Hi all and thanks for the help! Some basic info to help give context.
My wife and I are both US citizens. I studied in Japan in 2013, and lived there with the English teacher/specialist visa from 2015-2020. She's been there since 2017 and works for one of the major ESL companies (currently on a 5 year visa). We got married earlier this year and have a Ko-in Todoke Juri Someisho from our local ward office.
Like the title says, I'm trying to get back to join her over there in mid-late 2025. It sounds like a dependent visa is the thing we are trying for but honestly every time I search for anything it leaves me more confused than when I started. Is a dependent visa the right choice? And if it is how am I supposed to get a COE? We checked with her company's HR dept and they can't/won't provide a dependent CoE (which makes sense, but we had to check at least).
I've got a really great job as a remote consultant for a company in the US, if I reduce my hours to 28/week would I be able to keep my current career? My employer has agreed to the potential reduction and offered to write verification of income docs if needed. Its good money, but its still far from what I'd need to self-sponsor.
Should I just bite the proverbial bullet and get an immigration lawyer?
Thanks again
by Smoking-Salamander