Spouse visa. Financial questions

Hello and thank you. My situation summed up. I�fm a disabled veteran I receive 2k a month for life from VA. I have an MBA I�fm a bartender. I had a kid. Then met my wife (from/born) Japan had a BA in English from Kagoshima. We married in California then married (and registered family tree thing) in Japan. Moved to California over last 5 years had 2 kids together registered the births in both countries. Her parents are getting older (both about to retire) and we thinking in a few years to move to Japan permanently to be with them as they age. I have read many sites about spouse visa and �gfinancially responsible�h is vague. #1 question.... will immigration accept my VA disability as income? We both plan to work but her parents won�ft be working to vouch for us. #2 question.... will immigration accept bank savings as �gfinancially responsible�h? And if so any ball park on the amount needed? We plan on saving a few hundred K before going and the moment we arrive buying a house and then plan to work for addictions income. Any possible immigration hurdles I should be aware of? Thank you for your time.

As far as I know, what the immigration authorities look for is �glong-term financial stability�h (or prospects of it). And as far as �gspouse of Japanese�h visa goes, what is in question is firstly the Japanese spouse�fs ability to support the both of you, as she will be the �gsponsor�h for you.

I don�ft know what career your wife has had, but as she is moving back to Japan there will be no income tax statement from recent years that she has available for Japan, I assume. Instead, they do ask for copy of bank statement showing the balance/savings.

If I were in your shoes, I would get your wife to write out a letter stating that she plans to look for work as soon as the family has moved back to Japan (write out a good career experience if possible, to show prospects for a good job in Japan), income of which will be supplemented by your benefits. Also state that you will be looking for work in Japan. Savings by itself does not serve to show �gstability,�h but it shows that you will be OK supporting yourselves for a while. (I am not aware of the amount required – the only guideline I�fve heard is 2 - 3 million yen for those applying for �gstudent�h visa, for their living expenses and tuition.)

If they ask for additional financial guarantor, still if her parents are about to retire/have retired recently, there might be income tax payment statement from recent years that they can show – then they might be OK as a guarantor. Also having a house would show your intention to settle in Japan, so that should work as a plus too.

(I�fm Japanese, my spouse is non-Japanese, who used to be on �gspouse�h resident status before he got his permanent resident status several years ago.
We moved back to Japan from overseas some years ago, my spouse was on an employer-sponsored visa for a while, then when he was made redundant we changed it to �gspouse�h status, when he was out of work and I was a freelancer with limited work. We wrote out a letter describing the situation. But back then things were a bit different – they never asked for bank statement or my tax statement.)

Thank you for your information and experience. Some of it was very helpful!! !! My concern about other visa types is that I have my oldest daughter who is not a Japanese citizen and will need to be on my visa..... I�fm sure if I split my family in half and my wife went to Japan for like half a year and started working it would help prove stability but we would both basically be single parents working full time while our family ripped in half. My wife hasn�ft worked (taxable) at all in the last 5 year. She runs the house and family.

A Japanese person should be able to bring her non-Japanese spouse under �gspouse of Japanese�h and his child (from an earlier marriage/relationship) under what is called �glong-term resident�h visa, as far as I know. (The child needs to be under-age, single, and financially dependent on you in the States, in your case.)

It sounds like all of your children are quite young? Then your wife coming with the two small children first to look for work, with two small kids in her care, might be tough�c you (or your wife) �gmight�h want to find an immigration lawyer in Japan, maybe they can give you better suggestions for how to go about things.

Another thing you �gcould�h do is to look for work from outside Japan (such as English language teaching; I don�ft know what other professional skills/experience you have, and there is no work visa category for bartending), and tell the potential employer that you will be on a spouse visa (which means the employer doesn�ft have to sponsor you for a visa, though it might take a bit of time). You need to time things well, though, so that you don�ft keep the employer waiting too long till you can come to Japan and can start working.
For that, the timing is not ideal, though, considering the pandemic�c employment situation here is not good at all, to put it mildly.
Also�c I know that for �gpermanent resident�h application, there seems to be income thresholds that they apply according to the number of dependents; so considering that there are three children involved, the income requirement might get a bit stricter.
Best wishes.