Thinking About Moving to Japan — Need Advice on an Agency Offer

Hi everyone,

I’m a 28-year-old from Kerala, India, with an engineering degree (2019) and experience across multiple domains. Over the past few years, I’ve built strong skills in data analytics tools like Power BI, SQL, and Python.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t land a stable analytics role in India, but now I’ve come across an opportunity through an agency that claims to help candidates relocate to Japan.

Here’s the summary of their offer:

• They’ll train me in Japanese (N4 level, with N3-level speaking skills) over 6–8 months.
• They’ll handle interview line-ups and job placement in Japan.
• Once I receive an offer letter, visa, and tickets, I’ll need to pay 20–25% of my first-year salary as commission (upfront).

I’d really appreciate it if anyone could share insights or experiences regarding:

• Whether this kind of agency fee (20–25%) is common or legitimate in Japan hiring.
• What red flags to watch out for.
• Any genuine alternatives for foreign professionals (especially in analytics/IT) to move to Japan.

Thanks in advance for your help! 🙏