Visa for fiance while at language school

I am planning on spending a year studying in Japan at a Japanese language school, most likely at one which is able to provide their own housing. I recently became engaged and don't want to leave my fiance (who is not Japanese or a Japanese citizen) in the states forthat whole time, and she would like to come along if possible. The question is what visa we should try to get for her- to reduce the financial impact she's thinking now of working back home for six months and then being in Japan six months. She would like to attend the school, which would make this a non-issue since then she could get a student visa, but isn't sure if there will be enough financial resources to cover getting to and living there as well as the school tuition for that time. She'll be a recent college graduate then in animal science and would like to volunteer/work at a zoo or similar institution if it turns out that tuition would be too much, does this seem like something reasonable to attempt? Looking through the other visa types, I'm guessing that a dependent visa would only be grantable for those who are married already, or for children?

Adam,

There is no fiance visa in Japan, so she will have to apply for an appropriate visa in her own right, which will mean a student visa or work visa if she has a university degree. Other options include staying for up to 3 months at a time on a tourist visa, which of course does not permit work.

There is no "fiance" visa for Japan - as you guess correctly, "Dependent" visa would be granted only if you are already married.

So, visa options for your fiance:
- Assuming both of you are American citizens - if so, she can come on a tourist ("temporary visitor status") and stay in Japan up to three months at a time, but no paid work is allowed at all on this status.
- If she enrols in a school, then, yes, she will be on a student visa.

About work (since you are talking about financial resources, I'm assuming she might want to find "paid" work):
- If she just comes on Temporary Visitor Visa, I'm afraid that since any potential employer would have to sponsor her for a work-permitting visa, to be honest noone is likely to be interested to take the trouble to go through the visa application procedures if just for six months or so. So finding full-time employment would not be realistic. Even if unpaid, doing volunteer work might be difficult if without the language skills.
- If she comes on a student visa (to study at the same school) you and she can do part-time work up to 20 hours a week (I believe), but it takes good attendance record and good grades, as well as a separate application procedure, after a few months into your/study, for a permission to engage in paid work.

So altogether, if she does not have the confidence to be able to support herself during the six months, it sounds somewhat difficult. Also you might want to check what kind of accommodation the school is providing for you (dormitory, apartment, etc).

I'd like to elaborate a little more on AK's answer... If she accompanies you on a tourist visa, you'll also need to find out if she can stay with you. As mentioned, you'll probably have a problem if you're staying in a dorm, it's unlikely that you'll be able to stay together. If you are renting your own apartment it may not be a problem, but my landlord was not very keen when he found out my fiance was visiting me so much (however, he had his own apartment just down the street) and wanted to charge me more for 2 people. If your apartment is subsidized in some way by your school, etc., and they find out someone else is staying there, you may have trouble, too, so it's best to sort that out before you go.

No one's mentioned it yet, and it may not be appropriate for you, but have you considered becoming legally married? That would allow your fiancee to obtain a dependent visa and the benefits that come with it.