How to Get a Spouse Visa for Japan: The TranSenz Guide: TranSenz Guides

By Travis Senzaki

This is the complete, step-by-step guide to every form and every document you need to apply for a spouse visa for Japan.

Applying for a certificate of eligibility and spouse visa for Japan can seem intimidating. After all, if lawyers charge over 100,000 yen to file your application, it can't be easy, right?

Not at all! The application process is straightforward and you do not need a lawyer. The reason most applicants struggle is that there has never been a set of thorough, detailed instructions available in English, until now.

This book describes every form and document you need for the application process. It is designed to be your one-stop resource. You do not need to pay huge sums of cash to a lawyer. You do not need to agonize over vague directions from the Immigration Bureau. With this book in hand, you can file your application yourself, without fear of error.

Travis Senzaki is the creator of the #1 online resource for Japan Spouse Visa applicants, the TranSenz blog. In this book, he has taken the most popular post from that blog, which has helped hundreds of applicants acquire their visas, and expanded it with samples, annotated forms, and explanations designed to leave no detail behind.

• Language: English
• Publisher: TranSenz
• Release date: Jan 20, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386290865

Book preview

Your Complete Guide to Immigration Procedures for Spouses of Japanese Nationals and Permanent Residents

Travis Senzaki

For Sawa,

my love, my inspiration,

and the one who made all of this possible

Copyright ©2017 by Travis A. Senzaki

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

www.transenzjapan.com

Foreword

Congratulations on your marriage and decision to live in Japan!

Sawa and I have lived together here for six years so far and we couldn’t be happier. Japan is a safe country where kindergartners can walk alone to school. The beautiful countryside is ideal for raising a family, and healthcare is excellent, as well.

These were a few of the deciding factors when we sat down to choose between Japan and my home country, America. Every day, I wake up happy with the choice we made.

But one area where Japan is not an ideal world is paperwork. Government forms, documentation, and red tape can be a real struggle to comprehend and get through. For us, that became apparent from the moment we started my visa application procedures. The available information is often vague, especially the little that exists in English.

We applied for my Certificate of Eligibility (CoE) while we were both living outside Japan, so it was more complicated that usual. We researched dozens of websites and made several international calls to the Immigration Bureau office to make sure we got things right.

In the end, with a lot of help from my mother-in-law, we got my CoE and visa with only a few hiccups. But if I can save anyone else the stress and uncertainty we went through in the research process, I’d be happy to do that.

Three years ago, I wrote a blog post about our experience going through the Certificate of Eligibility and visa application process. That post has become the most popular on my blog about living in Japan and almost every day, I get additional questions from readers. This ebook is designed to answer as many of those questions as possible and to bring together every detail you need to apply for your own CoE so you, too, can live in Japan with your family.

Whether you’re married (or about to be married) to a Japanese citizen or to a Permanent Resident, I will walk you through every step to the final goal.

If you’re already living in Japan with a different Visa/Residence Status, don’t worry. I have you covered as well!

Free Bonus Document Pack

As a thank-you to you for buying this book, I’ve put together a bonus document pack worth over 50,000 yen ($500) that you can download from the link below. This bonus document pack contains translated and annotated forms to help you with your application process.

You’ll find pdf versions of the sample images I use throughout this book as well as download links so you can get the most up-to-date versions of the forms.

http://www.transenzjapan.com/spouse-book/bonus

Plus, when you download the bonus document pack, you’ll automatically be signed up to receive any updates to the processes or forms as soon as I know about them.

I recommend downloading your bonus document pack right away, as I’ll be referring to it throughout the book.

Contents

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 1: Introduction

CHAPTER 2: How to Use this Book

CHAPTER 3: Definitions

PART ONE – Certificate of Eligibility / Change of Status of Residence

CHAPTER 4: What You Need to Know about the Immigration Bureau

CHAPTER 5: How to Apply: The Basics

CHAPTER 6: Application Checklist

CHAPTER 7: Determining Your Guarantor

CHAPTER 8: Determining Your Financial Supporter(s)

CHAPTER 9: Application Form

CHAPTER 10: ID-Quality Photograph

CHAPTER 11: Japanese Spouse’s Koseki Tōhon

CHAPTER 12: Proof of Marriage: Spouse of Japanese National

CHAPTER 13: Proof of Marriage: Spouse of Permanent Resident

CHAPTER 14: Spouse’s Jūminhyō

CHAPTER 15: Guarantor’s Proof of Financial Resources

CHAPTER 16: Financial Supporter’s Proof of Financial Resources

CHAPTER 17: The Letter of Guarantee

CHAPTER 18: Questionnaire

CHAPTER 19: Snapshots of You as a Couple

CHAPTER 20: If Someone Else is Submitting the Application For You

CHAPTER 21: Processing Fee

CHAPTER 22: Submission and Waiting Time

CHAPTER 23: Understanding Your Certificate of Eligibility

CHAPTER 24: What’s Next – Certificate of Eligibility Applicants

CHAPTER 25: What if my Application is Rejected?

PART TWO – After the CoE: Visa Application

CHAPTER 26: Applying for Your Visa

CHAPTER 27: Application Form and Photo

CHAPTER 28: Welcome to Japan!

CHAPTER 29: About the Author

Appendices

Appendix A: How to Complete the Koseki Application

Appendix B: Sample Koseki Application Form

Appendix C: Letter of Attorney Form

Appendix D: How to Apply for Japanese Certificates from Overseas

Appendix E: How to Complete the Jūminhyō Application Form

Appendix F: Sample Jūminhyō Application Forms

Appendix G: Sample Letter: No Proof of Marriage from Foreign Country

Appendix H: How to Convert Japanese Dates

Frequently Asked Questions

Helpful Links

CHAPTER 1: Introduction

Let’s get started!

This book is here to help you complete all of the paperwork you need to live in Japan as a Spouse of Japanese National or Spouse of Permanent Resident.

There are four similar application procedures that I cover in this book:

Certificate of Eligibility – Spouse of Japanese National: For people living outside of Japan who are married to a Japanese national and want to move to Japan with their spouse.

Certificate of Eligibility – Spouse of Permanent Resident: For people living outside of Japan who are married to a permanent resident of Japan and want to move to Japan with their spouse.

Change of Status of Residence – Spouse of Japanese National: For people living in Japan with a different residence status (e.g. Student, Engineer, Tourist) who are married to a Japanese national and want to change their status to Spouse of Japanese National to gain the increased benefits of that status.

Change of Status of Residence – Spouse of Permanent Resident: For people living in Japan with a different residence status (e.g. Student, Engineer, Tourist) who are married to a permanent resident and want to change their status to Spouse of Permanent Resident to gain the increased benefits of that status.

I went through this application myself and struggled to find the information I needed at the time. This book is the result of my experience as well as helping hundreds of other applicants find the solutions to the problems they had with their application.

You can find their feedback – and leave your own – at http://www.transenzjapan.com/blog/certificate-of-eligibility-spouse-visa-japan/

Why the Spouse of Japanese National / Spouse of Permanent Residence Status?

Simply put, it is the best residence status to have in Japan besides being a Permanent Resident, yourself.

As a Spouse, you have no restrictions on your employment or activities. You have all the same working and residential rights as a Japanese citizen. You don’t have to worry about leaving the country if you lose your job or quit. You can live here in Japan – one of the safest countries on earth – without any of that anxiety.

It’s also the fast track to Permanent Residence! With this status, you can apply for Permanent Residence as early as 5 years after your arrival in Japan. With any other status, you have to live in Japan for at least 10, plus have made some significant contribution to Japanese society.

Becoming a Permanent Resident will open even more doors, like life insurance and some loans, so anything that gets you closer to that goal is a good thing.

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.

Difference Between Spouse and Dependent

Spouse status only applies if you are married to a Japanese citizen or to a Permanent Resident of Japan.

If you are married to a non-Japanese citizen living in Japan with any other status, such as Student or any of the working statuses, then this book is not for you. The good news is that your application is much easier – you don’t need a book. I have a blog post that will walk you through the Dependent application process at the link below:

http://www.transenzjapan.com/blog/dependent-visa-japan

Disclaimer

Before we begin, know that I am not an immigration lawyer and this book does not constitute legal advice. By purchasing and/or reading this book and following the advice contained herein, you agree to hold harmless the author and TranSenz and to personally accept all liability for the outcome of your application and all procedures leading up to that.

If you are not willing to agree to that, there is