Entering Japan Married to Japanese National

I was married recently with a Japanese national. I am flying to Japan in December to live with him permanently in Japan. I only have a one way ticket which is logical since I intend to stay their permanently with him.

What documents will I need to enter the country?

I am a US citizen, I know of spouse visa's but not sure how to go through with everything.

thank you in advance to all who help.

As a US national, all you need to "enter" Japan is your passport. Then you will be given a Temporary Visitor status stamped in your passport, which allows you to stay in Japan for 90 days, during which you need to apply for Change of Residence Status to "spouse visa" with the local Immigration Bureau in order for your to stay in Japan long-term as his wife.

So I assume you've gotten married to your Japanese spouse in the US? Has he reported the marriage to the Japanese Consulate in the US? Probably not, since you say "recently." Then be sure to bring the official copy of the US marriage certificate, and have your husband make a translation of it into Japanese. He needs to report his marriage to you to the city hall where he lives/you will live in Japan. Only when his marriage to you gets recorded in the family register, the two of you can start the process of changing your status to that of "Spouse of Japanese national."

Please have him look up all visa-related information on Ministry of Foreign Affairs and/or Ministry of Justice websites for the procedures to change to Spouse status. There are many documents such as proof of his employment/income or tax payment, proof of your relationship (photos, etc.) and a guarantor letter (to be signed by him), etc.

Also ask him to check with his city hall in advance exactly what documents are needed (the requirements may vary depending on the municipality) when he registers his marriage to you.

thank you very much, you are right he hasn't done that just yet, he will once he is back in Japan though.

also it is fine for me to enter japan on tourist visa then with a one way ticket? i have found mixed answers on the subject.

thank you for everything :)

You can always get a round-trip ticket and "throw away" the other half. Roundtrip tickets tend to be a lot cheaper then one-way tickets anyway.

YMMV

my one way ticket is cheaper than any round ticket i could have purchased. I have to fly delta since i am bringing a pet and American Airlines being the cheapest right now to japan doesn't allow pets in the cabin. I initially saved a bunch of money doing a one way ticket.

You could buy a cheap ticket out of the nation (to South Korea for example), so that you can enter without problems, then cancel it when you have your new resident status. Or, enjoy Seoul ^_^

Sarah,
I've entered Japan more than a dozen times and I have never been asked if I had a return ticket.
Also, you should ask the Japanese Embassy or Consulate about your married status, visa, etc.

It's not necessarily dependent on immigration - the airline may not let you on the plane in the first place. (and you are unlikely to get a clear answer on that in advance).

When I first came to Japan (married to a Japanese on a tourist visa) I had a one year return ticket. Down the track I ended up getting a one way ticket here.

If you think you're likely to want to take a trip back within a year, it could be a good option.

I agree with girltokyo- many airlines will not let you board the plane if you do not yet have a visa allowing you to live in Japan and only have a one-way ticket. You might want to phone your airline to check with their policy on this.

Immigration does insist that people coming on tourist permits have tickets out of Japan, and although they don't often check themselves, they fine the airline heavily if for whatever reason the person is refused entry to Japan and it is found that they don't have any onward/return travel arranged.

I have a spouse visa, but the airline staff almost always check my passport carefully to see that it contains a visa letting me go to Japan without onward travel anytime I fly back there from another country.

I also second the above, are you quite sure that you won't want to make a trip back to your home country at any point in the first year? I am married to a Japanese guy but make regular trips to my home country- I like to go shopping there and even buy things from the supermarket as much as anything (I'm tall and have a limited choice of clothing in Japan) as well as to see family and friends of course!

I also have to do things from time to time like renew my driver's license and deal with the bank which I can get done on trips home. Have you spent much time out of the States before, to know that you won't feel homesick at all in your first year in Japan and want to make a trip home?

i lived in japan for 6 months this year, i cannot afford constant trips back and forth between the US but the ticket is already purchased. people are failing to realize this.

I just need to know what documents i should get before entering the country.

Tickets can often be changed, that is why people are suggesting you change your ticket- not because they don't realise you have bought it already.

If you can't change the ticket, you should then be prepared for the possibility that the ground crew will not even let you check in without a long-term visa for Japan. Plenty of people have been made to purchase expensive full fare return tickets at the airport on the day, or not be able go to Japan at all.

This is why I say you really need to check your airline's policy on this- wouldn't you rather find out now that you need to buy another ticket, than on the day of departure? That's not a gamble I would want to be taking myself.

Arriving with your dog is also likely to get you extra interest from Immigration and customs at the Japanese airport as you are clearly not the average tourist.

Depending on the official you get, you may be given a hard time about not having a flight out of Japan (even though you are married to a Japanese national, your status is still no different to that of any other tourist arriving at this point).

Again, up to you, but at the very least call the airline.

The onward flight requirement aside, if you are asking what documents you require for a spouse visa (it wasn't really clear from your original post), there are plenty of sources for this information on the internet, including a number of discussions on the topic on this site.

Here is a list from another site:

http://www.juridique.jp/visa2.html

(Scroll down to "For a visa granted according to your family status (Spouse of a Japanese national) etc").

Japanese embassies and consulates are also a good source of information for this kind of thing. The Japanese Ministry of Justice's website has the most accurate information- you should find these with a simple search, and from the MOJ website you should also be able to download most of the forms you will need to fill out.

Bring along some candid photos of yourselves- they like to see photos taken at different times/locations, and if the photos include other family members, all the better.

Most other documents are ones that you will need to get in Japan (juminhyo, koseki, tax certificates and proof of employment for your husband etc.)

If you apply for your spouse visa from OS, you can't come to Japan on it until it has been issued. (The reason I came on a tourist visa was because they gave a 3 month time frame.)

If you only have a one way ticket, you may not be allowed on the plane. The fact you have spent 6 months in Japan, and are married probably gives them enough reason to think you do not plan to return - grounds for refusing you onto the plane in the first place.
There is no guarantee of that of course. Neither the airline nor Japanese immigration will give definitive answers in advance AFAIK.


So it seems your options are.
1. Try to fly on a one way ticket - take your chances.
2. Buy an open return ticket.
3. Buy an onward ticket to somewhere else that allows you to cancel it without penalty.
4. Wait until your spouse visa is processed and then come. If you are bringing a dog, I think this makes the most sense.

I'm not bringing a dog, it's a household bird and from what i have researched they don't have to go through quarantine. When I bought the ticket the lady i dealt with said I just had to get proper documents to enter the country, she just didn't tell me what documents. I sent her an email asking her more on the situation so I am hoping she answers soon.

I don't know what the lady means- maybe she assumed you were organising the spouse visa in advance? All a US tourist needs to enter Japan is a passport.

Dog, bird, doesn't matter- if Immigration has any way of knowing that you have a pet arriving it immediately becomes obvious you are not just an ordinary tourist. But as I and others have said, your greater concern is whether the airline will let you board at all. The fact that you have already bought the ticket is neither here nor there to the airline or the Immigration authorities.

Anyway, good luck and hope it goes smoothly.

Remember that travel agents are not immigration agents....

The Japanese embassy are a better source of information - as Sira has already been pointed out - but even they are not in a position to advice authoritatively as it is a matter for the immigration dept. to approve immigration matters.

Personally I wouldn't be bringing in an animal on a one way ticket.

Good luck