For context: I'm currently a law student in the Philippines, polishing my Japanese on the side. I'm half-Japanese and half-Filipino, with N2 (preparing for N1) level of Japanese proficiency.
I decided to make a post as I'm currently dismantling and re-organizing my career plan. Here's the thing: I want to be an immigration lawyer situated here in the Philippines to help with locals and foreigners (with a focus on Japanese clients). I'm looking for some internships as well that are somewhat affiliated with Japan in the legal sector—private law firms, embassies, etc. (this was planned before any idea of working in Japan, just thought it would be great to utilize my Japanese).
However, recently I discovered some posts talking about attaining a 外国法事務弁護士免許 (basically being a registered foreign lawyer). I have researched it a bit and read some more posts of people with experience in that sort of thing. One thing that has stood out to me is that majority of them are in the corporate/m&a area. Obviously, matters that involve cross-border transactions will value foreign lawyers (from 1st world countries especially), but I was wondering if immigration lawyers have a chance in the job market.
I have also entertained the thought of getting an LL.M in a Japanese university through MEXT to broaden my knowledge of Japanese law and maybe make myself stand out a bit more. I am aware of the limitations of a 外弁 and that I can't practice Japanese law without Japanese lawyers assisting, but I thought it would make the process smoother if I also had some local law knowledge.
Japan is making a lot of changes recently with their immigration policies and I predict that there would be more of my fellow kababayan that will want to have a chance at staying in Japan. It would be an honor if I could help them in this way, but I need to know if this career route is realistic or not.
by Minoue_08