Obtain Spouse Visa

Dear all,

I am Japanese and got married here in USA, now planning to move back to Tokyo with my wife (American), as soon as we move back I will get her status change to Spouse Visa, so my question is what documents do I/we need to get her a visa? Any information will do, thank you.

KT

By all means, ask these questions to your local immigration bureau in Japan or the Japanese embassy or consulate in your wife's country. They will able to provide you with the exact list of requirements for your specific case.

when did you get married? when do you plan on moving back?


First of all, you need to register the marriage with the Japan Consulate in your state.

if you arent moving back to japan anytime soon, you need to register it within 3 months. you need a copy of your koseki-tohon, and the marriage certificate, copy of your Passport, copy of her passport or birth certificate. If its passport, it needs to have been issued before you got married. (proof that she was a citizen already before the marriage).

if you plan on going back to japan like in 2 weeks, then I guess you can just register it then at your ku-yakusho.


Have you done this already? Then we can move to the next step.

thanks for the info, we are moving back very soon, and don't think we have time to do all these, since I can enter Japan for 90 days, can I get all these done over there?

We've got married few years ago, I heard there is fine for not register our marriage?! Gosh I hope this isnt going to be a problem, but thanks anyway.

K

What do you mean by you can enter Japan for 90 days? Do you not have a Japanese Passport? Did you become a US citizen? If so, it's going to be more complicated.

I (= Japanese national) got married in the UK and because my spouse and I intended to stay in the UK, it never occurred to me to register our UK marriage with the Japanese authorities at all. But we returned to Japan eventually, and when I reported our marriage after-the-fact to the city hall (so that my non-Japanese spouse could apply for his spouse visa), they sent me a notice with the fine (2,000 yen). I panicked and called, and they assured me it wouldn't go on my criminal record or anything lol, and that it was just procedural. No big deal. I had to pay the fine and write a letter of apology, stating the reason why I hadn't reported it in the first place (one of the reasons was that I did not know that such rule existed), simple.

Why the 90-day time frame?
Oh well,
Look up the Japanese Ministry of Justice homepage and follow the instructions for changing your wife's status of residency to "Spouse of Japanese national"
MOJ homepage: http://www.moj.go.jp/ONLINE/IMMIGRATION/16-2.html
Says it takes 1-3 months. (Mine took less than that)

jmarkley,

Tokyonet's question on "why the 90-day time frame?" was because the original poster kt622 said he was a Japanese national - then why the 90-day limit? It's only his non-Japanese spouse who has that limit. So the natural question is: does kt622 still hold a Japanese passport, or has he given up J nationality and has become a US citizen?

I think everyone (until kt622 dropped the 30-day thing) was replying assuming that he is a Japanese passport holder. If not, as Tokyonet says, things will be far more complicated.

If kt622 holds Japanese passport, and comes with his non-Japanese spouse into Japan (she with the 90-day limit), and applies for a change of status for her, once it is underway, she can stay in Japan until they hear from Immigration. But it's best to ask Immigration or Consulate about the details in any case :)

I am sorry, my bad...i mean my wife (american) she can enter Japan without visa for 90 days...
so I get her status change in Japan...sorry for the confusion.

KT

kt622,

That's what I thought you *might* have meant :)

Please have a look at my answer on this thread:
http://www.japan-guide.com/forum/quereadisplay.html?0+78632