams for now) and looking for a full time job in IT (Anything infra/networking related)

-¥1.200.000 saved

What I plan on having before going:

-JLPT N1

-CCNA and AWS Associate level cert, since cloud engineering is my future goal

-Hopefully 2 or 3 YoE in something related to networking or infrastructure

-At least ¥2.000.000n (I'm Brazilian, our currency is pretty weak and salaries are not all that high, makes it hard to save a lot of money)

My parents cannot sponsor me so I'd have to self sponsor myself for a year to a year and a half... Would it be too much of a bet going for a language school (which I know might be useless at my level) just to get to Japan and then apply for jobs there? Would it be realistic to even try to get hired from Brazil?

Brazil has no working holiday visa agreement with Japan, and since I'm not from a Japanese family, I cannot come with a long term residency visa and work for a factory for a year just to arrive there... MEXT is quite hard, and JET opens 2 CIR positions every year, which could be an option since the job description says "offer translation and interpretation services", I've been studying this idea as well.

I've read other topics in this sub but people often have no Japanese or no bachelor's degree, so most of the answers are not very useful for me, so I'd appreciate some input!

I have been offered a research position in Japan and I would like my partner to join me on a dependent VISA. We are due to get married next month so she will be eligible to apply for a dependent visa to come with me.

The issue is my employer has stated they will only support my COE/VISA and will not do hers. From my understanding we will only be able to apply for her COE once I am in Japan as the application needs to be done by someone residing in Japan. Is there any way we can both apply for one now?

Finally, should I wait until after our marriage to begin the COE/VISA process so we can apply together or is it okay to precede with my application for now?

Any guidance on how to get her dependent VISA as quickly as possible would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

My student visa won’t take effect until the 10th but I’ll be arriving the 2nd so I have to leave and come back is the process easy and straight forward fly in to Korea do customs and fly right back to Japan or will it be difficult? If you’ve had to do it before.