Spouse visa but maybe no work

Hi, all.

I put the motions in place and I am moving to Japan with my Japanese wife soon. The plan has always been to work with my current company remotely, however they are having new reservations about me moving and may not be happy with the entire idea, however I have to go for the sake of our relationship.

I am trying to figure out what my options are, and see what I have to work with. My question is: my wife is Japanese, so the plan was to apply for a spouse visa. However, she's telling me that if I don't have a job when I arrive, it might be very difficult to obtain a spouse visa. I have to show that I make income enough to support our family, and from a stable job.

We have a sizable savings that we can tap into that would let us live in Japan for a year or so comfortably, even with no income. With minimal income (if I have to leave this job and find something in Japan that just pays the bills), it would be much easier, although maybe not that great for my career depending on what I find once I'm there.

Reading a few other threads, I should probably preface this in saying that I'm a college graduate from a good university, somewhat beginning/middle of my career, and doing alright for myself right now in the IT/Business field. I speak some Japanese, but not at business conversation level (my goal was to go to Japan and be able to do so, as I feel I'm being held back where I currently am since I don't have any reason to speak the language).

Our other option, which we prefer not to do, is to have her parents sponsor me in some way. Even though it'd still be a spouse visa, show that I have their support if need be. However we'd rather not go that route as it would be a burden on her parents that I don't wish to put on them unless I exhaust all my other possibilities.

So yeah, I'm not going into this starry-eyed, but instead trying to be very realistic about the situation. We have to live in Japan for our relationship at the moment, but I just want to see if the country will let me stay, even if things don't work out with my current employer.

Thanks for any replies.

You say you have to live in Japan for your relationship which I assume means your wife has to move there to work.

Your wife can be your sponsor for your application so long as she is employed in Japan at the time of the application.
http://www.japan-guide.com/forum/quereadisplay.html?0+6...
Hope that helps

You don't say where in Japan you are moving, but if it is in or near Tokyo then with your background you stand a chance of getting a job with one of the foreign companies with headquarters in Tokyo, although it is not as easy these days because of the recession. My husband works in IT at a foreign insurance company and they are still laying off non-permanent staff there.

The working language at these companies is usually English, so you can get a job without Japanese skills, although the more Japanese you can speak, the more jobs will open up to you of course.

You should probably start with the big IT recruiters- previously these were Robert Half, James Harvard and another Robert ...... (the full company name escapes me now I'm sorry) among others, however I hear at least one of these companies has changed its name recently.

If you will not be in/near Tokyo then the opportunities in this field are far fewer and you might have to go for teaching English instead.

Why are you thinking that sponsoring your visa will put a burden on your wife's parents? All they have to do is fill out about half a page of paperwork, after that there is nothing they need to do. It's pretty standard for couples just arriving in Japan when neither of them have a job yet.

Hi Sira,
The parents are also required to provide bank statements showing that they can financially support him in case of any problems. Unless something has changed in the last 2 years i believe this is still the case.
My wife's parents felt that was too intrusive and refused to provide. I didn't particularly blame them either.

Ah, that's right. It's a bit of an imposition perhaps, not so much of a "burden" to be putting on them. If neither he or his wife have jobs when they are applying for the spouse visa though, I don't really see what choice they have.

They will also probably need someone to act as guarantor if they move into their own apartment, and this might have to be the parents as well unless there are friends or relatives they can ask.

You said that you will work by remote, I supose from your current job right, just give them that information, shouldn't be a problem.
In any case you have 90 days before appling for your spousal visa when you arrive here in Japan

Your "sizable" savings should be enough to keep immigrations happy. No need to get your parents-in-law involved.

I hope your wife is asking the immigrations office in Japan and not the embassy. The embassy staff can be quite clueless and misinformed about these things.

desertmover,

Does/will your wife have work/income in Japan? If yes, you can just show her work contract to show that you two as a couple have some kind of income, and say that you are looking for a job anew. If not, you can show your savings (if asked), and say that you are looking for a job now.

This is from my personal experience: I'm a Japanese national with a non-Japanese spouse. When we applied for his spouse visa while in Japan (he used to be on a company-sponsored visa, but they terminated his contract), he was out of work. At that time I did not have regular "salary" type of income either. But I took my tax return from the previous year (just to show that I had some kind of income, though it was not much), and just turned in a note about what my spouse is doing, meaning, that he is looking for a new job. That sufficed, and he started off with a one-year spouse visa. No support from parents or whatsoever, but it was fine.

OP here.

To answer a few questions, yes I plan to be around Tokyo area (where my wife's parents still live). The reason why I believe it'd be a burden to ask them for sponsorship is that I've heard that it's more than just half a page worth of paperwork, but instead it also requires they get their paystubs to show that they are financially stable as well. I also don't want to ask them unless it's the final option. I wanted to do this on my own to the best of my abilities, and although they have accepted me into their family, asking them to do such a thing for me would require both humility on my side and generosity on theirs. But if it comes down to it, it might be an option.

I will look into the recruitment firms that the previous poster mentioned. I did have experience a year ago with one of those company's recruiters when we tried to find a job in Japan while I was still in the US. It left a very poor taste in my mouth, but it was just one of the companies. The other ones were much better, but things just never materialized (and, in many ways, they said I would have a far better chance if I lived in Japan than finding a company willing to sponsor me and move me over).

What it's looking like is that I am going to try my best to make things work between my current employer so that I can get to Japan and get my visa, but in the case that it doesn't work I can show all my bank statements and investment portfolio and show that I am able to live comfortably for a while, and submit a note that I am looking for work immediately. If that doesn't work, I'll ask my parents in law to sponsor me, but I want to leave that as a last option.

How's that sound?

Very few companies will bring people from overseas unless it is an intra-company transfer.

Once you are in Japan with a spouse visa, you will be in a far better position and much more attractive to potential employers.

My husband and quite a few of our friends got their jobs through the companies I mentioned, and nobody had anything negative to report.

One thing I recommend is not to apply one way, and if it fails - apply another way etc.. This can hinder your chances as evident by the people that tried to abuse the system and complained on gaijinjobs forums.
Stick with the method that meets all the criteria from the start.
Sira's right though, it is practically only half a page paperwork for the wife's parents to fill, it's not a burden just perhaps a bit intrusive for some.
Why not just have your wife sponsor?

OP here.

Actually, my wife is not working at the moment. She took time off from her career to be with me in the US, and eventually help us get settled in Japan. When we're more set, then she might return to work, or we might think about starting a family soon. But as it stands now, I do not think she will meet the requirements to sponsor me.

But things got worked out with my employers. It's not the best of solutions, but I will be traveling to Japan as planned and still remain employed with the company. It'll be a bit harder than before, but it does get us to our goals.

So I guess now I should ask: what's the best way to apply for a spouse visa with the highest chance of success? What it's looking like is: letter from the company saying that I work there, pay stubs for as long back as I can provide them, proof of our marriage, photos of us together for the past 6 years... anything else?

My wife seems to think your company would need to have a presence in Japan for that to work.

What we did though was did the whole wife sponsor thing. She lived in Australia with me but she left early to find a job and apartment. It would mean you would have to spend a little bit of time apart from her though.

Easiest thing in your situation though would be the parents :)

When it comes to spouse visas, immigration officers are more concerned about the authenticity of your marriage than your employment status. You said you have enough savings to live off of for one year. You have absolutely nothing to worry about (as far as your visa is concerend) by saying you'll be looking for work once you arrive in Japan or by saying you'll be employed by your current company.

I agree with the above post by ". (guest)," and that's what I meant to say by my earlier post as well :) You can state that you are looking for a job, that should be fine. You show up together (preferably) to Immigration, show your savings to say that you have sufficient financial means, and that should be OK.

By the way, about your "remote" work (because someone mentioned that your company might have to have an office in Japan): once you have your Spouse visa, it's no problem, you can engage in any work you want, be it that you are paid by a non-Japanese entity resident outside Japan. But if not on Spouse visa, non-Japanese individuals need to be hired by either a Japanese company or a Japan office/branch/rep office of a non-Japanese entity. So it would have meant that your employer needed to have some office in Japan, to which they send you as Inter-company transferee.

I had no problem getting a visa in Japan. I was working in Hong Kong, got laid off and then got married. My wife is Japanese. i moved to Japan, had little savings and no job. I applied for the spouse visa but they kept screwing up the paperwork. One woman at immigration suggested changing my tourist visa status to permanent resident status. that way I didn't have to leave Japan. I filled out a form and next week received a letter in the mail. I went to immigration and they stamped my passport with a 3 year visa. Now if I could find a job my life would be perfect lol :-)

OP here again. I'm posting this from Japan.

I made the "move," but we're trying to figure out the best way to go about changing my status. As it stands now, I'm currently here on a 90 day visitor visa.

We have a "Certificate of Eligibility" form, and a "Change of Status" form as well. I think we are going to go straight to the Change of Status form, and apply directly for a spouse visa.

It looks like we're going to the guarantor route, although my wife's parents weren't too happy with the idea. It looks like the safest bet, but they were a bit taken aback by the amount of information asked. I am indebted to them for doing such a thing for me, but I do feel as if I have sullied the relationship between me and them a bit by asking.

I'm wondering how we can prove that I have work in America that will let met work here. We got a letter from them, signed by myself and one of the managing partners (including his business card) stating that they are allowing me to work in Japan and it does not affect my employment. But it isn't official or anything (as official as anything gets in Japan), so do you think this will be useful?

What should be our next steps? Thinking:

1. Fill out the form for Change of Status
2. Fill out the other forms explaining our marriage
3. Attach/bring copies of our marriage certificate, bank statements.
4. Attach that letter we got from the company?
5. Attach photographs of us together over the years.

Anything else? To be honest, this is bringing a lot of stress to our relationship.

desertmover,

I know, we were worried like crazy when we went to apply for a change to spouse visa without employment. But you don't have to stress over this. All they want to see is that your marriage is genuine.

If your in-laws are not happy about being the guarantor, don't push them for it.

I am only speaking from my past experience and cannot guarantee of course that it will definitely be like this, but as far as I know:

I would just fill out the Application for Change of Status, let your wife fill out the guarantor form (the one that says the guarantor guarantees that the foreign spouse abides by the Japanese laws, and also that she will bear living expenses and return travel if leaving Japan, etc. The Japanese "spouse! has to fill this out anyway for a spouse visa), bank statement (to show your savings), and yes, the letter from your company as well. If possible, get your wife to type up a Japanese translation of the letter and attach as reference as well. The letter does not have to be an official document, but what matters to them is that the Japanese party (in this case your wife) is fully committed to it. Maybe you have some paper to show your last year's income in the US (to show what kind of skill level/income prospects you have should you look for a job in Japan)?

As I said in my earlier post, we applied for spouse visa with my non-Japanese spouse not holding any job at the time, and myself with very limited income. All Immigration wanted to see was that we have been married. And to explain the spouse's situation, all we did was to write a note saying that the spouse was looking for a new job currently.

Just be sure to say that you "will" resume work for your US company "after" you get settled down and get your spouse visa (just so that you don't sound like you are now continuing work under your temporary visitor status).

Another minor thing: Immigration wants to KEEP the photocopy of all reference documents, but tends to want to see the original too (to be sure that no document was forged), so take photocopies in advance, and take the photocopies together with the originals. Submit just the copies, of course. This should keep you from the hassle of running to the convenience store downstairs (if at Tokyo central Immigration in Shinagawa) for taking copies :)

Got my postcard in the mail yesterday! 5 days, really fast. Thanks all that gave advice. I think we were making too big a deal out of it. My father in law did end up being a guarantor.

Now although I'm here, and still working for my old company, I'm going to look for something new. Having to basically work the night shift is killing me already.