I love the thumbnail picture of you two❣️So beautiful! And this video is defiantly super helpful for people who wants to get married in Japan and get the spouse visa!
My pleasure! Glad you found this video useful! And if it helps, once you get the first spouse visa, every renewal afterward requires a lot less effort and mostly is asking for a new picture, official copies of the juuminhyo, family register, and tax documents, and then the form in step 1 all over again to confirm your income and basic demographic info and whatnot. Whatever form you use for step 1, keep a copy handy because it might save you a lot of rework come renewal time!
Thank you for your comment! I’ve come to understand this too. If the picture falls off, for example, they have a name to associate it with, which makes sense to me
Hi. Thanks for your very helpful and detailed video. In my understanding, I no longer need to seek a COE (as a first step) as I have the similar case as you in which I’m working on in changing my visa from instructor to spouse visa. Thanks a lot. Please make another video when you change again from Spouse to PR. Wakayama is a great place btw! More power.
Thank you very much for the comment and compliment! And yes! Since you already had to get a COE to get your instructor Visa, you wouldn't need to do that again (since it sounds like you're already in Japan!). Your first Spouse Visa has all these steps, but renewing is pretty easy. It's mostly just providing your Juuminhyou, tax documents, and the document in step 1 where you disclose your salary, occupation, etc. AND of course, your spouse would still have to sign that document saying that they vouch for you. lol. I'll keep your request in mind when changing to PR! I am pretty sure I am eligible to do so now. I think a part of me hesitates because of things like the Inheritance tax here which is RIDICULOUS and I am slightly paranoid of unknown taxes I'd be on the hook for as a permanent resident. Well, I guess if there are or aren't I'd put that in that future video! Thanks again for your comment!
@@lindajustacrochetsister4659 Not yet. Japan is lagging behind other countries with the vaccine. This month Japan will start with all those over age 65. I think summer will be the earliest we can expect everyone else to start getting theirs.
@@tika_world Thank you for your question. The nice thing is that there is no face-to-face interview like in America. All it is, is paperwork. It's hard for me to remember that far back, but yes, I would've said I met her from Hello Talk (which is not a dating app, by the way! lol).
Buddy, talking about the signature thing at the back of a passport size photo. In my opinion it's all about identification, for example accidentally if the immigration bureau loses your photo, so with the help of your signature at the back of your photo, they can easily identify which photo belongs to a particular document, since you already have your signature on your documents already. Some school do it too not only the immigration bureau
That makes a lot of sense! Every time I’ve needed a photo for a visa I’ve glued it on the form at immigration. For those who mail in their documentation, for example, I could totally now see where a signature would be useful. Thank you for that comment! That was great information!
You may have already gotten a response on this, but my understanding is that the reason you sign the back of the photo is in case it wasn't glued securely or for whatever other reason gets separated from the form.
great videos, does a hanko stamp have to have a first and a last name or does the stamp have to have the family last name on the stamp, just asking and thanks 😊 👍
No problem! Just as an aside I have a Hanko video and I show the different types you can get. You can get just your last name or first and last. Last name only I’d only recommend for quick signatures like when an Amazon package arrives but I sign my name instead all the time. Last and first name Hanko is important for official documents that are government or bank related. I rarely use mine except for these official document situations. Hope this helps!
Thanks for the vid. Very helpful. One thing though, you said課税証明書 (kazei..) but referred to residence taxes which is 住民税証明書 (juumin...). Arent these two separate forms? I'm confused, because I just read you need the 住民税証明書 but the kazei was never mentioned.. I can't remember you clarifying in the video.
Thanks for the comment! When I get home I’ll give a proper answer. Income tax and residence tax are definitely different taxes but what I remember from the top of my head is that I got all my tax related documents from the one area of city hall that handles taxes. I showed them the step about taxes on that checklist (all in Japanese) and said I needed those items. They took care of the rest. It’s been a year but I’ll try to find out when I get home if I received two different documents or if everything I needed was just on one. I can tell you 100% though that everything you need for that step is in one spot!
Okay, so I went over step 5 in Japanese with my wife again and it does ask for the Nozeishomeisho and the Juminzeishomeisho which are two separate tax documents. You would get these from city hall from the tax department and each should cost--I want to say--200 to 400 yen for each document. I apologize for any confusion I caused with Step 5!
I finally got my spouse visa! Thanks for the video. It’s only for a year. But hopefully when I renew it, it will be for 3 or more years. Also my passport expires in 2026, will I be able to renew my passport in Japan at an American embassy?
Congrats on getting your spouse visa! I had to renew a couple times before getting the 3 year, and once you do that you should be able to think about Permanent Residency! Ironically my passport expires in the next couple of years and yes, to answer your question you can get that done at the embassy. When my son was born I was able to get his American passport through them for about 20,000 yen.
Sir if you are here in japan in the time you aplly for the spouse visa, the certificate of eligibility is not needed? it is the one of the requiremenst in spouse visa
Apologies for the late reply. In this video the form I reference is a change of status. I was going from a work visa to a spouse visa so a change of status form is what I needed to fill out and not a COE. It is just an assumption, but if you do not have a job in Japan and are applying for the Spouse Visa that you will fill out the COE form which you can find under a link I have provided in the description of this video. Since you would not be changing statuses, you would fill out the COE form. Hope this helps.
I just left the navy while being stationed in Japan and I’m on a tourist visa now. I never got a residential card (I was SOFA). Maybe it will complicate things a lot? :(
Thanks for your comment! I was never in the military so regrettably I cannot speak to your specific situation. I had to look up SOFA and it looks like you didn't have that card because military service granted you a SOFA which means you didn't need a VISA. Correct? But you are on a tourist VISA now you said? Just an opinion, but I believe it is all about changing your status and getting the correct form to do that. If your spouse is able to, I would recommend going to the nearest immigration office for the fastest reply (or calling if that is not possible). The main question that needs to be asked is "what form(s) do I need to change my spouse from a tourist to a Spouse visa?"
i have a question, do you really need a picture of your self and your wife in a marriage outfit? or is a normal picture in daily clothes fine too? Because im from Denmark, and on the Japanese embassy it doesnt say anything with a picture of us.
@@azoller7784 just pictures of you together. Doesn’t have to be at a ceremony. Documents will prove you are married. Pictures SHOW your relationship. Hope that helps
Hi! Thanks for your comment. No police clearance needed from the USA but all visas in Japan will ask you to disclose criminal history on their applications.
She can still sponsor you. There is nothing that says she has to work! One of my best friends has a spouse visa here now and he is a professional musician and is so good at his job his wife doesn’t have to work
@@MyRadicalKanjiWorld thank you so much for your kind answer; I am actually the one supporting my wife and son that just moved from NYC to Okinawa. Good thing, I work remotely and can move anywhere
@@nomeansno70 my pleasure and best of luck to you with everything! The paperwork you’d have to fill out tells the government what they need to know. Even if your wife is a housewife, as long as you can prove that economically you won’t be a drain on the economy you should hopefully be just fine!
Thanks for your comment. Apologies for the late reply. I am having difficulty understanding your timeline. You are only responsible for taxes from your time living in Japan and those taxes always cover the previous year. Your first year in Japan your residence taxes would be 0 because the previous year you weren't living in Japan and in my opinion that should be fine. I can tell you from my experience that when I needed to renew my spouse visa that there was one year I had forgotten to pay my taxes and I had found that out before my visa expired, so I paid them quickly and then submitted my Nozei Shomei Sho to immigration as proof.
hi again, i would like to ask about step nine about the photos, can i print couples photos and then label them and also submit photos that i printed in family mart?
Hi there. Sorry for the late reply. Always feel free to reference the links in my description because they should also have the information. Please reference this link: www.moj.go.jp/isa/applications/status/spouseorchildofjapanese01.html When it comes to couples pictures, don't print them from a computer. You can print them as real pictures from a Family Mart copier, just not on paper. Just think glossy photos you would put in a scrapbook before things got all digital. The link should also help you with COE. My COE came from my employer and it got me here so I didn't need one. You will see in the link where I would just use the instructions for a status change. If you are outside the country, COE is the beginning and you would start there. Hope this helps!
Thank you so much for your excellent video! It was really clear and organised really well. I'm Japanese/Australian with both passports and have been living in Australia for the last few years, and was wondering if it was possible to get the Japanese spouse visa as my Australian husband and I are hoping to move to Japan in a few months. Because I haven't been living in Japan, I won't be able to provide a tax form... and to get proof of residence, I was planning on going to Japan first and then he would join me a couple of months later. Do you think this could work? Do you happen to know if anyone has gone through the visa process in a similar position? Thanks so much for your help!
Hello! Thank you for your comment! I'll do my best to give you the best advice I can. One thing I want to point out is that with COVID, guidelines are always changing for who can and who can't enter the country. I know of people waiting to come to Japan from America to teach English but have been waiting months for Japan to give them a chance to come over. Also, restrictions may vary depending on country. Japan might treat Australia differently than America. Difficult to say. The most important thing I can say is to reach out and contact an immigration office in Japan. They are going to give you the most accurate information possible so that you can try to make the spouse visa happen for your husband with zero mistakes. I'm assuming you are able to speak Japanese? I think if you tell them your exact situation, that they will be very honest with you and send you the exact paperwork you would need to fill out. It doesn't sound like either of you have a job in Japan or a job lined up. You could ask if there is a role your immediate family could play to help or if it would help if your husband applied for even a low-paying teaching job, just to get a foot in the door. My first wife was from another country and married me in America and I know from experience that from the point of getting married, as long as I had started the paperwork process and she didn't leave America that she would be granted a green card eventually (granted permanent resident and spouse visa may not mean the same thing in Japan). I guess what I am saying is, you could also ask immigration if the process is any smoother should your husband visit Japan on his passport and get married to you in Japan (via a trip to city hall and some filing of paperwork). I would ask your husband to go to Australia's embassy website and look for information on marrying someone from Japan to see what paperwork or restrictions there might be. I hope this was someone helpful. I can truly say that a 10 minute discussion with an immigration officer cleared everything up for me and get me all the paperwork I needed to get married in Japan. It is safer, faster, and more efficient to go directly to the source and they will be more than happy to help you out because you've shown them by going directly to them that you want to follow procedures properly.
@@MyRadicalKanjiWorld Thanks so much for the quick reply and all the information! That definitely clears things up and it's good to know that the immigration office will be helpful. I'll definitely get onto that. Thanks again and happy holidays :)
Thanks for this awesome video, I really appreciate and is really helpful for me , but in my situation I come to Japan as tourist visa and I have get married and I only have 3 months so my question is , what is your idea about APPLICATION FOR CERTIFICATE OF ELIGIBILITY , they asked me for it , but my wife lawyer said that the application of change residence is okay with it , and I’m really confused here , because immigration say that they need it , but my wife lawyer say no you need other applicants
Hey there. Thanks for your comment! As you mentioned, I can only give my opinion on this, but for me I feel this is more about what you are applying for as opposed to what you are applying as, if that makes sense. An Indian friend of mine in Japan is here on a work visa and he asked me to find out for him when I was last at immigration (to renew my spouse visa) if his wife, who is also Indian, who he married in India, but who is also living in Japan, needed to go back to India to apply for the Certificate of Eligibility and I know in his case the answer I found out for him was no. There was a form at immigration that allowed my friend's wife to apply for a visa while she was still in Japan (I believe that visa type was as the spouse of current visa holder). I can't speak to your situation specifically. What I'm seeing out on the web suggests that you can apply for the spouse visa without a COE but it might take longer because there is a lot they would need to verify document-wise. This is just my opinion but from a government perspective, if you have one applicant that was already here for work and registered in the system, versus someone who got married on a tourist visa...for the latter I would imagine immigration would want to do some very thorough research because they don't know much about you, how much money you make, etc. Japan has one of the strictest immigration systems in the world and I've learned to not be surprised when I come across a process that has a million more hoops than it needs to. In closing, the documentation, I imagine, would still be the same as in this video as you'd be applying for a spouse visa. I think the only real item up for debate is that change of residence form which would ask the generic background questions and job questions, salary, etc. I think what will be key in your situation is making sure that you have THE correct form for step 1 as there are different residence forms depending on your situation.
@@MyRadicalKanjiWorld sir I really appreciate the work that you do , and you really was so helpful to me and making my stress and my anxiety little disappear, I’m going to submit my documents today I already have only tow months left on my visa I hope it doesn’t take longer than that , thank you so much and please keep up the great work 🙏
How long did you wait to apply for the spousal visa after you were married? I’m getting married in May and then applying for the visa in June. Too fast?
Hi there! Thanks for the comment and the question! I happy to help with as much info as I can. *First thing I have to preface with is just a disclaimer that I am an American who got married while in Japan. If you are getting married outside of Japan or filing from outside of Japan and/or depending on your nationality the rules might be different so I would check with your country's embassy just in case! In regards to my situation I didn't rush to apply as I was currently holding a work visa. For example if you get married in March and your work Visa expires in October, then you have a lot of time to get that spouse visa. It just depends on how soon you want it. I had about 5 months left on my work visa and decided I didn't want my company to have that over me any longer so I got my Spouse visa a few months before my work visa expired. They will invalidate your work visa of course before giving you a new one. My advice, just know that if you have a lot of months on a different type of reason you don't have to feel rushed. Your first spouse visa will likely only net you a one year stay before you have to do it again (this was the case with me as I renewed for the first time this year and once again got only a year extension). It really comes down to how soon you want it. Now, granted, the spouse visa has no restrictions so you could do ANY job in Japan. So if your current visa severely limits you, the spouse visa can definitely open some doors. And from my own experience I can say there are companies that regardless of whether they sponsor, really like having that burden off their backs because you've taken the visa responsibility off their hands. Also, I worked for English dispatch companies that were shady at times, so I got mine sooner rather than later to give me a sense of security that if I was let go or if I quit that I was safe in Japan. Once last thing I can tell you. I've been married once before and it was a long time ago and it was to someone who was not an American citizen. She needed her green card after we got married and the USCIS process requires a sit down interview where someone ask questions to get a feel for if the marriage is valid. This kind of thing IS NOT the case in Japan. My current marriage to my lovely wife was ALL PAPERWORK. I brought it to immigration with the documents numbered to match the checklist I was given, they verified that all the paperwork was there, and just like my work visa it was a 2-3 week wait. Super smooth. I know this was a long answer but I hope it answered your question. It's really how soon do you want it, provided any current visa you have isn't about to run out or if there's a job worth pursuing that would warrant getting it right away. Or maybe you have no reason and you just want to solidify yourself here. Either way I wish you the best!
It depends on your situation. At first you may be renewing every year like me. I expect my next one to be three years now that I have a better job (this year I paid my taxes on time which also helps! Lol) Permanent residency is different from the spouse visa and I believe you have to live here for minimum 5 years and have received a 3 year extension at least once on your spouse visa. I’ve been here 4.5 years already and will start trying for permanent residency next year. My other friends with spouse visas it’s the same. Expect to have to renew yearly for a while until Japan views you as established enough to boost your visa time
When I applied I was employed and already in Japan so it’s difficult for me to say. In my opinion I think being employed definitely looks better on the application. If you’re applying as the spouse of a Japanese national they will likely be looking at other factors too, like the amount of savings you have…in other words money you’d be bringing into the country. It was many years ago but I remember Canada having a rule that you could become a citizen as long as you had $10,000 , which at the time was considered enough to last 6 months. They will ask on the application for your spouse’s income so if your spouse makes enough money that could help. I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help. This is one of those areas that will be up to immigration. My best advice is to give enough information to let them know you will not be a drain on the Japanese economy.
I applied for Japanese spouse visa but it was rejected. The reason for this is that in the spouse visa application form, I have stated that my boyfriend and I lived together for one year before marriage and this was not informed to the immigration office when I applied for my pre-marriage visa. What are the issues I can raise in this question in my re-visa application….please help…
Hi Gaya, thank you for your comment and sorry about what happened with your Visa situation. I believe my wife and I had been living together for at least a year before we got married and a few months later I applied for my Spouse Visa and followed the steps in my video and had no issue. When you say "pre-marriage visa" do you mean that you applied before you were technically married? The Japanese are sticklers for details in paperwork and if certain dates don't match up, they'll cancel everything, just like with getting a Driver's license. You make ONE mistake and you fail your test. So, my best advice is this. You can probably gather your Koseki stuff and Residence document and tax documents from city hall but know they have a time limit to be submitted with your Visa application. You can probably reuse a lot of info from your first submission from steps 2-12. What I recommend is go right to immigration, make sure they understand your situation, and make sure you are using the right form for step 1. Heck, when I got my Visa I asked immigration directly for a checklist and they printed off the documentation I needed to fill out. If you ask them directly, face-to-face for the right paperwork, they will give you exactly the info you need so that there aren't any misunderstandings the second time around.
@@gaya1231 Just to clarify, are you married now to a Japanese national? If so, and you have a marriage certificate, you should be able to apply. If they are persistent about the co-habitation question, you need to ask them what form asks for that information. Have them show you directly where you should have noted that information. Once you have pointed that out, ask them about re-applying now that you know where that information is needed. If for some reason they keep asking why you didn't tell them, the only thing I can say is that some immigration officers may do things differently than others. If it was me, I would tell them that I was trying to fill out all the documentation myself but that I am not an expert in Japanese and all the paperwork is in Japanese and that missing that information on the form was a mistake. Tell them you are sorry. If they cannot move on from that after an apology, ask for their manager. And as much as possible, leverage your spouse. Have your husband speak Japanese person to Japanese person if possible as that could help smooth things out as well.
This resource I found provides a good guideline: visa365japan.com/ Here is the main bit in English: “When applying for a marriage visa or spouse visa, the examination will be more strict if your annual income is low. I feel that it will be particularly difficult to apply for certification to bring someone from overseas, or to change your current visa to a marriage visa or spouse visa. On the other hand, in the case of a renewal application, even if you only receive a one-year visa, it will not be rejected in most cases. Now, how much annual income is required to apply for a marriage visa/spouse visa?I think an annual income of around 2.4 million yen (monthly income of 200,000 yen) is one guideline. If your income is less than this, there will be a question mark as to whether you will be able to live a financially stable life in Japan. However, this does not mean that it will absolutely not be allowed. There are differences in prices depending on the region, and even if your annual income is low, there are cases where you can live in your own home and not have to pay rent. Also, the entire household is taken into account, so even if one spouse has a lower annual income, there is no problem as long as the other spouse has a higher annual income. It may be possible to make a living by combining the income of the couple. In some cases, the family you live with may be able to provide support for the time being. Our office has a track record of obtaining permission even with an annual income of less than 2 million yen.” From my own experience my wife and I were both working at the time. I was doing business English making about ¥270,000 a month and my wife made less as an office worker. I don’t think the issue of a salary minimum ever came up although it is a requirement in the paperwork for both partners to provide their current salary. I agree with the statements that while a set salary minimum may not be explicitly stated, the government here, like any government, would want to make sure you’re not a drain on the economy. As long as one of you is working, even if you happen to be doing ALT work and your spouse does nothing, that will look better than having no job at all between the two of you. Hope this helps!
Hello. Thank you for your comment. The CoE is work Visa related, not Spouse Visa related but I found an email I received years ago that was sent to me 2 months before I came to Japan: "First of all we would like to thank you for your patience whilst we carried out all formalities required to apply for your Certificate of Eligibility. We are sure that you are very excited about coming to Japan and eager to find out how your certificate of eligibility application is progressing. You will be happy to know that we have recently lodged your application for eligibility with the Immigration authorities. Please note that It usually takes between 2 to 4 weeks to obtain the Certificate of Eligibility from the immigration bureau and we will notify you as soon as we have received it. In the meantime, please read the attached file which explains what the certificate of eligibility is and how to process it at your nearest Japanese Embassy or Consulate once we have received it and sent it to you. An example of how to fill out the visa application form is also attached. At this stage we ask that you familiarize yourself with the certificate of eligibility exchange procedure, which you will have to complete BEFORE you come to Japan. Once we receive your certificate, we will send it to you via International Courier, (we will confirm your mailing address prior to sending). You will then need to exchange it for your Instructor visa at your nearest Japanese Embassy or Consulate. There is no need to send any documents or submit any application BEFORE receiving your CoE. Your work visa application can ONLY be submitted at your nearest Japanese embassy/consulate once you have received your CoE from us." I hope this is useful. In summary, the company who hires you would give you the CoE packet, along with instructions on how to fill out the CoE, and the hiring company would be a resource to consult for help on filling out the form. Since I've been in Japan 4 years I couldn't tell you anything about the contents of the form I filled out, but should you need an additional resource, you could try a fairly new TH-cam channel called "Jack to Japan". He just got to Japan a few months ago and his memory of that form is probably a lot fresher.
Apologies. Another thing I should add is that "Jack to Japan" might also be a good resource because I came to Japan over a year before the COVID outbreak so the CoE form now might be totally different than the one I filled out.
@@MyRadicalKanjiWorld oh, I have one more question, it's about the photos. I also printed some photos from the family mart. it's standard size, should i put some label on the back of the photos regarding what kind of photo they are and where should i put them? thanks man!~
Thank you for your comment. I assume when you say "married under Japanese law" you mean that you got married in Japan? If so, that is the first step. The next one is you apply. As long as your home country does not have an issue with you not being married in your home country then you should be able to apply for a Japanese spouse visa with no problem. Make sure you do the following: 1. Check your home country's embassy website for details regarding marriage to a Japanese national 2. Make sure you've selected the right application from Japan's Ministry of Justice website (I put a link to the website in the video description). If you are applying from outside of Japan the process could be different. I just know that for me, as an American, I am not married in America, I got married in Japan, and while in Japan I applied for and got my spouse visa. Hope this helps and let me know if you have any more questions!
Thank you for your comment. Apologies but the answer to that question depends on if you are applying from within Japan or within your home country. Also every countries' rules are different. Also I have had an Instructor, Humanities, and Spouse Visa so I do not know from personal experience the time it takes to get a COE for a dependent visa. The absolute best advice I can give is to go to the Japanese Consulate in your home country and ask directly. In America when I applied for my COE so I could get an Instructor Visa, I had to apply through the Japanese Consulate in America. I have a friend from India here in Japan who is here on a work Visa but his wife is on a tourist visa and she is changing over to a dependent visa. That should only take a couple of weeks, maybe a month or two but they are already in Japan. If you are married to someone in Japan, that person, I think, has to file on your behalf for your COE and for that I would recommend that that person go to immigration in Japan to start the process and then send you the paperwork.
I am about to apply for my spouse visa next month. This is really helpful. Thank you❤I had one question, I would be grateful if you answer this. I am a divorced women and this is my second marriage. I was married to the one from my own county and got divorced 5yrs back. Does my divorce history affect the process of my spouse visa? With my new husband, we were dating for almost 4yrs, living together since 2yrs and recently got married.So plz if you have any idea In this, I would be really thankful.
@@kiranshrestha8820 I would say that as long as you have a certified record of your divorce you should be fine. I only needed it when I got married because I was divorced also. Never came up during the spouse visa process from what I recall but as long as you have it you should be fine in my opinion
I've been married for 13 years to my Japanese wife and currently live in NYC. We have two boys that also have Japanese Nationality and even possess Japanese passports. Would you happen to know if I can apply for a spouse visa from the United States?
From what I understand, yes. I believe you would need all the same paperwork as outlined in this video. Here's the catch though. My situation is one where my wife and I were already in Japan and married in Japan before this process started. You may have to jump through an extra hoop or two since you are wanting to do this from abroad. Here's a link I found that might be of some use: dsg.or.jp/column/marriage/4513/#1)_Do_we_need_to_be_in_Japan_to_apply_for_a_spouse_visa If this link's information is correct, you should be able to apply as long as you have a Japanese relative that is in Japan that can act on your behalf to file this paperwork. One thing I don't know is if you are married in Japan as well as in America. Check out this link: www.tokyoimmigration.jp/?p=165 When I did my research on the spouse visa for myself I was looking at a checklist on the immigration website that said after getting married and registering the marriage with City Hall, from that point I could apply for a spouse visa. So my question for you is if your marriage is in the books in Japan. You may have to do that first if you haven't already. The best advice I can give is to reach out to Japanese immigration directly, perhaps reach out to the one closest to your wife's hometown. Have her ask the following: 1. Do I need all the paperwork as outlined in this immigration checklist? www.moj.go.jp/isa/applications/procedures/zairyu_henko1.html 2. What additional paperwork do I need in order to file from abroad? Now may be a really good time to reach out to immigration due to this pandemic. My visa took 16 days to process. From what I've seen, foreigners aren't entering the country...many that want to teach English here have even been denied entry and may have to wait months for there chance to come here on a work visa. In other words...since nobody's coming in, immigration may be the least busy its ever been, which means they may have a lot of time to answer questions and help you out. Any additional paperwork you would need they should be able to email you in pdf form or guide you to it if it is on the website. Since I don't have children and am not living in the USA now, I don't want to give you misinformation. Best to go to the source! I'd love to know how it all turns out! If you can add more comments later about your experience I'd really appreciate it!
Thank you very much! We met on Hello Talk. It's a language exchange app. You enter your native language and the language you want to learn, and you're connected to a Facebook-like community of people with the same goals. In my case there was a who world of men and women who were Japanese and interested in learning English. It's a great way to make friends also, especially if your placement is in a rural area where there are no people your age to hang out with or if people are too busy with work to hang out. I know people who have met their wives as a result of this app. To me this is not surprising since the type of people who would use this app are already interested in the culture and/or learning the language. So the foundation is there for a relationship. That's how mine happened. About a month of communication. She lived hours away. We met in the middle at Wakayama Castle for our first date, and things just took off from there.
Do you know if it's possible to get the visa if you are in a long distance relationship and haven't lived together but just visited each others countries regulary and iam still in my home country?
@@walterb.3592 first I would say regarding the marriage that you should check if it’s valid in Japan. For example I got married in Japan but the USA doesn’t recognize my marriage. Next, leverage your spouse to eliminate mistakes. I did this video a few years ago so I’m not sure if any rules have changed but the best thing is to go on the Consulate website and find rules for you situation and then have your spouse validate that you have the right paperwork. Theoretically it shouldn’t be an issue if Japan recognizes your marriage but they will ask in their forms for all sorts of information like your income.
@@MyRadicalKanjiWorld OK thanks. The reason iam asking is that many websites say you should allready live together for proving that your marriage is real and not fake and so on, but if you are still long distance that's difficult ne
@@walterb.3592 I know there are situations in which the spouse in Japan can apply for their husband overseas. I wish I could provide greater insight. It’s hard to know if you would need a CoE or have to fulfill some other requirement in your situation
Thank you for your comment. Yes. Nozei Shomeisho I believe I mentioned in Step 5. I'm not sure what Kyuryu Misai is. Would you be able to tell me the Kanji for that or let me know its purpose?
In step one, on the application document I estimated the yearly salary for my wife and I and wrote it in the application along with our employer information. I was never asked to submit any documentation to back that up. So I didn't need to submit a kyuyu misai.
@@MyRadicalKanjiWorld I came across your video and interesting. I found out that you didn’t talk about salary slip . I submitted additional document which is the salary slip and jumenzei , immigration send a paper . Me and my husband are both foreigner living and married in japan last year . Thank you for your reply .
What's ironic is that the immigration officer had given me the wrong form for step one originally and that form didn't have a place for income for my wife and I. He gave me the correct form when I submitted my documentation and I was able to write in the income info on the spot but didn't need that salary slip. Step 5 covered all my tax information. I'd be curious to know if others have had to submit a salary slip. I will say that before this spouse visa, my employer had sponsored my visa twice and I stated that I was still with the same employer on my application, so it could be possible that they already had everything they needed to know regarding salary since I went to the same immigration office I always have.
Point 4 sounds really easy as an American, unfortunately I'm not an American, and I have to apply for the whole thing as a German, and point 4 often says a marriage certificate from my home country, but then I only have a Japanese marriage certificate, I have to I then really apply for one from Germany, that would take a lot of time :(
Hi there! Thank you for your comment and also for introducing a new element to this conversation which is if anything is different with getting a Spouse Visa if you are from Germany. I have included a link below, but I assume this is what you were referencing. I always try to get answers straight from the Consulate whenever possible. I do see mention of a German marriage certificate, but it does say that a marriage in Japan would be recognized in Germany provided you file the right paperwork? It sounds like time would be the main issue. japan.diplo.de/ja-ja/service/ehej/901050 My advice is that as long as you are willing to pay for express shipping, you may be able to cut down on that time. Hopefully if you are in Japan now, you are here on a different Visa and have some time. My advice is to reach out to the German Consulate in Japan, tell them what you are trying to do, have them tell you the exact paperwork you need, prepare it, and express ship it with prepaid return envelopes and tracking on them so you know if things are in motion. Please feel free to post any updates here as I feel any knowledge you may be able to share from your perspective may be beneficial to others.
@@MyRadicalKanjiWorld I guess I should've mentioned that I have permanent residency. I heard that it expires if your spouse deceases. Then I heard otherwise.
After I submitted my paperwork directly to immigration (and they confirmed in the spot that there was nothing missing) I had my spouse visa in less than 2 weeks. I’m speaking as someone who is living in Japan now and was living in Japan when I filed so results may vary if applying from outside the country
Hello there and thanks for the very informative in depth video. I met my japanese girlfriend in the UK and we are planning to get married in Japan and she is willing to sponsor me to move to Japan on a spouse visa as she fits all the criteria required to do so. Do you know if i can get married in Japan on a tourist visa? and then after i get married can i come back to the UK while waiting for spouse visa to be processed? its just im going to be taking a risk going to japan with no job to begin with so i want to remain in the UK so i can continue working while visa is being processed. I would appreciate it deeply if you can answer these questions as information on the internet seems to be very vague on this. Thanks
Hey there! My first question is if your girlfriend is living in Japan now. The absolute best advice I can give you is to consult the UK's and Japan's embassy websites. For example, here is the US embassy website regarding marriage in Japan: jp.usembassy.gov/services/marriage/marriage-in-japan/ I would find the one specifically for the UK as procedures might differ from the US. Marriage was relatively easy. My wife's parents acted as witnesses and all they had to do was stamp a form they had to fill out and they didn't need to go to city hall in person. I had to go to MY embassy in Osaka and swear under oath that I was eligible to marry and I got a document to give city hall that was time sensitive (I think it was 3-6 months to use it). If you look at this link and translate it to English you will see what I believe applies to your situation. I think if you are married you can apply a spouse visa under the tourist category: www.moj.go.jp/isa/applications/procedures/16-2-1.html My opinion is that as long as you get married in Japan and register that marriage at city hall it will be considered a valid marriage in Japan. You do not need to have a ceremony. You can just submit a few papers to be legally married. My two cents. My spouse visa is only valid for 1 year. I'll have to renew one or two more times before I get a visa that is good for 3 or more years at a time. This, I imagine, would be the same for you. One year is a very short period of time so I don't recommend playing any kind of back and forth between the UK and Japan during your first go around. Also with the pandemic, people still have to self-quarantine for 2 weeks upon entering the country. My visa only took 16 days from the moment I handed in my paperwork to the moment I got it in my hand. This may not be the same for everyone but I think you'd be in a much better position if you just stayed in Japan until the process terminated. At the very least you should ask your girlfriend to ask immigration if what you propose about going back is fine and if they have any advice. It NEVER hurts to ask the immigration people for advice. They will definitely help out! In conclusion, since I am from the USA and you are from the UK and since your Visa situation is different, the best thing I can recommend to save yourself the most amount of heartache is have your girlfriend confirm if this checklist works for your situation: www.moj.go.jp/isa/applications/procedures/zairyu_henko1.html The only thing I imagine might be different is STEP 1 which is where that first form would vary depending on your situation. Hope this helps!
@@MyRadicalKanjiWorld Thanks for the response. She is here in the UK until november as her visa expires then. I was thinking of getting the declaration that I'm not married done here in the UK rather than a UK embassy in Japan think it would be easier. Then hopefully get married on a tourist visa in november then begin the spouse visa process. That is good news to hear that it sometimes only takes 16 days for visa. I thought it was around 3 months. I will look at these links you provided. Thanks.
Getting that document (in the UK) that says you are eligible to get married is a great idea. Your girlfriend's parents could act as witnesses and maybe they could save you some trouble by going to city hall and getting the koin-todoke application for you. They could also act as witnesses though and they could take care of that document as well. The big question to ask the city hall (where you plan to file those documents) is if there are any other documents that need to be submitted for the marriage to be accepted. Marriage, I remember, was relatively easy so I think as long as you have those few documents, they just need to be filed at the local office. I would also have your wife check and see if this submission could be done remotely. I remember going to city hall with my wife, but I mostly remember her only talking with the staff and it was mostly them double-checking if we crossed our T's and dotted our I's. City hall will recommend that you run your documents by them once before the final submission (Japanese offices don't accept paperwork with a single mistake so I would find a way (maybe you can send a picture by email) and they can look at it and confirm if you've done everything correctly. Once you are officially married and ready to go for that spouse visa, your girlfriend, especially, will need the documents outlined in steps 3, 5, and 7 of my video. She would get these from the relevant city hall (from the last town in Japan where she lived a full year and paid taxes). These documents are time sensitive (I think you'd have to get them to immigration within 3 months of receiving them). But just as an idea, once you cross marriage off the checklist, as you are preparing the visa documentation, you could use her parents to help again. These official documents are ones you can request remotely as my wife did that here. She used to live in Hyogo so she mailed an envelope with a cashier's check and a return envelope and a note/form requesting those documents. City hall can send them in the mail. What I am getting at, is if you know when you're coming in to Japan, if you time things just right, you could have some of the important documents you need ready and waiting for you at her parents' house.
@@HashEclipse Happy to have you onboard! The "Teaching English in Japan" videos mostly hit on the working culture of Japan whereas the other videos are a mix of travel destinations, information sharing or other hodgepodge. I hope you'll find something of use!
great video, your from Michigan, cool 😎 👍, am from Wisconsin and is looking to get married in Japan 🇯🇵, I think I have most of the paper work, just need to get the paperwork for getting a spouse visa 😀, do you know how much it cost for getting the paperwork for a spouse visa 😀, when I get married in Japan I will be living in the Osaka area of Japan 🇯🇵, just asking, what part of Japan will you be living in, thank you for making this video, it helps me out a lot, can you be my TH-cam friend and subscriber, just asking... am also disabled which makes things hard to learn, but you made things easy to understand thank you 😊 🙏
Hey man, congrats if you're getting married here in Japan soon and thanks for the comment! Nice to hear from a fellow Midwesterner! As far as cost, most official residence or tax documents you have to get from City Hall are about 200 yen apiece so they are really cheap. I don't remember the Spouse Visa itself costing much. I just renewed mine a few months ago. I feel like I paid maybe 4,000 yen? Regardless it definitely won't cost an arm and a leg. Getting married also didn't cost a bundle either. GRANTED, we did not have a ceremony. We just did separate paperwork for that and submitted it to town hall with her parents Hanko stamps on there to serve as witnesses. I'm glad you enjoyed the video. Happy to return the favor and subscribe to your channel. I'm in the Tokyo area now.
Hi. I had a question. I was just watching another video on this topic where someone said that if your spouse lives outside of Japan for more than 1 year then they can't sponsor you since they hadn't paid Japanese taxes for over a year. Is this true? I can't seem to find this anywhere else. Thanks.
Sorry for the late reply. I can't corroborate this but what I can say as an expat is that not paying your taxes does have a serious impact on your ability to stay in the country. When it doubt, please ask immigration. They'll give it to you straight!
@@MyRadicalKanjiWorld Can we apply for spouse visa even we are in bachelor level(university). As I heard, Spouse visa can only be applied when we have working visa.
You can apply as an undergraduate student! In my description there is a link to a list of visa forms for different situations. You can translate this to English with Google if you want. Student situations fall under #10: www.moj.go.jp/isa/applications/procedures/16-2-1.html Here is a direct link to that form under situation #10. My wife also thinks this is the right form for your situation. People married to a Japanese national can file from abroad. So hopefully this works for you! www.moj.go.jp/isa/content/930004076.pdf
@@MyRadicalKanjiWorld thanks for the reply. I have a japanese girlfriend of over 5 years now and starting to think about marriage i wasnt too sure if its easier to have a kanji last name or not
I must've forgotten that I mentioned that tidbit in the video. Yes, I'm divorced. Was married for 7 years to a Chinese woman I met while she was in America on a student visa. For personal reasons I ended things and then pursued this new life journey here in Japan. I went through the 2-3 year long process to get my ex-wife her U.S. Citizenship when we were married. I appreciate that I have that experience of what marriage immigration laws are like for 2 countries.
@@Pixics it was a long time. I think for many people we always want our first marriage to work and stand the test of time. I got married too quickly and we were incompatible. I tried very hard but never got the love and respect I needed. It took a lot of strength but I realized I deserved to be happy and I worked towards making that happen. I dated Atsumi for over a year before we got married. We took our time and really got to know each other. I feel like I’m part of a team in our relationship and not a parent so I know we’ll be good parents someday too.
Too much extra waffle. Be succinct and talk about the spouse visa... not how it differs from others... don’t need full expose on all visa issues affecting every foreigner in Japan. Just say what the procedure requires. All the minutiae is distracting and frustrating.
Thank you for your comment and definitely good advice for the future. I agree that this video could have just talked about the steps and left out unnecessary items. I don't know if it compensates for that but I did bookmark all 12 steps so that any viewer can shortcut right to the information (and skipping over the waffle) if they want.
I've noticed this is very common among Japanese women. I feel that they need to have a lot of self-confidence and their make-up has to be on point for them to want to be on camera.
@@MyRadicalKanjiWorld yeah but i haven’t seen my wife from last 1 and half year and my 9 month old baby too. we got stuck because of covid-19 I’m in delhi india they are in Tokyo. and is it possible how i can contact you personally ?
My goodness. I can't imagine what that must be like. I really hope the COVID situation gets better in both Japan and India so that you can see your wife and child again. If it's a general question, if you feel comfortable enough to put it in this chat I would be happy to do my best to get you some answers and that knowledge might benefit other future viewers of this video. If it's a bit more personal, you are welcome to send me a PM on Facebook. My name is Anthony Domina and my timeline photo is the same as the thumbnail for this video.
Does most of this apply if I'm not married yet but planning to get married? Living in the USA but could I go on a tourist visa get married and do the residency status change while there? Or should I start everything from the Japanese embassy closest to me in the states? Thanks.
Thank you for your comment and sorry for the late reply. I've come to learn that my step 1 covers a change of status and is not an application for a certificate of eligibility which I have been getting a lot of questions about recently. If you are in Japan on a tourist Visa, my opinion is that you could follow the same steps as me because you are changing status and not technically starting from scratch. For your last sentence, when in doubt, get a checklist from the Japanese embassy. They will always give you 100% correct answers when it comes to the paperwork you need. I know that to get married--not getting the spouse visa--that I did have to go to the U.S. embassy here to swear an oath and receive a document that stated I was not current married in the US. Something to keep in mind also is that America will not recognize your Japanese marriage. Even if it means going to a courthouse or Las Vegas, it could save you some headaches in the future if you were to ever live together in America so if you are in the USA now with that person you could potentially check that off the list as well
I love the thumbnail picture of you two❣️So beautiful! And this video is defiantly super helpful for people who wants to get married in Japan and get the spouse visa!
Thanks so much! I really appreciate that! By the way, please check out my "200 subscribers video. I gave you a shout-out!
@@MyRadicalKanjiWorld Whoa 😳!? What!? I’ll check it, THANKS!!!
@@JapaneseDojo my pleasure! Thanks for all your support!
Really appreciate how clearly you described all the steps. You have probably saved me a bunch of trips back and forth so thanks man
My pleasure! Glad you found this video useful!
And if it helps, once you get the first spouse visa, every renewal afterward requires a lot less effort and mostly is asking for a new picture, official copies of the juuminhyo, family register, and tax documents, and then the form in step 1 all over again to confirm your income and basic demographic info and whatnot. Whatever form you use for step 1, keep a copy handy because it might save you a lot of rework come renewal time!
Thanks for info. This was good. A lot to do. But me and my wife will work on it haha
Thanks for the comment!
I had to sign the back of my passport photo when I was naturalized as a British citizen. I think its common practice.
Thank you for your comment! I’ve come to understand this too. If the picture falls off, for example, they have a name to associate it with, which makes sense to me
Bro, big shout out to Good Japan&bad Japan. Love your content, it's super amazing, and so educative. I love it, lots of love, stay safe, peace.
Dude, thanks so much! I really appreciate your comment and your support!
Hi. Thanks for your very helpful and detailed video. In my understanding, I no longer need to seek a COE (as a first step) as I have the similar case as you in which I’m working on in changing my visa from instructor to spouse visa. Thanks a lot. Please make another video when you change again from Spouse to PR. Wakayama is a great place btw! More power.
Thank you very much for the comment and compliment! And yes! Since you already had to get a COE to get your instructor Visa, you wouldn't need to do that again (since it sounds like you're already in Japan!).
Your first Spouse Visa has all these steps, but renewing is pretty easy. It's mostly just providing your Juuminhyou, tax documents, and the document in step 1 where you disclose your salary, occupation, etc. AND of course, your spouse would still have to sign that document saying that they vouch for you. lol.
I'll keep your request in mind when changing to PR! I am pretty sure I am eligible to do so now. I think a part of me hesitates because of things like the Inheritance tax here which is RIDICULOUS and I am slightly paranoid of unknown taxes I'd be on the hook for as a permanent resident. Well, I guess if there are or aren't I'd put that in that future video! Thanks again for your comment!
So happy you got your visa
Thank you Linda! Now that that's done we'll see in July if I'll still have a job due to this pandemic!
@@MyRadicalKanjiWorld Hope you do did you get your shot yet
@@lindajustacrochetsister4659 Not yet. Japan is lagging behind other countries with the vaccine. This month Japan will start with all those over age 65. I think summer will be the earliest we can expect everyone else to start getting theirs.
@@MyRadicalKanjiWorld That is sad, we are doing really good here in America
@@lindajustacrochetsister4659 it certainly looks that way from here!
Thank you for the videos it’s help me a lot … may GOD bless u and ur wife 😊 Thank u
Thank you very much for the kind comment. Greatly appreciated!
God bless you as well!
@@MyRadicalKanjiWorld can I ask u a question, when did u interview for the visa
did u tell themthat u know ur wife from dating app?
@@tika_world Thank you for your question. The nice thing is that there is no face-to-face interview like in America. All it is, is paperwork. It's hard for me to remember that far back, but yes, I would've said I met her from Hello Talk (which is not a dating app, by the way! lol).
Buddy, talking about the signature thing at the back of a passport size photo. In my opinion it's all about identification, for example accidentally if the immigration bureau loses your photo, so with the help of your signature at the back of your photo, they can easily identify which photo belongs to a particular document, since you already have your signature on your documents already. Some school do it too not only the immigration bureau
That makes a lot of sense! Every time I’ve needed a photo for a visa I’ve glued it on the form at immigration. For those who mail in their documentation, for example, I could totally now see where a signature would be useful. Thank you for that comment! That was great information!
You may have already gotten a response on this, but my understanding is that the reason you sign the back of the photo is in case it wasn't glued securely or for whatever other reason gets separated from the form.
I'm not sure that I did get a response to that but that makes 100% logical sense! Thanks so much for sharing that!!!!!!!!!!!
great videos, does a hanko stamp have to have a first and a last name or does the stamp have to have the family last name on the stamp, just asking and thanks 😊 👍
No problem! Just as an aside I have a Hanko video and I show the different types you can get.
You can get just your last name or first and last. Last name only I’d only recommend for quick signatures like when an Amazon package arrives but I sign my name instead all the time.
Last and first name Hanko is important for official documents that are government or bank related. I rarely use mine except for these official document situations. Hope this helps!
@@MyRadicalKanjiWorld it did thank you 😊 🙏 friend
@@ShadowPuppet3001 my pleasure
Thanks for the vid. Very helpful. One thing though, you said課税証明書 (kazei..) but referred to residence taxes which is 住民税証明書 (juumin...). Arent these two separate forms? I'm confused, because I just read you need the 住民税証明書 but the kazei was never mentioned.. I can't remember you clarifying in the video.
Thanks for the comment! When I get home I’ll give a proper answer. Income tax and residence tax are definitely different taxes but what I remember from the top of my head is that I got all my tax related documents from the one area of city hall that handles taxes. I showed them the step about taxes on that checklist (all in Japanese) and said I needed those items. They took care of the rest.
It’s been a year but I’ll try to find out when I get home if I received two different documents or if everything I needed was just on one. I can tell you 100% though that everything you need for that step is in one spot!
Okay, so I went over step 5 in Japanese with my wife again and it does ask for the Nozeishomeisho and the Juminzeishomeisho which are two separate tax documents. You would get these from city hall from the tax department and each should cost--I want to say--200 to 400 yen for each document. I apologize for any confusion I caused with Step 5!
I’m about to go through this process. I’m in love with my wonderful girlfriend Natsumi! Praying that we have the same success!
Best wishes for the both of you!
Love your videos. Very helpful and informative !!!!
Thanks so much!
I finally got my spouse visa! Thanks for the video. It’s only for a year. But hopefully when I renew it, it will be for 3 or more years. Also my passport expires in 2026, will I be able to renew my passport in Japan at an American embassy?
Congrats on getting your spouse visa! I had to renew a couple times before getting the 3 year, and once you do that you should be able to think about Permanent Residency!
Ironically my passport expires in the next couple of years and yes, to answer your question you can get that done at the embassy. When my son was born I was able to get his American passport through them for about 20,000 yen.
@@MyRadicalKanjiWorld awesome amazing. Thanks for the information. Also that’s funny your passport expires around that time too.
@@MyRadicalKanjiWorld congratulations on on your son too.
She is so beautiful so happy for her and you
Thank you so much Linda! My wife is very shy so any picture with her in it has to be approved by her first 🤣
I got married in Okinawa to a US citizen marriage was for 35 years now widow
35 years! That's a long time! Congrats for having such a long marriage! I imagine Okinawa must have been a beautiful place to have a wedding.
Sir if you are here in japan in the time you aplly for the spouse visa, the certificate of eligibility is not needed? it is the one of the requiremenst in spouse visa
Apologies for the late reply. In this video the form I reference is a change of status. I was going from a work visa to a spouse visa so a change of status form is what I needed to fill out and not a COE.
It is just an assumption, but if you do not have a job in Japan and are applying for the Spouse Visa that you will fill out the COE form which you can find under a link I have provided in the description of this video. Since you would not be changing statuses, you would fill out the COE form. Hope this helps.
I just left the navy while being stationed in Japan and I’m on a tourist visa now. I never got a residential card (I was SOFA). Maybe it will complicate things a lot? :(
Thanks for your comment! I was never in the military so regrettably I cannot speak to your specific situation. I had to look up SOFA and it looks like you didn't have that card because military service granted you a SOFA which means you didn't need a VISA. Correct? But you are on a tourist VISA now you said? Just an opinion, but I believe it is all about changing your status and getting the correct form to do that.
If your spouse is able to, I would recommend going to the nearest immigration office for the fastest reply (or calling if that is not possible). The main question that needs to be asked is "what form(s) do I need to change my spouse from a tourist to a Spouse visa?"
i have a question, do you really need a picture of your self and your wife in a marriage outfit? or is a normal picture in daily clothes fine too? Because im from Denmark, and on the Japanese embassy it doesnt say anything with a picture of us.
Not for getting married. This is not from our actual wedding just formal pictures taken separately. I just wanted to have a cool thumbnail!
So you dont need to send them a picture of you booth in a marriage kind of picture?@@MyRadicalKanjiWorld
@@azoller7784 just pictures of you together. Doesn’t have to be at a ceremony. Documents will prove you are married. Pictures SHOW your relationship. Hope that helps
Hopefully this works with me man even tho I’m 18 it’s the easiest best option for me
Best of luck! I would think you would be fine as long as you are both over 18
Do you need a police clearance from your country? Thanks.
Hi! Thanks for your comment. No police clearance needed from the USA but all visas in Japan will ask you to disclose criminal history on their applications.
Very interesting. What if my Japanese wife does not work and is just a housewife?
She can still sponsor you. There is nothing that says she has to work!
One of my best friends has a spouse visa here now and he is a professional musician and is so good at his job his wife doesn’t have to work
@@MyRadicalKanjiWorld thank you so much for your kind answer; I am actually the one supporting my wife and son that just moved from NYC to Okinawa. Good thing, I work remotely and can move anywhere
@@nomeansno70 my pleasure and best of luck to you with everything!
The paperwork you’d have to fill out tells the government what they need to know. Even if your wife is a housewife, as long as you can prove that economically you won’t be a drain on the economy you should hopefully be just fine!
For step 5, what if I never paid taxes in Japan because I used to live in Switzerland before my marriage?
Thanks for your comment. Apologies for the late reply. I am having difficulty understanding your timeline. You are only responsible for taxes from your time living in Japan and those taxes always cover the previous year. Your first year in Japan your residence taxes would be 0 because the previous year you weren't living in Japan and in my opinion that should be fine.
I can tell you from my experience that when I needed to renew my spouse visa that there was one year I had forgotten to pay my taxes and I had found that out before my visa expired, so I paid them quickly and then submitted my Nozei Shomei Sho to immigration as proof.
hi again, i would like to ask about step nine about the photos, can i print couples photos and then label them and also submit photos that i printed in family mart?
Hi there. Sorry for the late reply. Always feel free to reference the links in my description because they should also have the information. Please reference this link:
www.moj.go.jp/isa/applications/status/spouseorchildofjapanese01.html
When it comes to couples pictures, don't print them from a computer. You can print them as real pictures from a Family Mart copier, just not on paper. Just think glossy photos you would put in a scrapbook before things got all digital.
The link should also help you with COE. My COE came from my employer and it got me here so I didn't need one. You will see in the link where I would just use the instructions for a status change. If you are outside the country, COE is the beginning and you would start there. Hope this helps!
@@MyRadicalKanjiWorld really thank you ..u are a lifesaver.thanks
@@wasabiboysinterestinglife my pleasure!
Thank you so much for your excellent video! It was really clear and organised really well.
I'm Japanese/Australian with both passports and have been living in Australia for the last few years, and was wondering if it was possible to get the Japanese spouse visa as my Australian husband and I are hoping to move to Japan in a few months.
Because I haven't been living in Japan, I won't be able to provide a tax form... and to get proof of residence, I was planning on going to Japan first and then he would join me a couple of months later.
Do you think this could work? Do you happen to know if anyone has gone through the visa process in a similar position?
Thanks so much for your help!
Hello! Thank you for your comment! I'll do my best to give you the best advice I can.
One thing I want to point out is that with COVID, guidelines are always changing for who can and who can't enter the country. I know of people waiting to come to Japan from America to teach English but have been waiting months for Japan to give them a chance to come over. Also, restrictions may vary depending on country. Japan might treat Australia differently than America. Difficult to say.
The most important thing I can say is to reach out and contact an immigration office in Japan. They are going to give you the most accurate information possible so that you can try to make the spouse visa happen for your husband with zero mistakes. I'm assuming you are able to speak Japanese? I think if you tell them your exact situation, that they will be very honest with you and send you the exact paperwork you would need to fill out. It doesn't sound like either of you have a job in Japan or a job lined up. You could ask if there is a role your immediate family could play to help or if it would help if your husband applied for even a low-paying teaching job, just to get a foot in the door.
My first wife was from another country and married me in America and I know from experience that from the point of getting married, as long as I had started the paperwork process and she didn't leave America that she would be granted a green card eventually (granted permanent resident and spouse visa may not mean the same thing in Japan). I guess what I am saying is, you could also ask immigration if the process is any smoother should your husband visit Japan on his passport and get married to you in Japan (via a trip to city hall and some filing of paperwork). I would ask your husband to go to Australia's embassy website and look for information on marrying someone from Japan to see what paperwork or restrictions there might be.
I hope this was someone helpful. I can truly say that a 10 minute discussion with an immigration officer cleared everything up for me and get me all the paperwork I needed to get married in Japan. It is safer, faster, and more efficient to go directly to the source and they will be more than happy to help you out because you've shown them by going directly to them that you want to follow procedures properly.
@@MyRadicalKanjiWorld Thanks so much for the quick reply and all the information! That definitely clears things up and it's good to know that the immigration office will be helpful. I'll definitely get onto that. Thanks again and happy holidays :)
My pleasure, best of luck and happy holidays to you and your husband as well!
Thanks for this awesome video, I really appreciate and is really helpful for me , but in my situation I come to Japan as tourist visa and I have get married and I only have 3 months so my question is , what is your idea about APPLICATION FOR CERTIFICATE OF ELIGIBILITY , they asked me for it , but my wife lawyer said that the application of change residence is okay with it , and I’m really confused here , because immigration say that they need it , but my wife lawyer say no you need other applicants
Hey there. Thanks for your comment! As you mentioned, I can only give my opinion on this, but for me I feel this is more about what you are applying for as opposed to what you are applying as, if that makes sense.
An Indian friend of mine in Japan is here on a work visa and he asked me to find out for him when I was last at immigration (to renew my spouse visa) if his wife, who is also Indian, who he married in India, but who is also living in Japan, needed to go back to India to apply for the Certificate of Eligibility and I know in his case the answer I found out for him was no. There was a form at immigration that allowed my friend's wife to apply for a visa while she was still in Japan (I believe that visa type was as the spouse of current visa holder).
I can't speak to your situation specifically. What I'm seeing out on the web suggests that you can apply for the spouse visa without a COE but it might take longer because there is a lot they would need to verify document-wise. This is just my opinion but from a government perspective, if you have one applicant that was already here for work and registered in the system, versus someone who got married on a tourist visa...for the latter I would imagine immigration would want to do some very thorough research because they don't know much about you, how much money you make, etc. Japan has one of the strictest immigration systems in the world and I've learned to not be surprised when I come across a process that has a million more hoops than it needs to.
In closing, the documentation, I imagine, would still be the same as in this video as you'd be applying for a spouse visa. I think the only real item up for debate is that change of residence form which would ask the generic background questions and job questions, salary, etc. I think what will be key in your situation is making sure that you have THE correct form for step 1 as there are different residence forms depending on your situation.
@@MyRadicalKanjiWorld sir I really appreciate the work that you do , and you really was so helpful to me and making my stress and my anxiety little disappear, I’m going to submit my documents today I already have only tow months left on my visa I hope it doesn’t take longer than that , thank you so much and please keep up the great work 🙏
Thanks so much for the compliment, and best of luck!
How long did you wait to apply for the spousal visa after you were married?
I’m getting married in May and then applying for the visa in June. Too fast?
Hi there! Thanks for the comment and the question! I happy to help with as much info as I can.
*First thing I have to preface with is just a disclaimer that I am an American who got married while in Japan. If you are getting married outside of Japan or filing from outside of Japan and/or depending on your nationality the rules might be different so I would check with your country's embassy just in case!
In regards to my situation I didn't rush to apply as I was currently holding a work visa. For example if you get married in March and your work Visa expires in October, then you have a lot of time to get that spouse visa. It just depends on how soon you want it. I had about 5 months left on my work visa and decided I didn't want my company to have that over me any longer so I got my Spouse visa a few months before my work visa expired. They will invalidate your work visa of course before giving you a new one.
My advice, just know that if you have a lot of months on a different type of reason you don't have to feel rushed. Your first spouse visa will likely only net you a one year stay before you have to do it again (this was the case with me as I renewed for the first time this year and once again got only a year extension). It really comes down to how soon you want it.
Now, granted, the spouse visa has no restrictions so you could do ANY job in Japan. So if your current visa severely limits you, the spouse visa can definitely open some doors. And from my own experience I can say there are companies that regardless of whether they sponsor, really like having that burden off their backs because you've taken the visa responsibility off their hands. Also, I worked for English dispatch companies that were shady at times, so I got mine sooner rather than later to give me a sense of security that if I was let go or if I quit that I was safe in Japan.
Once last thing I can tell you. I've been married once before and it was a long time ago and it was to someone who was not an American citizen. She needed her green card after we got married and the USCIS process requires a sit down interview where someone ask questions to get a feel for if the marriage is valid. This kind of thing IS NOT the case in Japan. My current marriage to my lovely wife was ALL PAPERWORK. I brought it to immigration with the documents numbered to match the checklist I was given, they verified that all the paperwork was there, and just like my work visa it was a 2-3 week wait. Super smooth.
I know this was a long answer but I hope it answered your question. It's really how soon do you want it, provided any current visa you have isn't about to run out or if there's a job worth pursuing that would warrant getting it right away. Or maybe you have no reason and you just want to solidify yourself here. Either way I wish you the best!
how long does spouse visa expire? i mean do you have to renew it every 5 or 10 years?
It depends on your situation. At first you may be renewing every year like me. I expect my next one to be three years now that I have a better job (this year I paid my taxes on time which also helps! Lol)
Permanent residency is different from the spouse visa and I believe you have to live here for minimum 5 years and have received a 3 year extension at least once on your spouse visa. I’ve been here 4.5 years already and will start trying for permanent residency next year.
My other friends with spouse visas it’s the same. Expect to have to renew yearly for a while until Japan views you as established enough to boost your visa time
For the part about employment, what happens if I'm not employed? Will that complicate things?
When I applied I was employed and already in Japan so it’s difficult for me to say. In my opinion I think being employed definitely looks better on the application.
If you’re applying as the spouse of a Japanese national they will likely be looking at other factors too, like the amount of savings you have…in other words money you’d be bringing into the country.
It was many years ago but I remember Canada having a rule that you could become a citizen as long as you had $10,000 , which at the time was considered enough to last 6 months.
They will ask on the application for your spouse’s income so if your spouse makes enough money that could help.
I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help. This is one of those areas that will be up to immigration. My best advice is to give enough information to let them know you will not be a drain on the Japanese economy.
@@MyRadicalKanjiWorld really appreciate your quick and detailed reply! Thanks ☺️
@@AZNB33 my pleasure. Best of luck!
I applied for Japanese spouse visa but it was rejected. The reason for this is that in the spouse visa application form, I have stated that my boyfriend and I lived together for one year before marriage and this was not informed to the immigration office when I applied for my pre-marriage visa. What are the issues I can raise in this question in my re-visa application….please help…
Hi Gaya, thank you for your comment and sorry about what happened with your Visa situation. I believe my wife and I had been living together for at least a year before we got married and a few months later I applied for my Spouse Visa and followed the steps in my video and had no issue.
When you say "pre-marriage visa" do you mean that you applied before you were technically married? The Japanese are sticklers for details in paperwork and if certain dates don't match up, they'll cancel everything, just like with getting a Driver's license. You make ONE mistake and you fail your test.
So, my best advice is this. You can probably gather your Koseki stuff and Residence document and tax documents from city hall but know they have a time limit to be submitted with your Visa application. You can probably reuse a lot of info from your first submission from steps 2-12. What I recommend is go right to immigration, make sure they understand your situation, and make sure you are using the right form for step 1. Heck, when I got my Visa I asked immigration directly for a checklist and they printed off the documentation I needed to fill out. If you ask them directly, face-to-face for the right paperwork, they will give you exactly the info you need so that there aren't any misunderstandings the second time around.
@@MyRadicalKanjiWorld They ask why I did not inform about the cohabitation....What should be done about it
@@gaya1231 Just to clarify, are you married now to a Japanese national? If so, and you have a marriage certificate, you should be able to apply.
If they are persistent about the co-habitation question, you need to ask them what form asks for that information. Have them show you directly where you should have noted that information. Once you have pointed that out, ask them about re-applying now that you know where that information is needed.
If for some reason they keep asking why you didn't tell them, the only thing I can say is that some immigration officers may do things differently than others. If it was me, I would tell them that I was trying to fill out all the documentation myself but that I am not an expert in Japanese and all the paperwork is in Japanese and that missing that information on the form was a mistake. Tell them you are sorry.
If they cannot move on from that after an apology, ask for their manager. And as much as possible, leverage your spouse. Have your husband speak Japanese person to Japanese person if possible as that could help smooth things out as well.
@@MyRadicalKanjiWorld Thank you very much. Sorry for disturb.Thanks
No worries. I wish you the best of luck! Please let me know, if you can, how it goes after your next visit with immigration!
I read that to qualify for a spousal visa, you need to have a combined income of at least $30,000. Is that really the case?
This resource I found provides a good guideline:
visa365japan.com/
Here is the main bit in English:
“When applying for a marriage visa or spouse visa, the examination will be more strict if your annual income is low. I feel that it will be particularly difficult to apply for certification to bring someone from overseas, or to change your current visa to a marriage visa or spouse visa. On the other hand, in the case of a renewal application, even if you only receive a one-year visa, it will not be rejected in most cases.
Now, how much annual income is required to apply for a marriage visa/spouse visa?I think an annual income of around 2.4 million yen (monthly income of 200,000 yen) is one guideline. If your income is less than this, there will be a question mark as to whether you will be able to live a financially stable life in Japan.
However, this does not mean that it will absolutely not be allowed. There are differences in prices depending on the region, and even if your annual income is low, there are cases where you can live in your own home and not have to pay rent. Also, the entire household is taken into account, so even if one spouse has a lower annual income, there is no problem as long as the other spouse has a higher annual income. It may be possible to make a living by combining the income of the couple. In some cases, the family you live with may be able to provide support for the time being. Our office has a track record of obtaining permission even with an annual income of less than 2 million yen.”
From my own experience my wife and I were both working at the time. I was doing business English making about ¥270,000 a month and my wife made less as an office worker. I don’t think the issue of a salary minimum ever came up although it is a requirement in the paperwork for both partners to provide their current salary.
I agree with the statements that while a set salary minimum may not be explicitly stated, the government here, like any government, would want to make sure you’re not a drain on the economy.
As long as one of you is working, even if you happen to be doing ALT work and your spouse does nothing, that will look better than having no job at all between the two of you.
Hope this helps!
@@MyRadicalKanjiWorld That is really helpful information. Thank you so much for taking the time. I appreciate it.
No problem!
Hello. I would like to ask how you filled up for the Coe application form
Hello. Thank you for your comment. The CoE is work Visa related, not Spouse Visa related but I found an email I received years ago that was sent to me 2 months before I came to Japan:
"First of all we would like to thank you for your patience whilst we carried out all formalities required to apply for your Certificate of Eligibility. We are sure that you are very excited about coming to Japan and eager to find out how your certificate of eligibility application is progressing.
You will be happy to know that we have recently lodged your application for eligibility with the Immigration authorities. Please note that It usually takes between 2 to 4 weeks to obtain the Certificate of Eligibility from the immigration bureau and we will notify you as soon as we have received it.
In the meantime, please read the attached file which explains what the certificate of eligibility is and how to process it at your nearest Japanese Embassy or Consulate once we have received it and sent it to you. An example of how to fill out the visa application form is also attached.
At this stage we ask that you familiarize yourself with the certificate of eligibility exchange procedure, which you will have to complete BEFORE you come to Japan. Once we receive your certificate, we will send it to you via International Courier, (we will confirm your mailing address prior to sending). You will then need to exchange it for your Instructor visa at your nearest Japanese Embassy or Consulate. There is no need to send any documents or submit any application BEFORE receiving your CoE. Your work visa application can ONLY be submitted at your nearest Japanese embassy/consulate once you have received your CoE from us."
I hope this is useful. In summary, the company who hires you would give you the CoE packet, along with instructions on how to fill out the CoE, and the hiring company would be a resource to consult for help on filling out the form.
Since I've been in Japan 4 years I couldn't tell you anything about the contents of the form I filled out, but should you need an additional resource, you could try a fairly new TH-cam channel called "Jack to Japan". He just got to Japan a few months ago and his memory of that form is probably a lot fresher.
Apologies. Another thing I should add is that "Jack to Japan" might also be a good resource because I came to Japan over a year before the COVID outbreak so the CoE form now might be totally different than the one I filled out.
@@MyRadicalKanjiWorld oh thank u so much for the information.it's really really useful.
@@wasabiboysinterestinglife glad to hear it!
@@MyRadicalKanjiWorld oh, I have one more question, it's about the photos. I also printed some photos from the family mart. it's standard size, should i put some label on the back of the photos regarding what kind of photo they are and where should i put them? thanks man!~
Iam married under japanese law and not married in my country.Is it a problem when applying for spouse visa....What should i do about it...
Thank you for your comment. I assume when you say "married under Japanese law" you mean that you got married in Japan? If so, that is the first step. The next one is you apply. As long as your home country does not have an issue with you not being married in your home country then you should be able to apply for a Japanese spouse visa with no problem. Make sure you do the following:
1. Check your home country's embassy website for details regarding marriage to a Japanese national
2. Make sure you've selected the right application from Japan's Ministry of Justice website (I put a link to the website in the video description). If you are applying from outside of Japan the process could be different.
I just know that for me, as an American, I am not married in America, I got married in Japan, and while in Japan I applied for and got my spouse visa.
Hope this helps and let me know if you have any more questions!
@@MyRadicalKanjiWorld Thank you
@@gaya1231 my pleasure!
How long it takes to get COE in japan for dependant visa?.. Kindly reply🙏
Thank you for your comment. Apologies but the answer to that question depends on if you are applying from within Japan or within your home country. Also every countries' rules are different. Also I have had an Instructor, Humanities, and Spouse Visa so I do not know from personal experience the time it takes to get a COE for a dependent visa.
The absolute best advice I can give is to go to the Japanese Consulate in your home country and ask directly. In America when I applied for my COE so I could get an Instructor Visa, I had to apply through the Japanese Consulate in America. I have a friend from India here in Japan who is here on a work Visa but his wife is on a tourist visa and she is changing over to a dependent visa. That should only take a couple of weeks, maybe a month or two but they are already in Japan. If you are married to someone in Japan, that person, I think, has to file on your behalf for your COE and for that I would recommend that that person go to immigration in Japan to start the process and then send you the paperwork.
I am about to apply for my spouse visa next month. This is really helpful. Thank you❤I had one question, I would be grateful if you answer this. I am a divorced women and this is my second marriage. I was married to the one from my own county and got divorced 5yrs back. Does my divorce history affect the process of my spouse visa? With my new husband, we were dating for almost 4yrs, living together since 2yrs and recently got married.So plz if you have any idea In this, I would be really thankful.
@@kiranshrestha8820 I would say that as long as you have a certified record of your divorce you should be fine.
I only needed it when I got married because I was divorced also. Never came up during the spouse visa process from what I recall but as long as you have it you should be fine in my opinion
I've been married for 13 years to my Japanese wife and currently live in NYC. We have two boys that also have Japanese Nationality and even possess Japanese passports. Would you happen to know if I can apply for a spouse visa from the United States?
From what I understand, yes. I believe you would need all the same paperwork as outlined in this video.
Here's the catch though. My situation is one where my wife and I were already in Japan and married in Japan before this process started. You may have to jump through an extra hoop or two since you are wanting to do this from abroad.
Here's a link I found that might be of some use:
dsg.or.jp/column/marriage/4513/#1)_Do_we_need_to_be_in_Japan_to_apply_for_a_spouse_visa
If this link's information is correct, you should be able to apply as long as you have a Japanese relative that is in Japan that can act on your behalf to file this paperwork.
One thing I don't know is if you are married in Japan as well as in America. Check out this link:
www.tokyoimmigration.jp/?p=165
When I did my research on the spouse visa for myself I was looking at a checklist on the immigration website that said after getting married and registering the marriage with City Hall, from that point I could apply for a spouse visa. So my question for you is if your marriage is in the books in Japan. You may have to do that first if you haven't already.
The best advice I can give is to reach out to Japanese immigration directly, perhaps reach out to the one closest to your wife's hometown. Have her ask the following:
1. Do I need all the paperwork as outlined in this immigration checklist?
www.moj.go.jp/isa/applications/procedures/zairyu_henko1.html
2. What additional paperwork do I need in order to file from abroad?
Now may be a really good time to reach out to immigration due to this pandemic. My visa took 16 days to process. From what I've seen, foreigners aren't entering the country...many that want to teach English here have even been denied entry and may have to wait months for there chance to come here on a work visa. In other words...since nobody's coming in, immigration may be the least busy its ever been, which means they may have a lot of time to answer questions and help you out. Any additional paperwork you would need they should be able to email you in pdf form or guide you to it if it is on the website. Since I don't have children and am not living in the USA now, I don't want to give you misinformation. Best to go to the source!
I'd love to know how it all turns out! If you can add more comments later about your experience I'd really appreciate it!
I like your wedding photos, how did you guys meet?
Thank you very much! We met on Hello Talk. It's a language exchange app. You enter your native language and the language you want to learn, and you're connected to a Facebook-like community of people with the same goals. In my case there was a who world of men and women who were Japanese and interested in learning English. It's a great way to make friends also, especially if your placement is in a rural area where there are no people your age to hang out with or if people are too busy with work to hang out.
I know people who have met their wives as a result of this app. To me this is not surprising since the type of people who would use this app are already interested in the culture and/or learning the language. So the foundation is there for a relationship. That's how mine happened. About a month of communication. She lived hours away. We met in the middle at Wakayama Castle for our first date, and things just took off from there.
@@MyRadicalKanjiWorld What a great story.
@@Pixics thank you very much!
Do you know if it's possible to get the visa if you are in a long distance relationship and haven't lived together but just visited each others countries regulary and iam still in my home country?
You have to be married first before you can apply for a spouse visa
@@MyRadicalKanjiWorld Yes, I mean if you are in a long distance relationship AND allready married but I still live in your home country.
@@walterb.3592 first I would say regarding the marriage that you should check if it’s valid in Japan. For example I got married in Japan but the USA doesn’t recognize my marriage.
Next, leverage your spouse to eliminate mistakes. I did this video a few years ago so I’m not sure if any rules have changed but the best thing is to go on the Consulate website and find rules for you situation and then have your spouse validate that you have the right paperwork.
Theoretically it shouldn’t be an issue if Japan recognizes your marriage but they will ask in their forms for all sorts of information like your income.
@@MyRadicalKanjiWorld OK thanks. The reason iam asking is that many websites say you should allready live together for proving that your marriage is real and not fake and so on, but if you are still long distance that's difficult ne
@@walterb.3592 I know there are situations in which the spouse in Japan can apply for their husband overseas. I wish I could provide greater insight. It’s hard to know if you would need a CoE or have to fulfill some other requirement in your situation
Did you submit Nozei Shomeisho, and Kyuryu Misai?
Thank you for your comment.
Yes. Nozei Shomeisho I believe I mentioned in Step 5. I'm not sure what Kyuryu Misai is. Would you be able to tell me the Kanji for that or let me know its purpose?
@@MyRadicalKanjiWorld 住民税納税証明書 jumenzei desu , kazei nozei shomeisho yeah it’s Step 5 . I’m mistakenly wrote nozei shomeisho . 給与明細 salary slip is kyuyu misai.
In step one, on the application document I estimated the yearly salary for my wife and I and wrote it in the application along with our employer information. I was never asked to submit any documentation to back that up. So I didn't need to submit a kyuyu misai.
@@MyRadicalKanjiWorld I came across your video and interesting. I found out that you didn’t talk about salary slip . I submitted additional document which is the salary slip and jumenzei , immigration send a paper . Me and my husband are both foreigner living and married in japan last year . Thank you for your reply .
What's ironic is that the immigration officer had given me the wrong form for step one originally and that form didn't have a place for income for my wife and I. He gave me the correct form when I submitted my documentation and I was able to write in the income info on the spot but didn't need that salary slip.
Step 5 covered all my tax information. I'd be curious to know if others have had to submit a salary slip. I will say that before this spouse visa, my employer had sponsored my visa twice and I stated that I was still with the same employer on my application, so it could be possible that they already had everything they needed to know regarding salary since I went to the same immigration office I always have.
Point 4 sounds really easy as an American, unfortunately I'm not an American, and I have to apply for the whole thing as a German, and point 4 often says a marriage certificate from my home country, but then I only have a Japanese marriage certificate, I have to I then really apply for one from Germany, that would take a lot of time :(
Hi there! Thank you for your comment and also for introducing a new element to this conversation which is if anything is different with getting a Spouse Visa if you are from Germany.
I have included a link below, but I assume this is what you were referencing. I always try to get answers straight from the Consulate whenever possible. I do see mention of a German marriage certificate, but it does say that a marriage in Japan would be recognized in Germany provided you file the right paperwork? It sounds like time would be the main issue.
japan.diplo.de/ja-ja/service/ehej/901050
My advice is that as long as you are willing to pay for express shipping, you may be able to cut down on that time. Hopefully if you are in Japan now, you are here on a different Visa and have some time. My advice is to reach out to the German Consulate in Japan, tell them what you are trying to do, have them tell you the exact paperwork you need, prepare it, and express ship it with prepaid return envelopes and tracking on them so you know if things are in motion.
Please feel free to post any updates here as I feel any knowledge you may be able to share from your perspective may be beneficial to others.
do you have ant info on what happens if my Japanese spouse dies.
@@liquideyewaterhousingsjapa1511 I do not. My advice would be to secure permanent residency
@@MyRadicalKanjiWorld I guess I should've mentioned that I have permanent residency. I heard that it expires if your spouse deceases. Then I heard otherwise.
How long does it take?
After I submitted my paperwork directly to immigration (and they confirmed in the spot that there was nothing missing) I had my spouse visa in less than 2 weeks. I’m speaking as someone who is living in Japan now and was living in Japan when I filed so results may vary if applying from outside the country
Hello there and thanks for the very informative in depth video. I met my japanese girlfriend in the UK and we are planning to get married in Japan and she is willing to sponsor me to move to Japan on a spouse visa as she fits all the criteria required to do so. Do you know if i can get married in Japan on a tourist visa? and then after i get married can i come back to the UK while waiting for spouse visa to be processed? its just im going to be taking a risk going to japan with no job to begin with so i want to remain in the UK so i can continue working while visa is being processed. I would appreciate it deeply if you can answer these questions as information on the internet seems to be very vague on this. Thanks
Hey there! My first question is if your girlfriend is living in Japan now.
The absolute best advice I can give you is to consult the UK's and Japan's embassy websites. For example, here is the US embassy website regarding marriage in Japan: jp.usembassy.gov/services/marriage/marriage-in-japan/ I would find the one specifically for the UK as procedures might differ from the US.
Marriage was relatively easy. My wife's parents acted as witnesses and all they had to do was stamp a form they had to fill out and they didn't need to go to city hall in person. I had to go to MY embassy in Osaka and swear under oath that I was eligible to marry and I got a document to give city hall that was time sensitive (I think it was 3-6 months to use it).
If you look at this link and translate it to English you will see what I believe applies to your situation. I think if you are married you can apply a spouse visa under the tourist category:
www.moj.go.jp/isa/applications/procedures/16-2-1.html
My opinion is that as long as you get married in Japan and register that marriage at city hall it will be considered a valid marriage in Japan. You do not need to have a ceremony. You can just submit a few papers to be legally married.
My two cents. My spouse visa is only valid for 1 year. I'll have to renew one or two more times before I get a visa that is good for 3 or more years at a time. This, I imagine, would be the same for you. One year is a very short period of time so I don't recommend playing any kind of back and forth between the UK and Japan during your first go around. Also with the pandemic, people still have to self-quarantine for 2 weeks upon entering the country.
My visa only took 16 days from the moment I handed in my paperwork to the moment I got it in my hand. This may not be the same for everyone but I think you'd be in a much better position if you just stayed in Japan until the process terminated. At the very least you should ask your girlfriend to ask immigration if what you propose about going back is fine and if they have any advice. It NEVER hurts to ask the immigration people for advice. They will definitely help out!
In conclusion, since I am from the USA and you are from the UK and since your Visa situation is different, the best thing I can recommend to save yourself the most amount of heartache is have your girlfriend confirm if this checklist works for your situation:
www.moj.go.jp/isa/applications/procedures/zairyu_henko1.html
The only thing I imagine might be different is STEP 1 which is where that first form would vary depending on your situation. Hope this helps!
@@MyRadicalKanjiWorld Thanks for the response. She is here in the UK until november as her visa expires then. I was thinking of getting the declaration that I'm not married done here in the UK rather than a UK embassy in Japan think it would be easier. Then hopefully get married on a tourist visa in november then begin the spouse visa process.
That is good news to hear that it sometimes only takes 16 days for visa. I thought it was around 3 months. I will look at these links you provided. Thanks.
Getting that document (in the UK) that says you are eligible to get married is a great idea. Your girlfriend's parents could act as witnesses and maybe they could save you some trouble by going to city hall and getting the koin-todoke application for you. They could also act as witnesses though and they could take care of that document as well. The big question to ask the city hall (where you plan to file those documents) is if there are any other documents that need to be submitted for the marriage to be accepted. Marriage, I remember, was relatively easy so I think as long as you have those few documents, they just need to be filed at the local office. I would also have your wife check and see if this submission could be done remotely. I remember going to city hall with my wife, but I mostly remember her only talking with the staff and it was mostly them double-checking if we crossed our T's and dotted our I's. City hall will recommend that you run your documents by them once before the final submission (Japanese offices don't accept paperwork with a single mistake so I would find a way (maybe you can send a picture by email) and they can look at it and confirm if you've done everything correctly.
Once you are officially married and ready to go for that spouse visa, your girlfriend, especially, will need the documents outlined in steps 3, 5, and 7 of my video. She would get these from the relevant city hall (from the last town in Japan where she lived a full year and paid taxes). These documents are time sensitive (I think you'd have to get them to immigration within 3 months of receiving them). But just as an idea, once you cross marriage off the checklist, as you are preparing the visa documentation, you could use her parents to help again. These official documents are ones you can request remotely as my wife did that here. She used to live in Hyogo so she mailed an envelope with a cashier's check and a return envelope and a note/form requesting those documents. City hall can send them in the mail. What I am getting at, is if you know when you're coming in to Japan, if you time things just right, you could have some of the important documents you need ready and waiting for you at her parents' house.
@@MyRadicalKanjiWorld appreciate the tips. I'm going to subscribe to your channel as really need to learn about Japanese culture and living in Japan.
@@HashEclipse Happy to have you onboard! The "Teaching English in Japan" videos mostly hit on the working culture of Japan whereas the other videos are a mix of travel destinations, information sharing or other hodgepodge. I hope you'll find something of use!
I am from Nigeria and I need a spouse vise to marry Japanese and live there, pls help me
great video, your from Michigan, cool 😎 👍, am from Wisconsin and is looking to get married in Japan 🇯🇵, I think I have most of the paper work, just need to get the paperwork for getting a spouse visa 😀, do you know how much it cost for getting the paperwork for a spouse visa 😀, when I get married in Japan I will be living in the Osaka area of Japan 🇯🇵, just asking, what part of Japan will you be living in, thank you for making this video, it helps me out a lot, can you be my TH-cam friend and subscriber, just asking... am also disabled which makes things hard to learn, but you made things easy to understand thank you 😊 🙏
Hey man, congrats if you're getting married here in Japan soon and thanks for the comment! Nice to hear from a fellow Midwesterner!
As far as cost, most official residence or tax documents you have to get from City Hall are about 200 yen apiece so they are really cheap. I don't remember the Spouse Visa itself costing much. I just renewed mine a few months ago. I feel like I paid maybe 4,000 yen? Regardless it definitely won't cost an arm and a leg.
Getting married also didn't cost a bundle either. GRANTED, we did not have a ceremony. We just did separate paperwork for that and submitted it to town hall with her parents Hanko stamps on there to serve as witnesses.
I'm glad you enjoyed the video. Happy to return the favor and subscribe to your channel. I'm in the Tokyo area now.
Hi. I had a question. I was just watching another video on this topic where someone said that if your spouse lives outside of Japan for more than 1 year then they can't sponsor you since they hadn't paid Japanese taxes for over a year. Is this true? I can't seem to find this anywhere else. Thanks.
Sorry for the late reply. I can't corroborate this but what I can say as an expat is that not paying your taxes does have a serious impact on your ability to stay in the country.
When it doubt, please ask immigration. They'll give it to you straight!
ca we take wife in undergraduate level.
May I ask, what do you mean by this question?
@@MyRadicalKanjiWorld Can we apply for spouse visa even we are in bachelor level(university). As I heard, Spouse visa can only be applied when we have working visa.
You can apply as an undergraduate student! In my description there is a link to a list of visa forms for different situations. You can translate this to English with Google if you want. Student situations fall under #10:
www.moj.go.jp/isa/applications/procedures/16-2-1.html
Here is a direct link to that form under situation #10. My wife also thinks this is the right form for your situation. People married to a Japanese national can file from abroad. So hopefully this works for you!
www.moj.go.jp/isa/content/930004076.pdf
@@MyRadicalKanjiWorld thank you so much sir for your kind help. I appreciate you alot.♥️
@@sanamkhadka7243 my pleasure! Best of luck in your endeavors!
we have same visa. but the processing is all made by my husband.😂
You made him do all the work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Informative but too long video
I played video faster
did u take ur wifes last name?
Nope
@@MyRadicalKanjiWorld thanks for the reply. I have a japanese girlfriend of over 5 years now and starting to think about marriage i wasnt too sure if its easier to have a kanji last name or not
@@ジョンジョン-d4d to be honest I think most people in Japan don’t take their wife’s last name. My wife took my last name and it’s in Katakana.
Madali lang nmn ang spouse visa bsta nagbabayad ng tax
Yes, definitely, your odds of approval definitely go up if you are bringing tax money into Japan!
Oh man, you were divorced? I thought your current wife was your first marriage.
I must've forgotten that I mentioned that tidbit in the video. Yes, I'm divorced. Was married for 7 years to a Chinese woman I met while she was in America on a student visa. For personal reasons I ended things and then pursued this new life journey here in Japan. I went through the 2-3 year long process to get my ex-wife her U.S. Citizenship when we were married. I appreciate that I have that experience of what marriage immigration laws are like for 2 countries.
@@MyRadicalKanjiWorld wow, you were together with your first wife for quite a while.
@@Pixics it was a long time. I think for many people we always want our first marriage to work and stand the test of time. I got married too quickly and we were incompatible. I tried very hard but never got the love and respect I needed. It took a lot of strength but I realized I deserved to be happy and I worked towards making that happen. I dated Atsumi for over a year before we got married. We took our time and really got to know each other. I feel like I’m part of a team in our relationship and not a parent so I know we’ll be good parents someday too.
@@MyRadicalKanjiWorld Can't wait to see the future children.
@@Pixics A few years and a few hundred videos later and hopefully you'll get to see some! Lol
Too much extra waffle. Be succinct and talk about the spouse visa... not how it differs from others... don’t need full expose on all visa issues affecting every foreigner in Japan. Just say what the procedure requires. All the minutiae is distracting and frustrating.
Thank you for your comment and definitely good advice for the future. I agree that this video could have just talked about the steps and left out unnecessary items. I don't know if it compensates for that but I did bookmark all 12 steps so that any viewer can shortcut right to the information (and skipping over the waffle) if they want.
13:05 lol serial killer
For real man. I didn't show the actual picture I used for my application. That's exactly how I look.
She doesn't like to be on Camera...haha
I've noticed this is very common among Japanese women. I feel that they need to have a lot of self-confidence and their make-up has to be on point for them to want to be on camera.
@@MyRadicalKanjiWorld That’s right my wife is japanese national top she doesn’t like to come in front of camera hehe🥰🥰
I hope you are enjoying a happy marriage!
@@MyRadicalKanjiWorld yeah but i haven’t seen my wife from last 1 and half year and my 9 month old baby too. we got stuck because of covid-19 I’m in delhi india they are in Tokyo. and is it possible how i can contact you personally ?
My goodness. I can't imagine what that must be like. I really hope the COVID situation gets better in both Japan and India so that you can see your wife and child again.
If it's a general question, if you feel comfortable enough to put it in this chat I would be happy to do my best to get you some answers and that knowledge might benefit other future viewers of this video.
If it's a bit more personal, you are welcome to send me a PM on Facebook. My name is Anthony Domina and my timeline photo is the same as the thumbnail for this video.
Does most of this apply if I'm not married yet but planning to get married? Living in the USA but could I go on a tourist visa get married and do the residency status change while there? Or should I start everything from the Japanese embassy closest to me in the states? Thanks.
Thank you for your comment and sorry for the late reply. I've come to learn that my step 1 covers a change of status and is not an application for a certificate of eligibility which I have been getting a lot of questions about recently.
If you are in Japan on a tourist Visa, my opinion is that you could follow the same steps as me because you are changing status and not technically starting from scratch.
For your last sentence, when in doubt, get a checklist from the Japanese embassy. They will always give you 100% correct answers when it comes to the paperwork you need.
I know that to get married--not getting the spouse visa--that I did have to go to the U.S. embassy here to swear an oath and receive a document that stated I was not current married in the US.
Something to keep in mind also is that America will not recognize your Japanese marriage. Even if it means going to a courthouse or Las Vegas, it could save you some headaches in the future if you were to ever live together in America so if you are in the USA now with that person you could potentially check that off the list as well
@@MyRadicalKanjiWorld thanks I really appreciate the thoughtful response. ありがとうございました。
Thanks for info. This was good. A lot to do. But me and my wife will work on it haha
Best of luck! And don’t worry, the renewal process is much more painless!