Two ways to get a spouse visa in Japan

Hello Community!

As per subject, there two different routes to obtain a spouse visa (日本人の配偶者). The two routes that I am talking about are (I am giving a very brief & simplified summaries of the two):

1. Obtain an CoE (by the way of the sponsor in Japan). Using the CoE, then apply for a spouse visa at Japan Consulate overseas (by providing a few additional simple docs)
2. Do not obtain an CoE. Just apply for spouse visa at directly Japan Consulate overseas by providing more documents due to lack of CoE. It seems that obtaining the CoE is NOT a necessity, it isn’t required.

As an example, the requirements for the aforementioned two routes are outlined on the San Francisco Japan Consulate page: https://www.sf.us.emb-japan.go.jp/itpr_en/e_m02_01_03.html

From what I see (please forgive me if I blatantly misunderstand something):
a. If the marriage is not fake & genuine, all the paperwork is fine (e.g.: koseki, nozei shomeisho, kazei shomeisho, bank statements/funds, foreign marriage certificate are available), why would I choose to go the CoE route (the aforementioned route #1)? It seems that it just takes longer (around three months or more?), plus there is also a requirements to fill in a big questionnaire (質問書).
b. Using the CoE route (the aforementioned route #1) will probably force me to hire an immigration agent in Japan for 120,000 - 300,000 yen, which means extra expenses.

My questions:
1. What are the pros/cons of one over the other?
2. Why there are two routes - is it a a simple case of "it is what it is, that's the Japan's current system - there are two ways to achieve the same thing"?
3. Why would a foreign spouse (located overseas) and seeking to join their Japanese spouse in Japan would choose one route over the other?

Thank you for your patience and understanding,

Mr. Zaggy

If you look at the link you include, the COE "option" is for all residence types, while the second one is ONLY for the specific residence statuses of Spouse of a Japanese National OR Child of a Japanese National. So someone applying for a residence status other than a spouse or child, and is currently residing outside of Japan, HAS to go the COE route. It even says pretty clearly, When applying for a visa for the purpose of work, study, or long term residence at the top.

As a spouse of a Japanese national, you instead are able to use the second option, and since it is obviously easier for you, you should go with that one. Don't overthink it!

@scarreddragon fair enough :) and thank you for your reply.

I posted my previous post after reading a number of various private blogs (or/and articles by immigration agents) that foreign spouses who were overseas at the time of their spouse of Japanese national visa application, applied for CoE first. Perhaps my "overthinking" stemmed from lack of context as to "why" they needed CoE first.

Nevertheless, thanks again!

Mr. Zaggy

Actually, I also realized that non-CoE route to spouse visa is not available in every country. It seems that for many country to obtain a CoE first would be the only way to apply for a spouse visa while outside Japan.

if you read the website of embassy of Japan in USA,
you will find the sentence.
(Cases without the Certificate of Eligibility may take a few months.)

Hi Ken,

Thank you. I did see that sentence.

But, getting the CoE itself can also take roughly three (or more months), so from a time standpoint it seems more or less the same.

Not just for spouse visa, but the CoE route is essentially a pre-approval route based on my understanding and interactions with Japan officialdom. Once you have one, the grant of a visa is quick and almost automatic. You don't have to do the CoE, but it often makes it easier.
For spouse visa, I know someone that simply did a change of status (from a work visa) and no CoE required, but that might not apply in your case. For them preparing the documentation was the lengthy part of the process - a couple of weeks - and probably the documentation would have been similar for either route.
As for the three months, it depends - my CoE/visa had a five week turnaround when I did it a few years ago.

Hi JapanCustomTours,

Thank you for your insights. Yes, you are right - "it depends" on a bunch of things: personal circumstances, how busy the department processing the CoE, which immigration bureau the application was submitted to, even the mood of the immigration officer assessing your papers, etc.

I chose the non-CoE route because of the following:
1. This route seemed more straightforward to me in terms of the required documents needed. At this point it looks like we are meeting the requirements and have all the paperwork in order.
2. Two short application forms (the app form for myself and the guarantor letter) can be filled out in English
3. We do not to fill out the 質問書 (there is no problem for us to fill that out if needed, but with the non-CoE route we did not have to bother ourselves with this)
4. On the Consulate-General of Japan in San Francisco page, it says that the processing may take 1-2 months (under "General Information")

So, I thought I'd give non-CoE route a go. I will report back, hopefully with some good news.

If you use CoE who can be present as sponsor? Is it possible to be your work chef? Or friend, future spouse?

For those who are interested, the following is my experience of obtaining a Spouse visa through a Consulate of Japan in San Francisco, USA:

TL;DR
The visa was granted within five days from the submission of my documents and my passport was ready for a pickup after that.

DETAILS:
I have applied for a Spouse visa at Consulate using the non-CoE route, as outlined on the following page: https://www.sf.us.emb-japan.go.jp/itpr_en/e_m02_01_03.html . It seems that the non-CoE route is available in San Francisco only. I checked the Spouse visa requirements for people residing in other big cities in the US (Seattle, LA, Chicago, New York, Atlanta, Portland, Houston) and the Consulates in the aforementioned cities do require an CoE. I have no idea why applications in San Francisco are treated differently.

The submission of the documents was pretty straight forward. The Consular officer collected all the documents that I was suppose to bring by carefully inspecting each of them as he was collecting them from me. His biggest point of interest was to make sure that I have my wife's koseki. In addition to koseki, we also provided our foreign marriage certificate (although it was not a requirement as outlined on the aforementioned Consulate page). He did ask though if I have my wife's Japanese passport copy (this was also not an outlined requirement), which luckily I did have, so he took that as well.

In addition to my bank statements, I also brought my salary payslips. He collected only the latest bank statement, plus the latest payslip. To note, to bring my salary payslips was not a requirement, but I had them with me just in case.

In terms of a verbal communication, the officer did not ask me anything unusual/tricky, all the questions were pretty straight forward (he was very friendly and kind): how long do I want to stay in Japan, when do I want to fly out, which airline I will be flying with, what airport do I want to land, who will pick me up, where will I quarantine upon arrival.

I was not asked to provide any proof that our pre-marriage relationship is/was valid & genuine. I asked the officer if he need the proof/documents and he said no. I brought enough evidence with me (emails, photos, chronological description of our relationship letter, etc.).

Since I was asked to come back to pick up my passport after five days, it suggested to me that my application was not mailed back to Japan to MOFA/MOJ for verifications of any sort.

Just to make a correction about the non-CoE route: the general US-based Consulate of Japan page: https://www.us.emb-japan.go.jp/english/html/travel_and_visa/visa/spous... does speak about the non-CoE route, while the city-specific Consulate of Japan portals do not (apart from San Francisco)