Japan’s J-FIND Visa Programme: Opening up new employment opportunities for China’s unemployed school leavers

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Japan Job Seeker Visa 2024
Youth unemployment rate in China
Employment difficulty
Barriers for “graduates”
Rising unemployment
Choosing to find a job in Japan
Who is eligible for a J-Find visa?
Our advantage
I want to apply directly to the Japanese Embassy in my country.
Reference page

Japan Job Seeker Visa 2024

YOKOYAMA

Good news for freelancers who have been working as active professionals for more than five years after university graduation: on 2 February 2024, the Japanese Minister of Justice made specific reference to the digital nomad visa. Details on the procedure are still to be finalised, but will be made available soon through public comment to the Japanese public. Please refer to this page first. “Japan’s New Digital Nomad Visa: Extended Stays and Remote Work Opportunities in 2024“

Youth unemployment rate in China

According to a report in the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun on 10 September 2023*, the current economic situation and rising education levels have led to an increase in the number of young people seeking white-collar jobs, intensifying competition for employment.

The difficult employment environment that young people in urban China are currently facing has even been described as an employment ice age. Economic stagnation and the growing trend towards higher education have led to a growing preference for white-collar jobs and increased competition. The newly emerging “Lie-Flat Movement: Tang ping” and “full-time children: Quanzhi Ernü” have opted for a simpler lifestyle instead of the previous pattern of pursuing high income and status.

^*2023.9.10 朝日新聞フロントライン　世界「就職氷河期」の中国　職求め、さまよう若者　高学歴化でホワイトカラー志向増

Employment difficulty

Fresh graduates, due to their lack of experience, find it difficult to get hired even after applying to many companies. As a concrete example, at a job fair for unemployed school leavers held in Beijing in June 2023, where many young people were looking for jobs, a woman in Beijing claimed that after applying to dozens of companies, she only got interviews with about 10 of them.

This trend is on the rise among young people and is particularly evident among fresh graduates. One woman applied to a number of companies, but many did not hire her because of her lack of experience. Companies are looking for new, middle-aged employees who can get to work right away, and recent graduates are having a hard time meeting their rigorous standards.

Barriers for “graduates”

Difficulties are further exacerbated when seeking employment as ‘graduates’. For example, a 27-year-old woman was told by a company that she was unlikely to be employed because of her age.

In addition, if graduates are unable to find suitable employment immediately after graduation, they are labelled as “graduates”, which makes job searching even more difficult. For example, a 27-year-old woman has been unable to find a suitable job for five years. She is now considering taking the civil service examination, but she feels that this is not a good path to take because of the fierce competition.

At the end of June, a job hunting event organised by Beijing Municipality was held in the city. The event attracted well-known companies, and it was advertised that over 1,100 job vacancies were available. However, aa 27-year-old woman who attended said that she felt the event was cold towards graduates. According to the woman, many companies wrote in their recruitment guidelines that they were only looking for this year’s graduates, and when she handed her CV to the person in charge at one company, he said, “I don’t think there is much hope for you. They told me that the supply is sufficient with just this year’s graduates”. The woman laments that “at my age, nothing seems competitive”. She graduated from a well-known university in the city in 2018. He continued his job search without compromise, hoping to find a position where he could utilise his knowledge of accounting, which he majoured in, and which would be commensurate with his educational background. However, after five years had passed, “I began to think that it might not be possible any more”. She began to think about taking the civil service exam, where her age would be less of a disadvantage. However, the competition is high and it is not an easy path, as there are many people who think the same way. Graduation means unemployment (毕业即失业). Such words are now in vogue in China.

Rising unemployment

The unemployment rate of 16- to 24-year-olds in China’s cities and towns has reached a record high, indicating that the actual unemployment situation is even more serious.

Statistics showed that urban youth unemployment was rising sharply, with some experts suggesting that the actual unemployment situation was even worse than published figures. Economic stagnation and corporate hiring restrictions have reportedly led to rising unemployment, with mass layoffs underway in the real estate sector in particular.

Against this backdrop, young people are exploring new lifestyles. More and more young people are choosing to continue to live on minimum incomes and are focusing more on discretionary time. This trend is a new phenomenon in contemporary Chinese society.

Choosing to find a job in Japan

Rapid developments in digitalisation, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), or decarbonisation to combat global warming are global trends. The future of work methods and industrial structures will undergo significant changes that were taken for granted in the past. With this in mind, the world is “competing” for people with cutting-edge knowledge and technology.

The bottlenecks in attracting human resources are the same for all countries in terms of immigration and residency status, and countries such as France have facilitated the acquisition of residency status and adopted a policy of “if you come to our country, we will give you other preferential treatment”.

On the other hand, Japan is experiencing a declining birth rate and an aging population, and more and more talented young people are leaving Japan for foreign countries. Recognising this crisis, the Japanese government has launched the “Future Creation Individual Visa System”.

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has pointed out the need to develop human resources for 2030 and 2050 in its Future Human Resources Outlook, which was released in May 2022.

The J-Find programme, which is not easy to understand by its name, simply means that “young foreigners who have graduated from top universities abroad can engage in employment activities or business start-up preparation activities in Japan”. This is a new system that allows young foreigners who have graduated from top universities overseas to work in Japan or prepare for business start-ups.

This is a Working Holiday Visa for highly educated people with various preferential treatments to attract highly skilled foreign professionals. In France, the Netherlands, Canada and other foreign countries, there are similar programmes for graduates of GS and THE world’s leading universities to attract highly qualified personnel.

Currently, there are no working holiday schemes in Western European countries that allow Chinese nationals to participate. And in the U.S., it’s not easy to apply for a work visa, no matter how good an international student you are. Of course, it is not easy to find a job in Japan if you are Chinese and have not studied in Japan nor do you know Japanese, but for that reason it is too costly and burdensome for your career path to start studying in Japan from now on.The J-FIND Visa is a very low-risk, low-burden, and very easy-to-use system that will allow you to try to find a job in Japan for one to two years.

While many people in China have given up or postponed employment for the time being, a new term that is gaining popularity is ‘full-time child’. The term means that the job is to stay at home all day as a child, and in reality it is similar to the Japanese term “NEET”. A 21-year-old woman, who graduated from a university in Beijing this summer, did not do any job hunting. She may eventually look for a job when the environment improves, but for the time being he intends to live at home and spend her free time travelling. She says she also wants to make up for the restrictions on her activities during university, such as not being able to leave her accommodation due to the Covid-19. She admits that she also falls into the category of ‘full-time children’, but does not necessarily see it as a bad thing. She sees it as a kind of ‘gap year’, where universities give students a grace period before or during their studies so that they can spend time studying abroad or volunteering. She said, “My family isn’t very poor and I don’t have to earn money to support my family. I’d rather enjoy what I love doing now than do a job I don’t want to do.”

Under these circumstances, this J-FIND visa allows her to enjoy life abroad, moving from one part of Japan to another, looking for work when she feels like it, or doing short-term work.

Who is eligible for a J-Find visa?

To be eligible for a J-FIND visa, applicants must meet the following three criteria:

Graduated from at least two universities ranked in the top 100 of the world university rankings (e.g. QS or THE).
Must be within five years of graduation.
Have at least 200,000 yen (approximately 1,400 USD) for living expenses at the beginning of your stay.

If you are recognised as a “Future Creation Individual Visa” (J-FIND), you will be able to;.

Be able to obtain status of residence for specific activities, allowing the holder to carry out preparatory activities for employment or business start-up.
The period of stay in Japan can be up to two years.
A job can be offered to supplement the funds needed to find employment.
Spouses and children may also accompany the holder.

Once an employer is found, the visa can be changed to one that allows permanent residence in Japan, such as the Japanese HSP (Highly Skilled Professional) visa.

These are the features of the J-FIND Future Creation Individual Visa Programme.

In the current chaotic world situation, many young people may be considering moving abroad in search of a safe and secure country. So which country? If you are looking for a career path that takes up to two years, then Japan is an attractive option.

For more information, see below; J-Find visa: Japan’s New Visas for Elite Global Professionals – A Comprehensive Guide

Our advantage

With the new J-FIND visa policy coming into effect on 24 April 2023, YOKOYAMA LEGAL SERVICE OFFICE already has several successful cases of COE approvals coming down. We highly recommend that your important application is made by an experienced professional legal adviser. In particular, when you are applying for this visa, I recommend you to ask your immigration adviser whether they have applied for J-FIND visas before, how many applications they have applied and what their success rate is.

I want to apply directly to the Japanese Embassy in my country.

Of course we can support you. Our services include guiding you through the documentation, checking the documents you have prepared, translating them into Japanese and writing a written opinion from us. You will need to go to the Japanese embassy yourself to submit your application, and we will support you until you receive your visa successfully.

We have helped people from several countries apply for J-Find visas remotely from Japan.

We also provide assistance if you are unable to come to Japan and apply for a J-Find visa, directly to the Japanese embassy or consulate in your country. Our lawyers will review all your documents and prepare a legal opinion.

J-Find visa COE (Designated Activities No. 51)

Reference page

Yokoyama Legal Service Office