Change tourist visa to spouse once in JP

Hi all

I have a Child of Japanese National visa (3 year validity), and my wife is entering Japan with me next week. It's not possible to apply for her visa before entering Japan due to time constraints.

We have return tickets to Japan but the return date is not within 3 months. The reason is that I am expecting to make an application for her (spouse visa) once in Japan.

My local Japanese embassy has said that for my wife to enter the country on a tourist visa with intention to convert to spouse visa is not allowed, so she will have to say that she intends to sightsee and leave within 3 months (=length of tourist visa).

What is the best way to approach this situation? Will it "wash" to tell the truth and say that we are expecting to get a spouse visa for her, and (obviously) if it doesn't work then she will have to buy a ticket out of Japan at that point, or change the return date on the ticket we have (there is a date change policy on our tickets, so that won't cause an issue)?

OR is it better to just say that she is sightseeing (and possibly not mention that we are married)? In that case she can provide an exit date that falls within three months and just update that status later if/when she gets her visa.

Your advice is much appreciated.

Thanks for reading, best regards
gatesofbabylon

The second option is the procedure for your case. Otherwise, your wife doesn't fit the scope of a visa waiver and risks getting turned away at immigration.