Job interview - how to bring up that I need a work permit

[tak.japan]

I have an interview coming up, and am wondering when to bring up that I need an work permit. considering it is a difficult topic for an non-experienced employer, I don't want to intimidate them. But I also feel I should really bring it up during my first interview.
Question is how? I thought of two ways to bring it up:
1) durin "tell me about your self", I could say "I am under work permit", and let employer ask me additional question.
or
2) during "do you have any question for us", I could say "My status in canada is a temporary worker, and if I were to be offered for this position, I would need a sponsorship from XYZ (company name), will there be any issues"?

I sort of like the flow of the first one as the question is "tell you who I am", but I didn't want to get interviewer nervous in the first part of the interview.
I'm really not sure how to open this topic. Do you have any recomendations?

And is there a one minute way of explaining what the process is without making it sound very complicated?

 

[scylla]

You should have mentioned that you require a work permit in your covering letter (or in your resume / CV) when you applied for the job. If you didn't do this - then you definitely need to bring it up in your first interview. I personally would not leave this information until the end of the interview. Instead, I would mention it right at the beginning and explain at a high level what the work permit process involves (if necessary). You could say something along the following lines: "Before we start this interview, I would like to clarify my employment status in Canada. I am currently in Canada on a temporary work permit that is attached to my current employer. If I were offered this role, I would need to obtain a new work permit with your company. Are you familiar with the work permit process or would you like me to provide an overview?" Based on their answer, you could then provide a summary of the work permit process.

In the future, I would strongly recommend that you mention the work permit in your covering letter (or resume / CV). I have done a great deal of hiring over the course of my career (all in Canada). Not being up-front about the fact that you need a work permit is typically seen as very dishonest. You may not make it past the first interview because you failed to mention this key piece of information at the very beginning. Hopefully your interviewer will be understanding.

Good luck and let us know how the interview goes.