Changing from SSW to Eng/Humanities Status

Hello everyone! I need some serious advice and knowledge about changing resident status here in Japan. I have read a lot of posts here and on other sites but none really fit to my situation.

For context, I have a Bachelors degree, and is currently working in a hotel under SSW visa, and my contract is supposedly going to end in 2 months. However, for the last 5 months here I have been feeling burned out and not happy with what I am doing, as we have to work very long hours and the schedule is very erratic, like from day shift to night shift to day shift again in consecutive days. Plus the fact that the place I work is very inconvenient (lifestyle problems). I was thinking of looking for other jobs but have not made up my mind yet as I am still hoping for some changes to happen, naturally I did not inform my employer nor agency about wanting to quit. As a way of distracting myself to my stressful situation,I had sent applications to websites for English teaching position, without really expecting anything since I don’t have a teaching experience. I was thinking that maybe during the contract renewal we will have a meeting and I could negotiate some things that makes me unhappy. The problem is that the company started to process our renewal this month and had us sign the contract quickly (literally just pointed to the part of the contract that needs our signature) without discussing it first to us. I was not ready that day so I ended up signing. Now I had received two offers for teaching English in a private school, and is under the final interview. My renewed visa is still currently being processed, and we were told to wait for 2-4 weeks.

My question is:
If ever my job offer go through, would it be okay to start applying for change of visa status while still working on my current company (under the 1 month notice for resignation). If my prospect employer would want to change my visa status when I receive my newly renewed one, should I quit first the current company before starting the change status application? I am on dilemma because I live in the company dormitory so if I quit without processing my new visa yet, I would not be able work on the new job immediately and have nowhere to go nor an address to use in my application. I hope someone will give me an advice on this. If ever something is unclear, feel free to point it out and I would try my best to clarify.

I do not know how things work with the employees and the agency under SSW, such as generally how easy it is to quit before the end of the contract, and of course we don’t know what your contract says about quitting. You might want to consult with an immigration lawyer/administrative scriveners.

A few things you might want to watch out for:

- Please note that you cannot start working at the new company (= a job in a different field, requiring a different resident status) until you have been granted the change of resident status), so there might be a month or two where you could be out of work. Currently change of resident status (or even extending the same resident status) seems to take some time at the immigration bureau (from what I read from this Forum at times). Maybe that is the reason why your current began the renewal process somewhat early.

- About the address on the application form: consult with the new employer, maybe you can use their address (you c/o the company). I hope you can work out that part with the new employer-to-be.

- For the new employer to start the process for changing your resident status, be sure you have the necessary documents, such as your degree certificate.

Best wishes.