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Exchanging family register for entry visa? 2021/7/31 23:58
Hi all, hope all is well.

Could somebody perhaps explain to me what's meant with the following excerpt?

Please obtain a Certificate of Eligibility or full copy of the family register/certificate of residence/residence card and contact Japanfs overseas establishments.

Does this mean I can show a copy of my wife an I's family register and they'll give me a visa/ special entry permission? I found it on this page: https://www.mofa.go.jp/ca/fna/page22e_000921.html

Thanks!
by “VËITƒ{[ƒC (guest)  

Re: Exchanging family register for entry visa? 2021/8/1 14:38
"Please obtain a Certificate of Eligibility or full copy of the family register/certificate of residence/residence card and contact Japanfs overseas establishments." -- “VËITƒ{[ƒC (guest)

When you and your wife got married, your family registry (koseki) should have been created. Your wife should have or be able to get an official copy, in addition to your marriage certificate.

If you already live in Japan, then you will have a residence card (zairyu). If you don't live in Japan, then obviously you wouldn't have that and will just have your passport.

You also need to clarify your situation. Is your wife in Japan, and you are outside of Japan? Are both you and your wife outside of Japan? Are both you and your wife inside of Japan (and you are switching visas from say tourist or work visa to marriage visa)?
by Rejo rate this post as useful

Re: Exchanging family register for entry visa? 2021/8/1 19:25
Hi Rejo,

Thanks for the reply! That's correct, I have my copy of my wife's koseki and a marriage certificate from my side. My wife is a Japanese national and she lives in Japan; I myself live in Europe so I have no visa of any sort; we haven't seen each other since the start of corona so I'm looking to enter Japan asap. I'm 2/2 vaccinated, not sure if that helps.

Thanks!
by “VËITƒ{[ƒC (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Exchanging family register for entry visa? 2021/8/2 02:37
@“VËITƒ{[ƒC (guest)

Looks like you are good, in terms of documents that you need on your side. They may also ask you for documents on her side. Such as: income tax, residence tax, resident registration certificate (nouzei-shoumeisho, kazei-shoumeisho, and jumin-hyo), and letter of guarantee by a person living in Japan (this can be you wife).

If you have never applied and were granted a marriage visa before, you may also need: questionnaire form (which you must answer awkward and intrusive questions for the government on how you met), pictures showing both of you together (I think 2 are fine, but maybe 3), and possibly a document where a witness verifies that they know of you being together.

The main thing about the questionnaire is they are supposedly looking for if you met at a place that served alcohol, the marriage was arranged by a match making service, mail order bride service, or you met through a dating site. These are supposedly bad, and might result in the application being rejected. Where if you met at church, while walking down the street, at a park, or at work then that's supposedly acceptable.

As you are moving to Japan, so will unlikely have a job set up right away, they may also be looking to see if your wife has a job and makes at or over 40,000 dollars a year (around 34,000 euro or 4,400,000 yen). If not, they might give you trouble and check; if you have a degree, ask you to provide a bank statement, or want one of her family members with money to be the guarantor. This part is quite tricky, and there is no telling what they might do, ask for, or decide. The key point though is if your wife is not working or making over an acceptable amount, it can be better to have one of her family members with an acceptable income be the guarantor. If she makes higher than the threshold, then usually you will be fine.

Usually, they will only give out a 1 year visa at first, so they can check up on you later. When they do, it's to ask for her's and your's (especially if you are a foreign male) income and resident tax documents. So don't be surprised by this.
by Rejo rate this post as useful

Re: Exchanging family register for entry visa? 2021/8/2 02:40
As for the coronavirus situation and you being married to a Japanese national, not sure how that will go. I think that people in that situation can get visas and come to Japan, but not sure if you won't be subject to testing and 14-day quarantine. You will need to ask your embassy or have your wife ask immigration to verify.
by Rejo rate this post as useful

Re: Exchanging family register for entry visa? 2021/8/2 07:43
On the link provided I assume you are looking at section 3.2 as all the other parts of that page are suspended (business track and residence track). However, you still run up against the annoying requirement to have "special exceptional circumstances" (as noted in the linked PDF). Good luck.
by JapanCustomTours rate this post as useful

Re: Exchanging family register for entry visa? 2021/8/2 08:32
Hi Rejo, CustomTours,

Thanks so much for the replies. As for Rejo; I understand the spouse visa process but regardless, thank you for the information. What I was wondering about though is the specific mention of "a full copy of the family register". I thought perhaps that this meant that you didn't necessarily need a spouse visa to visit Japan.

As for JapanCustomTours, could you share more information about the (annoying) special circumstances?
I've gone through the pdf multiple times but it doesn't really state anything specific regarding said circumstances. I assumed that if you fall under category 3.2 you're a special circumstance by default; is this wrong? My wife is currently in a (mental) unwell situation due to work and life in general. Her family can't be there for her in person since they're already taking care of the grandparents + the covid situation makes it worse. Thing is; I just need to be there to support her. If 3.2 doesn't mean that I'm in a special circumstance, I hope my reasoning behind me wanting to move does call for one?

Kind regards
by “VËITƒ{[ƒC (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Exchanging family register for entry visa? 2021/8/2 08:33
Sorry, I also forgot to mention that I am indeed talking about section 3.2 Ü
by “VËITƒ{[ƒC (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Exchanging family register for entry visa? 2021/8/2 10:47
You will need to get a visa (spouse visa) to enter Japan, for which an official copy of the family register (showing that you indeed are married) is necessary. It is not that you show your name on the family register of your wife and youfll get entry right away. And your situation sounds like special circumstances – maybe you could get your wife to get a doctorfs statement describing her condition? Please go ask at the Embassy of Japan/Consulate in your country.
by AK rate this post as useful

Re: Exchanging family register for entry visa? 2021/8/2 12:51
Hi AK,

Thanks for your reply! I've been browsing through the interwebs and I'm finding so much conflicting information, I'll call the embassy today and I'll update you guys on what they say. As for the special circumstances, I managed to find the following excerpt:

“ú–{l‚â‰iZŽŇ‚Ě”z‹ôŽŇ‚Ĺ‚ ‚ę‚΁u“Á’i‚ĚŽ–îv‚Ş‚ ‚é‚Ć‚ľ‚Ä“ü‘‚Ĺ‚Ť‚éB‚ž‚ށAĽ–ńŽŇ‚â—öl‚Ć‚˘‚Á‚˝–˘Ľ‚ĚƒJƒbƒvƒ‹‚Í‘ÎŰŠO‚žB

I'll follow up with an update on what the embassy says.
by “VËITƒ{[ƒC (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Exchanging family register for entry visa? 2021/8/2 14:24
an official copy of koseki is valid only for 3 months. probably, you need to have a new one for application. you also need to have co-operative help from her for the application, and she can apply it as a proxy, when you provide your-side documents to her.
by ken (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Exchanging family register for entry visa? 2021/8/2 18:06
Hi all,

So to give you an update; I just had contact with the embassy and it turns out that it is actually possible to apply for a temporary (3 months) visa when you're the spouse of a Japanese national. To give you a rundown of the requirements:

Visa form
Your passport
Copy of the family registry issued within the last six months
A bank statement showing you have enough money to cover your stay

A quick note on the family registry, you have to take the original copy with you to Japan since at the airport immigration will double check its validity. In order for your original copy not to be consumed during visa application you can hand in a copy of your official copy. The representative also gave me some more information regarding the up-to-date quarantine measures:

If you take a PCR test at the airport you will receive a certificate which already conforms to the Japanese Ministry of Health's certificate format. If you do a PCR test at some arbitrary location in your country you will first have to download the Japanese Ministry of Health's format and have it filled in word by word by your doctor. Note: do not fill in any details such as your own name, date of application, etc yourself; since if immigration finds out, you'll be denied entry. Immigration also doesn't care about you being vaccinated 2/2. Please refer to the following document for more information. https://www.mhlw.go.jp/content/000809267.pdf
by “VËITƒ{[ƒC (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Exchanging family register for entry visa? 2021/8/2 18:10
Of course, confirm this with your local embassy first Ü
by “VË ITƒ{[ƒC (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Exchanging family register for entry visa? 2021/8/2 20:37
As I did the same as you entering Japan works perfectly fine, it took more effort to convince the guy at the airport to let me board the plane than the actual immigration process.
And as good meant input: use the official form for the PCR! You do have to show that paper several times and they specifically mention that form (they are not interested in any other papers regarding the PCR test), so if possible have the testing location confirm that they can fill in the official form regardless if its at the airport or somewhere else, it saved me a lot of trouble. If they canet look for a PCR test location that can provide the form, ites much more convenient that way.
The next input: The test and immigration process took over 7hours! Take something to drink and potential snacks with you for the time after landing as well as the hotel quarantine if your country is on the list (depending on the location youere not able to order any food or drinks except for the provided ones). Visa application also took a good month so request this as early as possible.
Feel free to ask if you need any other information
by nja (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Exchanging family register for entry visa? 2021/8/2 22:16
Hi Nja,

Again, thanks so much for the replies and good to hear Nja, I'm glad i'm not the only one going through this track. Could you perhaps share with me exactly which documents you prepared before going to Japan (pcr (the official form you're referring to)/quarantine related and for the visa itself if possible)? If you've the time, I'd appreciate a walk through of your process!

Many thanks
by “VËITƒ{[ƒC (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Exchanging family register for entry visa? 2021/8/3 07:30
So first of all you have to gather the documents required for the Visa and apply for one (You can only apply if you have the family register, it needed to be issued no longer than three months ago in my case), theyell take your passport and transmit all of the data to the immigration office in Tokyo, this process takes around 3-5 weeks.
Once you have everything ready and are close to the departure date youell need to do the pcr test and ideally have the results in the format of any of the pdfs on the official page: https://www.mofa.go.jp/ca/fna/page25e_000334.html
Based on what Ieve seen you will be denied boarding if you donet. Also keep an eye on the allowed time (72hours before departure of the first flight) and try to have some spare time in this 72 hour window as you will be denied boarding or deported from japan if you do the test to early.
Before the departure you also have to fill out the health form and get the QR code (links will be provided with the Visa or can be found on the mofa page). In addition youell also need to sign the pledge that you get from the embassy (there will most probably be a newer version of it once you reach Japan).
I also recommend preinstalling the tracking app for the quarantine, they shouldeve reduced all of them into one in July and the cocoa app. You also need to have your quarantine location pre booked and means of transporation to it (check the mofa page for allowed transportation provider and services, they can be really expensive)

The tracking app will remove all of your data after the quarantine and can be uninstalled.
by nja (guest) rate this post as useful

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