Planning to Move to Japan through SSW Then Language School and University
by Kindly_Macaron8788 on Feb 22, 2026
Hello everyone I am 24 years old and I am from India I am planning to move to Japan through the Specified Skilled Worker SSW visa and I am currently preparing for the Japanese language test and skill exams My present plan is to go to Japan through SSW work hard and save money and later join a language school to improve my Japanese properly After that I want to try for university admission and continue my higher education in Japan I am also interested in exploring different universities and understanding what options are available for international students I want to build a stable long term future in Japan and not just go for short term work I would really appreciate advice from anyone who has gone through SSW or changed from SSW to student status or university Please share your experience about challenges savings opportunities study options and long term career growth Thank you
Comments
by batshit_icecream on Feb 23, 2026
SSW is commonly called a slave labour visa and would most likely not pay you enough to save for language school + university.
by Kindly_Macaron8788 on Feb 23, 2026
One year language school fee was almost 900000 - 1000000 Yen per year so I can earn enough for language school well I know disadvantages if I work hard for one year atleast I get enough money to pay one year fees so what do you think ? Any suggestions
by batshit_icecream on Feb 23, 2026
SSW employees are typically paid around 200,000 yen a month. After tax deduction that would be about 170,000 yen a month. If you times that by 12 months that would be about 2,040,000 yen per year but obviously you must pay for living costs. I think your estimate language school fee has an extra 0 but even fixing that you have to save more than half of your salary every month, which is going to be rough or impossible in Japanese cost of living (rising steadily every day). One year of language school would not be enough to be functionable in university but you can't pay anyway and there are no scholarships for foreigners residing in Japan. Only thing left is to go home (the plane ticket would be expensive too) without a degree or language skills. My suggestion is to grind and go to university in your country and then think about advanced education or employment in Japan maybe.
by Kindly_Macaron8788 on Feb 23, 2026
Well my situation is worst I just had to work for a year and save as much after that I get a sponsor so that's why first I need to save atleast some money well it's only for year I just had to be work so hard so please suggest me instead of staying home
by dalkyr82 on Feb 23, 2026
It's not just the fees you need to save for. You need to save for your living expenses too.
Immigration will require you to show approximately 2M yen in savings before they will issue you a student visa. But really you're going to need to save like 4x that much, because you're talking about both language school and university.
You need to show proof of savings every time you renew your student visa. So if you do 2 years of language school and 4 years of university that's 6 years worth of student visas. You cannot pay 100% of your expenses with the 28 hours of work you're allowed as a student, so you need to have a bunch of savings in advance.
Let's be generous and say that you earn half of your expenses while you're a student. And that's being *very* generous, as you're more likely only going to earn like 1/3.
Initial language school application: 2M yen in savings.
2nd year of language school renewal: 1M yen earnings, 1M yen of savings. So you need an additional 1M yen to make the 2M required. (Total savings required: 3M yen)
Years 1-4 of university: Same thing. 1M in savings and 1M in earnings, so plus 1M yen in savings each year. (Total required savings: 7M yen)
So you'll need to save 7-8M yen in order to successfully prepare yourself for language school/university. Saving that much on SSW wages is going to take a ***very*** long time.
by Kindly_Macaron8788 on Feb 23, 2026
Yeah you're right but After one year on an SSW visa I can get a financial sponsor I can save around 2 million yen along with my current savings and that should be enough for one year of language school and living expenses While studying I can work up to 28 hours per week and try to save more by keeping my expenses low I will not fully depend on the SSW visa One year of language school should be enough for me to move from N4 to N3 or even N2 For now I will first strengthen my foundation and then build step by step
by dalkyr82 on Feb 23, 2026
If you have someone who can afford to sponsor you why even bother with the SSW? Just go straight to language school/university.
by Kindly_Macaron8788 on Feb 23, 2026
It is hard to explain right now I need to go with the SSW route first After one year I can get a sponsor Until then I have to find work and manage everything by myself I am from India and if I get a job there the salary would be around 60000 to 70000 yen when converted That is why even if I face problems I have to face them First I will work then I will have a sponsor If I can save even 40 percent of my salary it will be enough I need to work hard for at least one year I am 24 years old now so please suggest me
by dalkyr82 on Feb 23, 2026
> After one year I can get a sponsor
You keep saying this, but you haven't explained what you actually mean.
If you have someone lined up to be a sponsor you should skip the SSW. That's really all there is to it. If it's some weird family "Show you can do work" thing you should deal with that internally. Either negotiate with them or get a job in India to "prove it". There's zero benefit to spending a year doing SSW work.
>If I can save even 40 percent of my salary it will be enough
There is absolutely no chance that you'd be able to save 40% of your salary. You'd *maybe* be able to save 10%, but even that would be a stretch.
You are either wildly over-estimating how much SSW workers get paid or wildly under-estimating the costs involved in living in Japan as a SSW worker.
by Kindly_Macaron8788 on Feb 23, 2026
I will explain why I said sponsor There is a scheme called a chit fund where a group of people pay every month and there is an auction each month I joined a 10 lakh chit fund which is about 2 million yen I have to pay at least 60000 yen per month Whoever needs the money bids and the person who bids the highest discount gets the amount but pays a higher loss You can think of it like a high interest loan If I pay for at least 12 months I can try to win the amount with a lower bid Even if the bid is high I may receive around 1.8 million yen It may sound confusing but local people use this system and it has been running for many years Nothing comes free and this is also a type of debt but it gives me a chance to study Since they are local people they are flexible if I delay one month payment
by dalkyr82 on Feb 23, 2026
> I joined a 10 lakh chit fund which is about 2 million yen
That's not even close to being enough money to cover language school and all of university.
>You can think of it like a high interest loan
Taking a "loan", even if you're paying it up front, is a *terrible idea*.
Doubly so when it's a loan you are not even guaranteed to receive. Basically you're paying a bunch of money into a pool that you ***might*** get. Might. Not "will", *might*. And that money won't even cover a single year of university.
by Kindly_Macaron8788 on Feb 23, 2026
It is guaranteed. Every month the pool goes to the highest bidder If I do not take it early and wait until the last month I will get 2 million yen and the total I pay is 1.9 million yen so the last month means profit I contacted ISI Language School and they told me that the accommodation fee for one term is around 384000 yen If I multiply that by 4 and add 1.8 million yen it may not be fully enough but it can cover around 80 to 90 percent of the fees and dormitory The 28 hours per week work is enough to cover the remaining 10 to 20 percent For university I will think later First I need to focus on work and language school I know you are saying it for my safety but it feels like you are discouraging me
by dalkyr82 on Feb 23, 2026
>it feels like you are discouraging me
Because I ***AM*** trying to discourage you. This is not a good plan, and it will not work.
1.8 million yen is quite simply NOT ENOUGH MONEY. It will barely cover 1 year of language school. The "accommodation fee" for ISI only covers your housing. You still need to factor in the cost of food, transportation, and internet/mobile phone.
What happens after that year of language school? The 1.8 million will be gone. How will you pay for university? You can't just say "I'll think later" because this entire plan is pointless without the university part.
by Kindly_Macaron8788 on Feb 23, 2026
It will work I will prove it to you
by dalkyr82 on Feb 23, 2026
I don't owe you further response, and that comment does not warrant one.
by Kindly_Macaron8788 on Feb 23, 2026
I understand your concerns but I’m still willing to go Thank you for caring and sorry if I bothered you 😅 I’m prepared to face whatever comes and handle it and You’re kind person
by dalkyr82 on Feb 23, 2026
Great. Fine. Good luck.
I'm not going to participate in this conversation any more.
by Kindly_Macaron8788 on Feb 23, 2026
Hello
by Arael15th on Feb 24, 2026
>First I need to focus on work and language school I know you are saying it for my safety but it feels like you are discouraging me
Yes, discouraging you from falling into a scam/debt trap/pyramid scheme just to keep yourself in Japan. Your situation here would be terrifyingly precarious if it were so dependent on the chit fund.
If you absolutely must come here then try it out through the SSW program, and then make use of the local *free* language study options (which are much better value than sitting in a classroom with a bunch of unserious Western tourists).
by Kindly_Macaron8788 on Feb 24, 2026
Yeah that's my plan in the first place my main focus is ssw not language school or university I said that because he asked about the plan
by Kindly_Macaron8788 on Feb 23, 2026
So tell me. I know this has many disadvantages but instead of telling me the negatives please give me positive suggestions Even if what you said is correct I still want to go with SSW I’m not overestimating it like you said, so please give me positive suggestions I'm sure you're saying facts though
by dalkyr82 on Feb 23, 2026
> please give me positive suggestions
"Don't do the SSW program" ***IS*** a positive suggestion.
There are no "positive suggestions" to give regarding the SSW program. The SSW program is terrible. It's known as the "slave labor" visa. It's a program designed to import grunt labor, exploit them, and then send them home.
by nicetrydidy on Mar 21, 2026
Hey bro u seem knowledgeable
Do you recommend me that I should take the path of going to japan as immigrant wether i do study or work i am confused, currently i am doing shitty bachelor deegre thinking of lots of option (other countries ) but as the money is problem i thought that if I learner language Japanese i would have chance to go japan very cheap but I think it's hard as fund is problem the only way is work in that I need strong academic