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  3. Procedures before graduation

4. Procedures before graduation

(1) When you will no longer be a student of Doshisha University
due to: graduation/completion/end of acceptance period/withdrawal/expulsion, etc.

When you will no longer be a Doshisha student due to: graduation/completion/end of acceptance period/withdrawal/expulsion, etc. ("LEAVING DU * "), you will be not permitted to remain in Japan under the status of residence "Student" issued while studying at Doshisha University. Therefore, you must either change your status of residence to an appropriate one, or leave Japan.

The status of residence " Student" granted to international students is valid only during the period of enrollment at the university. Upon graduation, you must return to your home country in principle, even if the period of stay on your residence card is still valid.
Staying in Japan while your status of residence is "Student" is considered an illegal act.

If you stay on a college student visa after graduation, your visa status will be revoked.
Although the period between graduation and departure from Japan is not clearly defined, about one month is a good rule of thumb, considering preparations for returning to your home country.
If you plan to stay in Japan for employment or further study after leaving the University, please be sure to take the necessary steps to maintain an appropriate status of residence.
Peruse the sections (2)-(4) below stated, and be sure to take the required action properly depending on your situation.

*What is "LEAVING DU" defined here? : When you will no longer be a student of Doshisha University due to graduation/completion/end of acceptance period/withdrawal/expulsion, etc.

(2) Common action for those who will be "LEAVING Doshisha University"

(2-1) Notification of affiliated (activity) organization

When "LEAVING DU", you must submit the "Notification of affiliated (activity) organization" to the Immigration Bureau. Procedure details are available at Immigration Services Agency of Japan: Notification of the affiliated (activity) organization .
You can submit this notification online. Please check the details about How to submit a notification online.

Submission deadline：Within 14 days after leaving DU

(2-2) Report your action after "LEAVING Doshisha University"

Doshisha University must keep track of the path of all international students and their status of residence, and report this information to the Japanese government.
Please be sure to report your prospective plan and its outcome (your final status) after "LEAVING DU". For further details, see (4) Report your plan/final status after LEAVING Doshisha University as described hereinbelow.

(2-3) Others

Upon moving out of your apartment, please check the necessary procedures in advance at OIS website: Housing - When you move out of accommodation .

(3) Required actions depending on your future plan after "LEAVING Doshisha University"

(3-1) Those who will continue to stay in Japan (employed,seeking employment etc. in Japan)

(3-2) Those who will continue to study at other universities/institutions in Japan

  • Follow the instructions given by your new educational institution, and submit the "Notification of the affiliated (activity) organization - 4. Notification of leaving or transferring from the affiliated organization" to the Immigration Bureau as stated in (2) "Common procedures for those who will be "LEAVING Doshisha University". You can submit this notification online. Please check the details about How to submit a notification online.
  • Contact the department in charge of visa procedures of your new educational institution, and proceed with the application procedure for the extension of the status of residence.

(3-3) The Others: if there is no legal basis for your stay in Japan

You must return your residence card to the Immigration Bureau, and leave Japan. The residence card can be invalidated at the airport where you will depart.

(4) Report your plan/final status after "LEAVING Doshisha University"

Doshisha University must keep track of the path of all international students and their status of residence, and report this information to the Japanese government. Students who will be "LEAVING DU" are required to report: "1. your prospective plan before 'LEAVING DU' ", and "2. your final status after 'LEAVING DU' ", to the OIS. For further details on what you need to do, please see below.

How to report

Please report your status via the prescribed web form: 「同志社大学を卒業/修了/退学/除籍等した後の情報報告 "Status reporting after graduation/leaving (ie withdrawal, expulsion, etc) Doshisha University"」

Reporting deadlines

"LEAVING DU" in September 2024:
Report your plan by July 31 (Wed) 2024
Report your final status by October 20 (Sun) 2024*

"LEAVING DU" in March 2025:
Report your plan by January 31 (Fri) 2025
Report your final status by May 5 (Mon) 2025*

(*) The deadline of "final status" reporting is the final deadline. Once you have fixed your plan, please report via the web form at your earliest convenience.

Required supporting documents for your report

■Report your future path (prospective plan/final status) after "LEAVING DU"
Upon reporting, those who will be employed or continuing education in Japan are required to submit the scanned documents below stated:

Prospective employees
When reporting your plan: "letter of acceptance, relevant emails, or documentation from your employer"
When reporting your final status: "your employee ID card, or your official business card"

Prospective students (either at Doshisha or other universities/institutions)
When reporting your plan: "certificate of admission" When reporting your final status: "your new student ID card"

■Report your action (prospective plan/final status) after "LEAVING DU"
In either path, please prepare the scaned or photed documens below for reporting your action.

(3-1) Those who will change/changed the status of residence
When reporting your plan: nothing requiredWhen reporting your final status: "your new residence card"

(3-2) Prospective students (either at Doshisha or other universities/institutions)
When reporting your plan: "certificate of admission" When reporting your final status: "your new student ID card" (as above stated)

(3-3) Those who will leave/left Japan
When reporting your plan: "flight tickets, etc."*not compulsory
When reporting your final status: "your invalidated residence card with a hole punched at the airport where you depart(ed)", or "your boarding card and passport page with an exit stamp"

File naming conventions for supporting documents

When submitting the supporting documents via web form, file names should be: "Your Student ID Number-(hyphen)Generic File Name.(Dot)file extension (pdf, jpg, png, etc.)"
e.g. 1101229999-NewResidenceCard.jpg 1104920953-BusinessCard.png 1192924040-Passport.jpg

Generic file names:
進学書類 AdmissionLetter　新学生証 NewStudentIDcard
採用通知 EmployerLetter 　社員証 EmployeeIDcard　名刺 BusinessCard
航空券 FlightTicket　パスポート Passport
無効な在留カード RevokedResidenceCard　新在留カード NewResidenceCard

(5) Continue to seek employment after graduation/completion

Although you are not permitted to remain in Japan with the status of residence “Student” after graduation, you can change the status of residence from “Student” to “Designated Activities” (applicable to regular students only) to continue your job seeking activities.

How to change the status of residence to “Designated Activities”

Updated September 2, 2024

The application of change of status from those who graduate / complete on September 2024 has opened from Monday September 2, 2024.If you wish to change your status of residence to “Designated Activities” for job-hunting, please apply for it via the web form below. *You can submit the web form before graduation.

Application web form

After checking your application, we will inform you of the subsequent procedures via email or phone. For more details about the required documents and procedure, please make sure to read Announcement of Application for the status of residence "Designated activities"［PDF 148KB］.

In case your relative supplies your living expenses in Japan, you need to submit “Statement of Financial Support” as one of the required documents. Please download the following document and ask your supporter to fill out.

How to apply for the extension of the status of residence “Designated Activities”

Application web form

Those who have a status of residence “Designated Activities” AND would like to apply for the extension, please apply for it via the web form below after September 2nd (Fri), 2024.
* You can apply for extension only one time.
* It takes some time to complete the application procedures, so please make sure to submit the web form from a month before the expiry date of your residence card.
* Only those who can comply with the conditions of extension written on Announcement of Application for the status of residence "Designated activities"［PDF 148KB］ are eligible to apply for extension.

Notes

  • This option is for regular students only. Special students and those with other student status are not eligible.
  • Your residence status of “Student” will be revoked after graduation and you are not allowed to do part-time job until you apply for the change of residence status to Immigration Bureau. Please be sure not to do part-time job from your graduation date to the date you apply the application for change of residence status.
  • You will not be able to use university email account after graduation. Please be sure to forward your emails related to job-hunting to your personal email account or save the data in some way.
  • Period of stay permitted for those with the status of residence “Designated Activities” for job seeking is 6 months. As you are permitted to apply for an extension for another 6 months, it is possible to remain in Japan for job seeking activities for one year in total after graduation in principle.
  • You are required to comply with all conditions of application written on Announcement of Application for the status of residence "Designated activities"［PDF 148KB］. Only those who can comply with them are eligible to apply for this status of residence.
  • The graduate students who are unable to fully engage in job hunting while attending school because you need to concentrate on research activities can also apply for “Designated Activities” if you submit a statement of reasons written by your supervisor.
  • The extension procedure is the same as the procedure to change the status of residence. In some cases, it may also be possible to continue job seeking activities in the second year after graduation, if certain conditions are satisfied. For more details, please see the website of Immigration Services Agency.

(6) In case the validity period of your status of residence will expire before the commencement or your scheduled flight

If you intend to return to home country but your status of residence will expire before the commencement or your flight, you can apply for changing the status of residence to “Temporary Visitor.”

【How to change the status of residence to “Temporary Visitor”】

Please bring the Application for Change of Status of Residence, an academic transcript indicating that you are expected to graduate, your passport, residence card and student ID card (if applying before graduation) to the Immigration Bureau and follow the prescribed procedures.