Spouse Visa

My local Japanese Embassy/Consulate says I cannot get a Spouse Visa while in Japan, I have to get it in my home town in America after getting my Certificate of Eligibility. Does anyone have experience with this? Anyone been able to get the visa while in Japan? Planning to be in Japan for a year with my Japanese wife and would really like to avoid two trips. thanks in advance.

You can't get a visa while in Japan. You can, however, apply to change your status from whatever you previously have to "Spouse of Japanese national".

I know Firas is strict with the distinction between "visa" = for entry into Japan (which means you can only get it outside Japan), and "resident status" = the status under which you are allowed to stay in Japan.

But I guess the original poster used the term somewhat loosely, I took the intention to mean that he wants to get the immigration's permit to stay in Japan as Spouse of Japanese National :)

There are two ways to deal with this:

(1) apply for Certificate of Eligibility, then get the visa, in the States before coming into Japan, or
(2) come into Japan with your US passport, get your Temporary Visitor status stamped in your passport (valid for 90 days), then soon apply for change of status from "temporary visitor" to "spouse of Japanese national."

I hope your marriage has already been registered with the Japanese authorities already, and will have other documents ready for the application.

I just think the confusion created by conflating the two terms is now amply demonstrated and we should stop doing it. And I generally practice what I preach. :)

Thanks for the responses. Although we have been married for 9 years, I have not been registered in Japan, so all that paperwork has to be done when we get there. I have received different opinions on whether they will change my status from visitor to having a Spousal Visa so I can stay more than 90 days.

- As a Japanese national, your wife is obligated to report her change of marital status to the Japanese authorities within 3 or 6 months or that change occuring. So she should do that as a matter of keeping good record, I'd say. (I - Japanese woman - got married to my non-Japanese spouse outside Japan, reported the marriage a few years later in Japan, when we returned to Japan to live, and got a small fine for missing that procedure.)

- After that, she should take the copy of her "koseki" - family register - with her marriage to you noted in it, along with other documents, for the two of you to apply for the change of status.

- What I have personally done is only apply for a change (for my spouse) from work visa to spouse visa while in Japan, so my experience may not be too relevant. However, my understanding is that if the marriage is valid and all papers are submitted, Immigration cannot deny the spouse the status needed to stay in Japan with the Japanese national.

apparently your partner had a work visa and changed it to a spouse visa. my problem is, coming to japan as visitor, I would not have any type of visa. my wife still thinks I have to have some sort of visa and a visa is only given outside of Japan. i would have to be given a change from a visitor to a spouse visa and they are all telling that is not available. hopefully someone knows if that is at all possible. i do appreciate your help!

Please search this forum for similar questions.

It has been done, I mean, to enter and get a Temporary Visitor status, then convert to Spouse in Japan.

From the perspective of Immigration/Consulates, the "official" route that they prefer is applying for a Certificate of Eligibility then the visa outside of Japan. That is why if you ask them, that's the answer you get. I hope someone who has done it posts a response :)

thank you for your info. maybe someone that has done it will respond.

my problem is, coming to japan as visitor, I would not have any type of visa. my wife still thinks I have to have some sort of visa and a visa is only given outside of Japan. i would have to be given a change from a visitor to a spouse visa and they are all telling that is not available. hopefully someone knows if that is at all possible.

No problem, you would enter as a temporary visa and could then change status to spouse. It's a simple process, and I know several couples who have done that. The consulates always advise that it isn't possible, as from their standpoint they only deal with entry into Japan and not with changing resident statuses.

I just think the confusion created by conflating the two terms is now amply demonstrated and we should stop doing it. And I generally practice what I preach. :)

I think it's good to be precise, just be sure to pick your battles or you're gonna get burned out explaining the difference.