time terms to change tourist visa to spouse

hello all,

after few years of ldr i will move in a couple of months to tokyo to plan a life, finally, with my japanese girlfriend.

i already asked to both embassy in my contry and in japan which is the correct procedure to enter as a tourist and then change visa to spouse. i am alreaady aware of the documents and autocertification needed to get the permission for marriage.

since japanese immigration office wasn't so clear my concerne is to know how usually take to get change of visa. i read that it can take from a month up to three. so in the worst case scenario i have to go back to my country waiting for the document to be issued.

anyone had a similar experience?

thank you in advance.

Congratulations on your engagement.

Are you going to come to Japan first, and get married in Japan? If so, there are two steps you need to think about.

(1) Getting married. As long as you have all the documents ready, including "permission for marriage" and everything required to get married, this should go smoothly.

(2) Once your marriage to your Japanese spouse is entered in to her "koseki," family register, you can start the procedure of applying for a change of resident status from Temporary Visitor to Spouse etc. of Japanese National.
Once you take all the documents necessary for that to Immigration bureau and file your application, you should get a stamp in your passport that your application has been accepted and that it is under review. Until Immigration reaches a conclusion, you can stay in Japan even if it happens to exceed the 90 days (I am assuming) allowed under Temporary Visitor status.

So the key is to get all documents ready in advance, so you can do those steps smoothly.

thank you for your reply and words!!!

yes we plan to marry in japan, i was already aware of the procedure, and first think i will do when arrive in japan is going to the embassy and get all the paper required. the stamp things is a really good news, i never read anything about it and it ^^

just last question, considering i want to stay in japan permanently do you think is it possible to enter with just one way ticket to save on plane costs?
in this case should i bring with me amd show any particular "green light" from the embassy? or somekind of autovertification for marriage?

thank you again for your precious help!!!

Hi

No, don`t try a one way ticket. They might refuse your boarding at the starting airport if you don`t show a valid visa.

Also...
often buying a ticket with a return flight is actually cheaper than the one way ticket.

Just don't use the return ticket and everything is fine.

sbranzo, where are you from?

i'm from italy

first think i will do when arrive in japan is going to the embassy

You will have a very hard time finding a Japanese embassy in Japan.

(You actually need to go to your local immigration bureau, not to an embassy.)

yes of course my country embassy,
that was implied...

I think if you enter with tourist visa and then as soon as possible you should get the permission of marriage from japan side because sometime embessy do not stamp on single status documents even if you get it from your country affair minister also just they waste the time so it is better within 10 to 15 days of enter get it done otherwise some cases is so longer and have to go back their country and wait for your visa their
Thanx