Spouse visa with multiple re-entry permits?

For the last ~12 years my wife and I have been living in the US and traveling to Japan a few times a year. Each of my stays have been less than 3 months so all I've ever needed was a visa via the WVP. I looked into getting a Spouse visa for a 4+ month stay in the past and even asked about it here about 8 years ago, but I never actually did it.

https://www.japan-guide.com/forum/quereadisplay.html?0+91975

Last year I was able to get permission from my work to work remotely from Japan. This made one of my trips almost reach the three month point. Now I am looking into the possibility of a Spouse visa to let me stay in Japan a few months at a time intermittently. For example 4 months in Japan, 4 months in the US, and 4 months in Japan, etc. I think I can get re-entry permits to keep the Spouse visa but I'm concerned that this may go against the intended usage of the Spouse visa.

Before contacting the Japan Consulate I wanted to get a feel of how practical this question would be and see if anyone here has any similar experience. Thanks!

The intention of gSpouse of Japanese nationalh visa is to allow the married couple – one spouse being Japanese, the other non-Japanese – to live together in Japan.

So the question arises, if your Japanese wife is living in Japan.
- If yes, then you can obtain a gSpouse of Japanese nationalh visa to live in Japan with her, and if your work takes you to the US for some months of the year, letfs say, I guess that should be fine.
- If not, then indeed it will be not quite in line with the intention of the visa. And upon extension, you will bump into a problem because youfd need your Japanese wifefs gjuminhyoh (resident register) with her and you in it, at an address in Japan, which I guess you wouldnft have.
- If your Japanese wife is traveling back and forth with you, keeping her gjuminhyoh in Japan and keeping her green card (I am assuming) in the States, that would mean youfd be residing in two countries - there will be tax, health insurance, and pension implications if you gresideh in Japan, so you might want to consider that as well.

You might want to contact an immigration lawyer who might be familiar with cases like this, to get their input on this.

Thank you very much for your reply.

You are absolutely correct about the intention of the Spouse Visa and I must admit that what I am trying to do is a bit outside its intended usage.

We both live in the US (she has a green card) and we have traveled to Tokyo several times a year for the last decade. Last few times I worked remotely from Japan so I may already have been skirting some taxation laws. I don't know how that differs from "business trips" overseas but as you say an immigration lawyer would be the one to answer that.

What I'm interested in is the third bullet from your list. And you're absolutely correct, that would mean dual residence. We've always planned on dual residence post retirement (keep addresses in both the US and Japan) but I didn't really think about the taxation implications of working remotely from Japan with dual residence.

As you said, I will have to consult an immigration lawyer. Thanks again for taking the time to reply.

You need to contact an accountant familiar with tax law in the US and tax law in Japan (an immigration lawyer will not know those aspects). If you have been spending more than 183 days in Japan for several years, you would be "tax resident" in Japan (unrelated to legal residency) and would generally be liable to pay taxes in Japan. Depends on the tax treaty between the two countries as you may be liable for double taxation (which gets expensive quickly).
If you have been in Japan more than the US, you might also be not tax resident in the US, but I know from talking with some US citizens living abroad there are some odd tax/money issues for them.

Thanks for the reply and you bring up an excellent point about getting advice from an accountant. I haven't spent more than 183 days in Japan in any given year, even on times when I traveled there 5 times in one year. I'll have to figure out the tax situation before going the dual residency route.

One issue with reentry permits is that they are only valid for a period of up to 2 years from the date of issuance. For many permanent residents, 2 years is not enough time. For this reason, some green card holders must apply for a second reentry permit, and in some cases, maybe even a third.

It's a multiple use travel document, meaning that it can be used several times (during the valid period) to reenter the United States. File Form I-131, Application for Travel Document, from within the United States to apply for a permit.
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