moving to Japan

I have been married to a Japanese girl for 17 years in London and want to sell up and buy land in hokkaido to become self sufficient in food and energy.I will work if needs be.Does anybody know the best way to approach the minefield of immigration and has anybody done ,or knows someone who has done something similar?

when you are married to japanese national you can get a spouse visa and you can attain any work you`ll like to do.
I don`t think that you will have so much trouble.
just get the right documents (12 I think) and no mine will be on your way to immigration.

As dotcom says, if you are married to a Japanese national and apply for/obtain Spouse of Japanese National etc. visa status, you can live in Japan together with your Japanese spouse with no restriction on work.

I don't know under what law you've gotten married, but for example if you got married under UK law, it would be easiest in term of paperwork if you register (or have registered) your UK marriage with the Japanese authorities, meaning through Embassy of Japan in the UK or through your spouse coming to Japan in person and registering with the city hall where she has lived/the two of you will live.

I assume that the two of you will be moving to Japan together of course :)

I agree with dotcom and AK. When you marry a Japanese National, then you can move to Japan under spousal visa. Most of the documentation and application can be done at the Japanese Embassy/Consulate in UK.

It is true that Japanese marriage system is slightly different from those in other countries. They stress the "Koseki" system. Once a woman marries a man, her Koseki is moved to the husband's Koseki. This is true if she married a Japanese man. But if she married a foreigner in a foreign country, then as far as her "koseki" is concerned she is still with her original parents' koseki so in the eyes of the japanese system, she is still unmarried. That's why it is important to register your marriage with the Japanese Embassy/Consulate in London. That way, it becomes official.
There is another interesting legal custom in japan. It is the "yooshi" system. Instead of the wife entering into the husband's koseki, the husband enters the wife's koseki. He then takes the wife's last name. This is very important for a foreigner marrying a Japanese woman in japan. The foreigner is now established as having a permanet koseki in japan where the wife resides. This is even a stronger position because theoretically he has Japanese Koseki without Japanese citizenship. The only analogy I can compare is the difference between United States Citizenship and United States National. A US national cannot vote but is legally able to stay in the United States as US National and not a foreigner or a permanent resident.

Anyway, your marriage to the Japanese woman is the ticket to moving to Japan permanently. And the maze of immigration procedure is not any different from immigration to any other country. Japan has changed a lot in the last 30 years to become a very cosmopolitan all inclusive nation. Immigration became easier.

My sister and her family are Japanese citizens and they had no difficulty. She married a Japanese man.

Chad

Like what everyone else said, you'll have no problem doing what you intend to do if you have a spouse visa. I don't think you'll have any problems getting the visa from immigrations considering the length of your marriage.

To clarify what chad said, when a Japanese woman marries a foreign man she usually creates her own koseki. She has the choice of keeping her own Japanese surname or taking her husband's surname. The husband does *not* take his wife's Japanese surname. That usually only happens if he becomes a Japanese citizen and chooses to use her wife's name as his Japanese name.

I don't know what you mean by the foreigner husband having a Japanese koseki but being listed as a husband on his wife's koseki does not grant him the legal right to live in Japan. His right to live in Japan is given by the immigration office. It's really not anything like US citizen vs. US national.

It is the "yooshi" system. Instead of the wife entering into the husband's koseki, the husband enters the wife's koseki. He then takes the wife's last name.

Chad, I think you might be complicating things a bit too much, and since the original poster HAS BEEN married already (he's not getting married afresh under the Japanese law), no need to go through this process at all. On the basis of the marriage to a Japanese national, and life in Japan with the spouse, you get a (renewable) spouse visa.

Jonathan, if you have been married to your Japanese wife under a law other than the Japanese law, just register with the Japanese authorities; that would suffice. Marriage with you will appear under your wife's koseki (family register) something along the line of: Ms. So-and-so, married to Jonathan Solomon, a (for example) UK national, under (for exampe) UK law, on (date) 1982; which marriage was reported to the city hall of (city name), Japan.

The biggest problem is that you can not make your living in Hokkaido because you can not buy farm land.

Me and my Japanese girlfriend want to finalize our relationship. As far we decide I want to change my surname for her. Posts above confused me can I do this or it is not possible and she has to take my surname.

Is it common in your country for a man to take his wife's name? It's not common to do that here in Japan.

Neither you nor your wife have to change names after marriage. Most international couples (well, at least those that include Western males) don't change their names in Japan.

I'm curious to know why you would want to do that.

In my country usually women takes husband's name but it is not mandatory. Man can also take wife's name if he wants.

Reason why... My surname is quite difficult to spell and long. Sometimes even in my country for people with wrong diction. I can imagine it is hard for Japanese people. Fiancée's name is short and easy.
Second reason is more personal. It is about my family and my childhood but I keep details for myself.
If I had fiancée from the country I am from I am sure I would change my name for wifes.

I have read about this before somewhere so I believe it is possible for you to take your fiancee's surname. Be prepared to spend half your life explaining to people why you have a Japanese surname though.

Thank you AK by making things simpler.

In my case, I married a Japanese woman in the United States. My wife did not tell the Japanese authorities in the Japanese consulate in California so she kept her Japanese passport untouched just as if she was before she got married. She was not interested in getting permanent status in the US at that time either.

Well, I went to Japan to study at Keio University and guess what... I got into a real mess with Japanese Immigration because I was not properly married yet. I have to formerly re-register in Japan using the US marriage certificate, then have my wife's registry changed and after 3 months, things got cleared. I missed first 2 months of classes in Keio University. But that was 30 years ago and I guess Immigration is much easier in Japan today.

That was my personal experience so it does not count.

Chad

Me and my Japanese girlfriend want to finalize our relationship. As far we decide I want to change my surname for her. Posts above confused me can I do this or it is not possible and she has to take my surname.

Neither has to take the other's name. Each spouse can keep his and her full name, just as they are.

If you get married under the Japanese law, and if the Japanese national to change her surname to the foreign national's; she has to apply within six months of marriage by submitting "change of sur/family name" to the city hall, and without getting any decision by a family court. (If beyond six months, she will have to get permission from a family court.)

In the case of the foreign nationalt wishing to change the surname to the Japanese spouse's: I have not found any reference, and I believe that since "koseki" (family register) where the birth, marriage, etc. are entered belong only to Japanese nationals, I don't think there is any way to have your surname changed on "Japanese documents." Maybe.... under Alien Registration, you can register your wife's surname as "also known as..." name.

What I mean is this. If you are Bob Smith and your wife-to-be is Mari Suzuki, when you get married, she normally established her koseki (away from her parents'), and she will be the head of the family on this register. Then:
Mari Suzuki, born XX/XX/XXXX
Established her own register on date WW/WW/WWWW from her parents' register.
In the remarks column,
Married to a UK national Bob Smith under UK law, date YY/YY/YYYY, marriage reported to the Tokyo city hall on WW/WW/WWWW.
or
Married to a UK national Bob Smith under Japanese law, dated YY/YY/YYYY.

On your Alien Registration, you can have:
Name: Bob Smith
Also known as: ボブ・スミス (in katakana), and ボブ・スズキ (Bob Suzuki in katakana).
... if you apply to have such information entered.

But this does not mean that you have been entered into the "koseki" or anything, and your name as it appears in your passport (according to your country's law) will remain the same.

Chad,

Thank you for sharing your experience. Sorry that you had to miss classes that long due to Immigration! Yes, I think Immigration became friendlier over the years - even the office building is better :) I suppose we went through a similar process. I (Japanese) got married to an EU national in the UK (marriage certificate under UK law), well at that time I did not report the marriage to the Japanese authorities because we wanted to live in the UK, so I got residence permit in the UK.

Things changed and we ended up back in Japan - so we took our UK marriage certificate to the city hall in Japan, registered it with the authorities (so that my spouse appears in the "remarks" column of my register), and since then he's been on spouse visa, no problem. To me, as long as the marriage is registered with the Japanese authorities, the foreign spouse staying in Japan is as simple as that; I just wanted to say that bringing up the "yooshi" system was not critically necessary in the original poster's situation, that's all.

It seems like the easiest way to use your future wife's surname is to legally change your name in your home country before ever coming to Japan. If your name says Bob Suzuki on your passport, then that's the name they'll use on Japanese documents like the ARC or driver's license. However, I believe your name will still be considered "foreign" and be written in katakana instead of kanji.

Thank You all for reply. Today I was talking with her about this and she research internet Japanese pages. I don't understand them. But according to her I can take her name. This is what she found.
http://kekkon.homn.net/kokusai.html#kokusai06

I hope I paste correct article. I will try to read it on google translator again but it doesn't work very well. :)

日本で外国人と結婚した場合、基本的に日本人の姓はそのままです。「戸籍に記載されるのは日本人だけ」という規則があり、外国人の配偶者を戸籍に載せることはできません。婚姻の事実は身分事項欄に記載されます。

日本人同士の場合は「同一戸籍の人間の姓は同一でなければならない」という規則があるので、どちらかの姓に統一する必要がありますが、国際結婚の場合は、日本人しか戸籍に載らないため、必ずしも姓を統一する必要はありません。

身分事項欄に記載される外国人配偶者の名前は、カタカナで姓→名の順番になります。漢字を使う国なら、日本漢字の範囲内で漢字で名前を記載することが可狽ﾅす。ドットやスペース、ハイフンなどは入らないので、ミドルネームはファーストネームのあとに続けて記載されます。

日本人同士の結婚と同じように、新しい戸籍ができるまでには約１ヶ月かかります。早急に結婚事実の証明が必要な場合は、婚姻受理証明書を発行してもらいましょう。

国際結婚をした場合、日本の姓を残すか外国人配偶者の姓に統一するか悩みますよね。日本で生活するなら、日本姓の方が都合がいいし、外国で生活するにしても日本人であることを忘れたくないという人もいます。

日本人は結婚後、６ヶ月以内であれば届け出るだけで姓を変更できます。ですから結婚後の必要性に応じて結論を出したいという人は、結婚と同時に姓を変更しなくてもいいわけです。姓変更の際に必要なものは「外国人との婚姻による氏の変更届け」と「戸籍謄（抄）本」です。必要部数などあらかじめ問い合わせて確認しましょう。
名字は日本のまま？

日本の場合は市町村役場へ、外国の場合は在外大使館、領事館へ届け出ます。６ヶ月過ぎた後は、住んでいる地域の家庭裁判所への垂ｵ立てが必要になります。外国に住んでいる場合は、東京家庭裁判所へ垂ｵ立てます。日本人が姓を変更した場合、戸籍の筆頭者の名前には線が引かれ新しい名前が記載されます。

nfs,

This article is only talking about what happens to the "Japanese national's" surname upon marriage with a foreign national. Basically, if the couple does not take any extra procedures, the couple retains their maiden names respectively. It only tells you what to do in case the Japanese spouse wants to change her/his name to the foreign national's.

As Jerolm suggested, I think you might have to investigate into how you might be able to change your family name according to your country's laws...