COE denied, seperated from my family

Hi guys, long time lurker, first time poster here.

I'm in a bit of a predicament at the moment. I'm a South African Citizen on a temporary visa in Australia. My wife and son are currently in Japan, she is on a working visa and he is a on a dependent visa.

Last year my wife got a job offer in Japan and my son and myself were to be dependents on her working visa. The employer offered me a part time job and said that I could apply for a permit to work after arrival. When her employer applied for all of our COE's on our behalf (december 2015) my application was declined. The reason being was that immigration said that, seeing as I intend to work part time (he appended that fact in the application) I am in good health and am able to work, so therefore I'm not eligible for a family visa (dependent). Its unfortunate, as my initial intention was to be a stay at home dad and commence distance studies with a South African education provider.

Shortly after this, in January 2016, I applied for a tourist visa so that I may change my status of residence upon arrival in Japan. I did this as a lady working at the Japanese immigration information center in Mie suggested it to be the best way.
It was declined and i was informed by the Japanese embassy in Australia that it was due to my previous application denial.

Now at this point my wife and my son are in Japan and I'm still here in Australia as I have family living here. We are the type of people that takes our commitments very seriously, and after signing a 2 year contract with her employer, we are in the same mind in honoring our promises. My wife and I have been married for over 9 years and have never been apart for longer than 2 days during this time.

Please, if anyone knows anything, how to appeal for a reconsideration of my visa application or any other way to be with my family in Japan again, I would greatly appreciate any advice.

Thanks

It is not possible to appeal. It seems that your only option is to get a proper visa for yourself, such as a student or work visa. Indicating on your dependent COE application that you intended to work was a very bad move.

You may well take your commitments seriously, but I think your wife is perfectly justified in politely pulling out of the arrangement and returning with your child to be with you.

Nobody should have to accept having their family broken up like that. It is not your fault - you and her employer are victims of the Japanese state and its treatment of immigrants.

Thank you for your response. I do wish I could've had an idea that my tourist visa had a chance of being declined. unfortunately, she and my little one had already left while I was waiting for the outcome of that application. Due to the fact that I was advised by someone working at the Dept. of immigration information center, we had confidence that I would be joining them shortly after their arrival. I'm in the process of seeking help from an immigration consultant. Keeping my fingers crossed.

I do wish I could've had an idea that my tourist visa had a chance of being declined.

All visas have a chance of being declined, obviously, otherwise there would be no point in having them in the first place.

It is not your fault - you and her employer are victims of the Japanese state and its treatment of immigrants.

Actually if the employer applied on your behalf then it is their fault. They should have known that indicating that you would seek work is a huge red flag to immigration and that your application would have a good chance of denial.

Japanese immigration rules are relatively straight forward, and a competent immigration lawyer should have the experience to know the small ins and outs that catch people up like in your situation. Frankly, most people posting on these forums get denied either because they didn't get sound advice to start, or simply don't qualify in the first place.

Sorry for the situation you are in, but you should be on the right track now that you're working with an immigration consultant. Just make sure they are well versed in Japanese immigration. Tourist visa was a non-starter from the get-go if you had a denied dependent application. Perhaps the company can offer you a full time position?

Hi, thank you for the meaningful response and kind words.

I realize that the error was that of the employer. I didn't expect him to put that fact on the application, as my primary purpose was not to work so that my wife and little one could settle in and I could commence with my studies. Being offered a part time position by him was just a bonus for me, as I would've loved to experience working there. I don't feel any resentment toward him as the rejection was a result of him being honest, perhaps a tad uninformed, on the application.

Unfortunately, I do not qualify for a working visa as I do not have a university degree, I have a college diploma and 7 years experience as an auditor in South Africa. I intended to acquire a degree via a correspondence course while in Japan.

I've been in contact with an immigration lawyer this morning, in the town they are living in, and he says that he has successfully dealt with something similar to my case before. He is going to get in touch with the immigration dept. and I should have news before the end of this week.

Great, sounds like you are on top of things. Good luck and let us know how you progress.

"Nobody should have to accept having their family broken up like that"

My brother used to work for a French building company that had work sites in several African countries.
In some of these countries the living conditions were very difficult and my brother's kids would not have been able to get proper schooling.
The children and their mother stayed in France, seeing my brother twice a year.

When I was 3-4 years old I saw my parents one day every 3-4 months because of the war..
in high-school I saw them one day a week. When I went to college I saw them once every 3 months.

This was not unusual at all..many of my school buddies where in the same position...

Hi guys,

Just an update to my situation.
I went ahead and submitted an appeal letter, along with all the relevant CoE paperwork (new form, same information and supporting documents) to the Japanese immigration office shortly after my previous post.

I didn't end up using an immigration agent, however, a close friend (Japanese) went out of her way to translate my appeal letter from English to Japanese. I believe there are online translation services that don't charge an arm and a leg for those of you looking to follow a similar route.

The office accepted my appeal, even though they did inform us that there is no formal appeal process for declined CoE's relating to family visas (I believe 'spouse of Japanese national' or something is a different story completely).

After waiting for about roughly a month, I was granted my CoE. My visa has been approved and I'm leaving to be with my family within the next few days.

I just wanted to say, thank you to those of you who had nothing but positive responses for my initial post. I wish you the best for the future. For everyone else who is in a similar position as I was, be positive and do your research! everything will work out in the end!