About changing the status of residence after graduation to continue job hunting

To apply to change the status of residence, you must obtain a “Recommendation Letter” issued by Sophia University

• In order to continue job-seeking after graduation, you must change your status of residence to “Designated Activities”.
• Period of stay of “Designated Activities” is six months and a 6-month extension is possible.
• This status is only for degree students who have graduated from Sophia University within a year. Non-Degree students, exchange students, research students can not apply for this status.

1. About Recommendation Letter issued by Sophia University

■ You must meet the following conditions ① and ②.
①You have graduated from Sophia University within a year or have been a degree student.
②You have started your job-seeking before graduation and hope to continue job-seeking after graduation. *Master Degree & PhD that did not being job hunting prior to graduation due to research/study can submit a letter from their Academic Advisor explaining this.

Only degree students can apply for the “Designated Activity” status. Non-Degree students, Exchange students, Research students are not eligible for this status.

■ Documents to submit to the Career Center
①Application form for a “Recommendation Letter”
→ Click here to download the form(195.52 KB)*You can get the form at the Career Center office.
② Documents showing that you are actively engaged in job-seeking.
Example: Document from “Tokyo Employment Service Center for Foreigners” or a “Hello work” office you are registered with, emails from companies that you are applying to, etc.
*For Masters/PhD Students, Letter from Academic Advisor is also accepted.
These documents must also be submitted to the Immigration Bureau later.
③Passport
④Residence Card
⑤Student ID (Only for current student)

■About Issuing a “Recommendation Letter”.
Career Center will issue a “Recommendation Letter” after the interview.
Please make an appointment and come to the Career Center office with all documents prepared.
Career Center will not issue the recommendation letter if documents are deficient or we can not confirm your intention to continue job-seeking.

*IMPORTANT*The interview will be held online through Zoom. We will explain how to submit the documents during the interview**

[To make an appointment] Appointment Form

During the interview, we will talk about:
□ your current situation
・when you started job-seeking activities
・the market that you are interested in
・companies that you actually applied to or were interviewed by
□ your job-seeking plan
・companies that you are going to apply to or be interviewed by

■ About additional 6-months extension of “Designated Activities”
Period of stay of “Designated Activities” is 6-month; however, you can apply to extend additional 6-month. In that case, you will need to go through the same procedure as above.

2. Application documents for changing status of residence

①Application form for Change of Status of Residence (form provided at the Immigration Bureau)
②Financial Statement showing that you can provide for yourself throughout your stay
③Certificate of Graduation from Sophia University
To obtain the Certificate, please contact the Center of Academic Affairs (Academic Records section)
→ Click Here
④“Recommendation Letter” from Sophia University
Please refer to: “1. About Recommendation Letter from Sophia University” above.
⑤Documents showing that you are actively engaged in job-seeking
Document from “Tokyo Employment Service Center for Foreigners” or a “Hello work” office you are registered with, emails from companies that you are applying for, etc.
⑥Other documents you have to prepare: Passport, Residence Card, Handling fee

（⑦）Students seeking permission to work part-time must also prepare an “APPLICATION FOR PERMISSION TO ENGAGE IN ACTIVITY OTHER THAN THAT PERMITTED UNDER THE STATUS OF RESIDENCE PREVIOUSLY GRANTED”.

For details, please contact the Immigration Services Agency of Japan.

■IMMIGRATION INFORMATION CENTER (in English, Chinese, Korean, Spanish and others)
TEL 0570-013904
(IP Phone, PHS, Overseas: 03-5796-7112)

Monday through Friday 8:30-17:15
→ Web site of Immigration Services Agency of Japan

3. About supporting your job-seeking

■Career Center supports alumni’s job-seeking.
For details, please refer to “Programs to help International Students’ Job-seeking” page.