Hello. This is Matsui from IMS Legal Professional Corporation. Even though it was October, the weather was still too hot to bring out the winter clothes; but it looks like it will finally get cold from the middle of next week. The cosmos flowers, which bloomed beautifully last year, have not bloomed at all, and the autumn fruits are not very tasty, so it seems that the effects of the hot summer are quite evident.
In this article, I would like to consider the new recruitment course of a certain Japanese megabank, which was in the news the other day, from the perspective of visas. This new recruitment course, which is aimed at new graduates who will join the company in April 2025, will guarantee employees with high English skills a position in New York or London in as little as two years after joining the company. I think this system is attractive to students who wish to work overseas in the future. UK visas are not our specialty, so here we will consider US visas.
Expatriate Visas
The most common visas used by expatriates in the United States are L or E visas. The characteristics of each are as follows.
- L visa: A so-called intra-company transfer visa. A mandatory condition is working for a group company outside the United States for at least one year in the last three years.
- E visa: There are two types: trade (E-1) and investment (E-2) visas. It can be obtained if there is continuous direct trade between Japan and the United States (E-1), or if there is a record of active investment from Japan to the United States with risk (E-2). It does not matter if the subject of trade or investment is a company. If you are an employee of that company, you can obtain the visa, so it is used as a visa for expatriates.
Considering the nature of the business, banking, it is more likely that the applicant will be granted an L visa rather than an E visa. The article stated that "in order to obtain a visa, you must work in Japan for one year," so this also meets the conditions for an L visa. The article stated that "You need to work in Japan for one year to obtain a visa," so it also meets the conditions for the L visa mentioned above. The issue here is the background of the applicant (the person being posted) himself.
Types of L Visas
The application categories for L visas are Executive, Manager, and Specialist. Since it is not normal for a new graduate to be an executive or manager in his/her second year, I think you are probably aiming to apply for a specialist position. A specialist position can be a professional position (lawyer, accountant, engineer, etc.), or you can apply as a person who has expertise for the company. The question is whether a young employee in their second year at the company can be said to have expertise. If you have a master's degree or doctorate and are in the science field, it may be easy to demonstrate your expertise, but it may be quite difficult for an undergraduate degree holder. This is also true for E visas.
Professional Visas
There is a work visa called H-1B that can be obtained even by new graduates. However, this visa cannot even proceed to the screening unless you win the random computer lottery. There is an annual quota and the screening period is long, so it is not realistic to use this visa. This H-1B visa is often used by students who have obtained a degree in the United States and apply for an H-1B visa during the period during which they can work while on a student visa (OPT), and is rarely used when dispatched from a Japanese company.
Training Visas
The remaining option is the J visa. The J visa is also known as the international exchange visitor visa. There are 15 categories of this visa, including trainee, intern, research scholar, and exchange student, but the most commonly used category for dispatches from companies is the trainee category.
The main conditions for a trainee are as follows:
- Learn things that can only be learned in the US
- Be over 18 years old and in good health
- During the training period, actively come into contact with US citizens and society, deepen mutual understanding, and strive for cultural exchange
- After the training period, be sure to return to your home country and utilize the results of the training (in other words, it is difficult to be sent on an L or E visa immediately after completing the training period)
- Have at least 5 years of work experience in the training field after graduating from high school (however, if you have studied a related field at a university outside the US, 1 year of work experience after college is acceptable. If you have graduated from a US university, 5 years must have passed since returning to your home country)
- Enroll in medical insurance that meets the requirements of the Department of State during the training period
- Perform practical training according to the training plan established by the host company
The training period is a maximum of one and a half years (=18 months), and in principle, you will need to return to your home country after completing the training. Also, US university graduates cannot be dispatched in the second year after joining the company, so there is a disadvantage that it cannot be used for US university graduates with high English proficiency. The reason why US university graduates cannot use the J visa immediately is because it is a visa for international exchange only. If you are enrolled in a US university, you will inevitably be engaged in international exchange, which means that you cannot use it immediately after graduation.
It is unclear what type of visa is in mind for this newly established recruitment course, but I hope you understand that the United States is a difficult country to send young people with little experience.
IMS is always available to answer questions about U.S. non-immigrant visas. Please feel free to contact us.
Please note that this blog post contains current information, and it is your responsibility to check the latest information on official government websites.
For more information, please contact us below ↓
https://imsvisa.support/en/contact/
