NOVA contract

[Shadders]

Hi I'm considering a NOVA working holiday (i.e. the part time gig) in japan but having seen all the horror stories I'm thinking I may be interested in doing something else when I get there. With that in mind how long do you have to stay with NOVA before leaving? Are there any penalties for leaving early (say in the first few months)? and if not actually working when the first 6 months of the working holiday visa runs out are you likely to get it renewed for the final six months? If I ended up leaving NOVA I'd be looking at spending the remainder of the time there in the WWOOF program.

Would there be a copy of the standard nova contract anywhere on the net so I could look through it?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm from australia BTW if that makes a difference to the visa questions.

[Ewok85]

Hi Shadders, I'm also looking at going the working visa route. I figure if NOVA isn't all the recruiters hype it up to be despist the horror stories i'll leave and work for someone else. I think they give a 12month working visa straight out, otherwise it would be best to find a second job before leaving NOVA and finding yourself all alone.

[senseiman]

You can up and quit NOVA any time, its just like any other job. The normal visas (specialist in humanities) are for one or 3 years, depending on what policy immigration has at the moment it varies. I don't know much about a working holiday visa with NOVA, though I do know that you don't need them to sponsor a working holiday visa. If you have enough money to survive on, you can get it renewed without employment.

[Buddha Smoker]

You can up and quit NOVA any time, its just like any other job. The normal visas (specialist in humanities) are for one or 3 years, depending on what policy immigration has at the moment it varies. I don't know much about a working holiday visa with NOVA, though I do know that you don't need them to sponsor a working holiday visa. If you have enough money to survive on, you can get it renewed without employment.

I was curious about the NOVA visas myself..I was curious how a couple of my friends were doing it.

I'm married to Japanese so I got no worries...sorry to rub it in. :relief:

[Ewok85]

Haha, thats the easy way round it :D

[BlogD]

Working Holiday visas (through Canada and Australia last time I checked) allow for pretty much any job, I don't think you'd have to worry about that. Many employers like teachers with WHV because it's less hassle for them, they don't need to get the Specialist in Humanities visa.

My recollection on quitting is that legally you can do it with 2 week's notice, though many contracts say you must give notice longer--if they threaten a penalty you might want to take it up with a labor board (or heck, just contact the NOVA union site). Couldn't find an on-line version of a NOVA contract. A GEOS contract, however, can be seen here (http://www.letsjapan.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=73&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0).

My own feelings, however, are that it is best to be up-front with the school about things. Tell them as far in advance as possible when you will be leaving--don't wait until the last minute.

I remember one instance when I was the school supervisor for a place called NCB--not the best place in the world, but pretty decent as far as the industry goes. We got a guy from the U.S. that we hired. Put him up for the visa. Waited a few months for the certificate of eligibility to come through. Then he left the country, got the working visa and returned. And promptly quit, going to work for the place he really wanted to get a job at in the first place, but they would not provide the visa.

[Buddha Smoker]

I remember one instance when I was the school supervisor for a place called NCB--not the best place in the world, but pretty decent as far as the industry goes. We got a guy from the U.S. that we hired. Put him up for the visa. Waited a few months for the certificate of eligibility to come through. Then he left the country, got the working visa and returned. And promptly quit, going to work for the place he really wanted to get a job at in the first place, but they would not provide the visa.

I've seen lots people do that.... makes you wonder sometimes.