Hello! I'm seeking advice on a path to living in Japan for the long-term. My question is around how I can obtain a valid visa for my wife that will allow her to continue working her self-employed job.
Some background information:
– My wife and I are both foreigners (late 20s) from Southeast Asia.
– I work in software engineering and qualify for the HSP visa, and have 80 PR points.
– My wife works a self-employed content creation job on social media.
Given that my wife earns significantly more than the 1.3M cap for dependents of HSP, we will not be able to live together long-term while I'm on the HSP visa.
As such, my goal is to enter on the HSP and immediately kick off the PR application after 12 months. After obtaining PR, my wife will be eligible for the spouse of PR visa and will be able to work her job without any income restrictions.
Assuming this plan is valid, this still leaves about 12 months + more than 12 months of PR application wait time, which means we would be apart for 2 years or more. I'm thinking of possible visas my wife can obtain to spend as much time in Japan in the meantime.
From my research, it sounds like the options for her are:
– Digital nomad visa every year, allowing her to work in Japan for 6 months at a time. However, it seems like to re-qualify, she has to be out of the country for a consecutive 6 months (can't even enter on a tourist visa).
– Obtaining a dependent of HSP visa, and continue working and earning above the dependent visa cap, with the expectation that I'll be able to get PR and she'll be able to convert to spouse visa before HSP renewal. I'm not sure if a history of violating the cap here will impact her chances of getting a spouse visa.
– Working holiday visa is not an option as we are not from an eligible country.
P.S. To throw a wrench into things, my wife and I are hoping to have a child as soon as possible. As such, we want a way to be together as much as possible, so that we both can be present to take care of our future baby.
I intend to speak to an immigration lawyer at some point, but I would love to get some early feedback on my current understanding. Thanks in advance 🙂
by jp_aspirant