Hi everyone, I have read through a lot of posts on here regarding the spousal visa process, have read through the wiki and read through Japanese immigration sites but there's a point that I'm still not clear about.
I am a British citizen currently residing in the UK. I have recently become engaged to my long-distance partner, who is a Japanese citizen currently living in Japan. We are planning to get married early next year.
From the information I have found online, it appears that I would need to enter Japan on a tourist visa, get married there, then return to the UK while the spouse visa is being processed. Once the visa is approved, I would collect the visa from the Japanese embassy in the UK, and I would re-enter Japan under the spouse visa.
Could you please confirm if this is the correct process? From what I have heard, attempting to change my visa status from tourist to spouse without leaving Japan has a high chance of the application being denied. I would like to confirm if this is the case as ideally I would not have to hop back and forth between the UK and Japan. Also it's not ideal to get married, and then have to leave and be separated for multiple months, however if this is the safest and recommended route, we will make do.
Thank you for your help
by BrilliantDandy