Changing marriage visa to work visa

I am working in Japan on a marriage visa, but my marriage is in trouble. I have heard that upon divorce, marriage visas can be automatically converted to business visas, but I would prefer not to wait for that. I understand that me staying in Japan would then be linked to my job, and I am ok with that. Anyone have any experience with this? With the pandemic going on in particular, would it be hard to change my visa to a business visa? I am nowhere near eligible for PR btw.

Sorry to hear your marriage is not working well.
I assume you are currently on gspouse of Japanese nationalh resident status? (We call it gvisah before you enter Japan; once you have entered and are in Japan, it is called gresident status.h)

No, your spouse resident status does not automatically get switched over to a work-based resident status.
You need to apply for a gchange of resident status,h from gspouseh to one of the employer-sponsored resident statuses. For that, you need to have employment, must be qualified for that particular type of resident status (which may require a bachelorfs degree or some years of work experience in that field, depending on the category), AND your employer must be willing to sponsor you for the resident status.

If you meet the above, no, it is not difficult. And since you are in Japan, the only thing that might be affected by the pandemic is the time it takes for the application to be processed.

If you mean anything other than the above (such as business manager/investor, or dependent status, etc.) please mention it here so that more accurate answers can be given.

Thank you for your response. My situation is exactly how you described it. I definitely have the years of exp etc. So does it kind of work as if I didn't have a visa at all? I have heard they aren't giving out business visas right now, but is it different since I am already in Japan, and already working for the company for which I will ask for sponsorship? And I can apply at any immigration office?

When you get divorced, you lose the basis for being in Japan. So if you do get divorced, you report that to the immigration office, and you will have some time to sort out your resident status if you want to continue to stay in Japan.
If you do so, before your current gspouse of Japanese nationalh resident status expires, you need to apply for a change to a work-based resident status.

Please read my post carefully to understand the difference between gvisah and gresident status.h
- Visa is something you obtain from outside Japan to enter Japan.
- Resident status is the term used when you are already in Japan.

They are not giving out new visas to enter Japan, that is correct. But if you are already in Japan on one status, you should be able to apply for a change.

Please note that even though you are already working for a company, you still need to meet the requirements for that particular category of resident status/visa. For example, if your work category is gengineer,h you need to have either a bachelorfs degree or higher education in a technical field, or 5 or 10 years of work in that field already. If you are a language teacher, you need either a bachelorfs degree or 3 years of experience; if you are a chef (in the cuisine of your country), you need to have been trained as a professional chef and have some experience already, etc. Also your current employer must be willing to sponsor you.

You are supposed to apply at the immigration bureau nearest where you live.

Thank you very much for this, extremely helpful and now that I understand the difference between "visa" and resident status I am finding much more info online. Regarding the immigration office thing, we currently live together, but I might look to move to a different city soon. Do you think it's possible to change my resident status at a different office from where I received my marriage resident status? Since I would live in a different city.

Do you think it's possible to change my resident status at a different office from where I received my marriage resident status?

That should be fine. It doesnft have to be the same place where you got your earlier resident status. Just go to gyour localh immigration bureau based on the address you have at the time you make the application. I assume that you are going to move first, report the address change to the city hall, then apply with the new local immigration office.

By the way, I donft know how gsoonh your current resident status might be expiring, how soon you plan to move, etc. (and you donft have to tell us here); just please be sure never to overstay the current resident status. Be sure to complete the application for change of resident status from gspouseh to one of the work-related ones with all documents, before it expires. Be mindful of the timing of everything. Best wishes.

Thanks so much again, and my current status has plenty of time remaining. Last question - would I likely have to go to the city hall closest to my new address, to change my address? Sorry for all the elementary questions.

For changing address, you first need to go to the city hall of the current location that you live, and report a "moving out" notice. Then after you've moved to the new place (if it is in a different city) then you go to the city hall of the new address you get, to report a "moving in" notice. Is this what you mean?

Exactly right. So presumably I could give my moving out notice, but not have to give up my residence card (which has the old address) until I get my new address and status?

I think youfve got the process wrong.

If you move out from one place, you need to report it (to the current city hall). You move into a new place, I assume on the same/next day, you have to report the moving-in (to the new city hall) – there is a certain time limit to do that. The residence card gets that change noted in it too – you donft ggive it uph just because you moved.

I donft understand what you are trying to do.

Haha I don't understand the process which is why I made this thread to begin with. I want to move away from my wife (likely a different prefecture) and change my residence status. Pretty simple, I just don't know all the intricacies. For example, if I give my "moving out" notice, I didn't know that my residence card would be automatically "marked" in some way, and that I have X number of days to give a new address (could stay in hotel for a few weeks, for example). Those are the kinds of things I didn't know about, and wanted to know about.

Anyway, you have been incredibly helpful.

OK. As long as you are a resident of Japan, youfd need to have an address - be it that you are physically staying at a hotel, youfd have an address where you are registered as a gresident,h based on that, all the administrative procedures are taken, including taxes, pension, etc. (By the way even from a different prefecture, you can still go work for your current employer I assume?)

So if you move away to another prefecture, youfd do a moving out notice with your current city hall, then as soon as you move into another city/prefecture, youfd need to report that youfve moved in. Actually the due date is within 14 days of your moving. I am assuming youfll look for an apartment first, then move out?

Probably the city hall would wonder (since youfll be moving out alone) if you are no longer living with your wife, though you are on gspouseh resident status...

So if you are trying to do three things: (1) physically move away from your current house/apartment, (2) change from gspouseh to gwork-basedh resident status with immigration, and (3) get divorced (if it comes to that), youfd need to be careful with the timing.

Ifd fist check whether you are eligible for a work-based (employer-sponsored) resident status, and if yes, check with your employer if they are willing to sponsor you.

If you look at the reverse of your resident card you will see columns/lines. That is where your new address is noted on your existing card. The city office does this (on the spot) when you report the new address (within 14 days of your move as noted by a previous poster).

Thanks again guys. Yeah I can work anywhere at the moment. I want to move away, but I don't think she will divorce me right now, but that's a whole other topic. I still want to move away from her though if possible, and city hall wondering why I would move away from my wife is definitely one of the things I am worried about. But it would seem like changing my residence status, while still living with her, would raise even more eyebrows.

I see your point.

But if you try to change the resident status while still being married to her, all you have to say to immigration (if ever asked) is that your marriage doesnft look too good but that your employer values you and wants to keep you even under changed circumstances.

On the other hand, if you are no longer living with your wife (and the new address written into the card), you are immediately not fulfilling the purpose of the gspouseh status (while of course there are valid circumstances like the husband getting transferred by his employer to another office within Japan, and the wife cannot move with him because of her job, etc.).

So thatfs why I thought you might want to look into the change of resident status first.
In any case, please do check if you qualify on your own (meaning without the gspouseh statush) for an employer-sponsored work status in the first place. That is something you can do by looking up the requirements for the category of the work you. Or you might want to find an immigration lawyer/scrivener (who does the filing for you) to get some suggestions.

Its look like same my story-i am married to forign national and living in japan from almost 6 years ist of all every thing goes well later on we have a problem she bring me to police station 3 times once in domestic voilence luckily police give me warning for the ist time and 2nd 3rd time i explain to the police in nice way that this is the problem she is using me like machine just for money we are living together but every 2nd week we have a fight regarding money and other things very tired of it and we have a son which is still 4 years old and my wife didnot work very tired i have 1 and half year visa remaining still trying to sort out the problems but its doesnft work at all —so sad about my kid if i go to the court my wife will get the custody of my kid because he is just 4 years old though i am supporting them butc.may i know from how many years you are living in japan—-and your marriage i mean how many years you spend with your wife?i head about it if you spend 5 years in Japan you have a chance to get independent visa.i discuss that with a lawyer he said you have a chance but its not sure?just ask from lawyer

As an observation, while you want to move, you do not actually need to change your address. You can leave your current address as your official residence, as that remains the case - technically/officially. The fact that you are staying somewhere else is not unusual. Companies post people all across the country (and internationally) and there is not a need to update addresses because of that.
The point is that you need an address, and you already have one.
I certainly would not be updating my address every time I was away from my usual residence for a few weeks/months as I'd be doing that a dozen times a year.