Returning after overstaying a visa

I have a friend who overstayed here in japan and he got married in japanese so it's possible he can come back here. He was 3 years over stay and he surrendered in 2020 so he has been in the Philippines for 1 year

Does your friend have a currently valid visa for Japan, such as gspouseh or gdependenth status?

Your friend should check his passport and any paper he might have received with it – there should be a description like gone year ban on entry into Japan,h or g5-year ban on entry into Japan,h etc.

If your friend was deported, then usually that ban will be for 5 years. This is usually in cases where immigration believes the person overstayed intentionally, was working illegally, and/or the person had to be caught (like say by a random police stop or workplace raid).

If immigration believes the overstay was truly accidental, the period of time was short (like say less than 1 month), and the person voluntarily came to immigration themselves to straighten out the issue then that possibly can be a case where they only ban the person for 1 year.

Also, despite being married to a Japanese national, it is said that getting a marriage visa can be quite difficult after such things being on the person's record. Immigration will likely scrutinize and examine the case thoroughly.

Sticking points can be over money and/or if they feel her family can help vouch for the situation. In the case of money, she has to make enough money or the foreign person has to have enough money or education, where they are satisfied that the foreigner will not seek government assistance or be a risk for problems.