Hey folks! Looking for advice. Long story short:
・Teacher from the US, married, currently early 40s, male.
・Moved to Japan to join an Eikaiwa company 13 years ago. Got a countryside direct hire ALT job afterwards.
・Was told 5 weeks before the end of the school year that me, another ALT, and an elementary JTE would be downsized and therefore not renewed for the now-current school year.
・Annual instructor visa expired a few weeks afterwards.
・Couldn’t get a new job in any field before visa expiration. Had to change to “short term stay” visa while job searching. Been using all known resources including hello work, indeed, doda, FRESC, and friends of friends type networking. Have not been able to secure employment yet. Started local because of the stress of moving and having pets.
・ Most common reasons for rejection have been “we only hire permanent residents”, “we require JLPT N1”, “we are looking for Japanese people with English ability, not the opposite”, “there is no reason to hire you over a Japanese person because anyone could do this job”, and “no specific reason given.”
・I’ve got 6 weeks left before I need to leave Japan. However, going back to the US is the worst-case scenario. Spouse was diagnosed with a disability while living here so medical insurance would become a major issue.
Which brings me to my question: there are so many other countries out there, where can I even start looking at or thinking about other places? Do you have any advice? It’s looking more and more impossible to find a place that’s willing to take a chance on me here in Japan.
Apologies for the long post and thank you for any insights you can offer. Oh, and “you’re screwed” isn’t helpful advice. Trust me, I know.
E: lots of people saying “just change to a spouse visa”. My wife is not Japanese. We’re from the same home town and got married before moving here together.
If it was something as simple as that I would’ve done that months ago.
by MurderSheScrote