In a couple of years we intend to retire from the US to Japan and are trying to gather info and plan things out. My wife is Japanese and we have been married for decades. She grew up in Japan and graduated from a university there.
We visit regularly to see her mom and spend time searching for a neighborhood we want to move to.
We have adequate savings, etc.
What is the proper order? Rent a place so she has a Japanese address then return to US and apply for a spousal visa at the Japanese embassy in the US? Or can we just get the visa using our American address and find an apartment later?
Or apply for spousal visa after we move to Japan? Does one way vs another make a difference in the length of my visa?
Is there a FAQ? I looked in the About section and did not see it.
Thank you.
by SicilyMalta
6 comments
Less where from but more issues on the process.
You shouldn’t have any problem getting the visa, but Pro tip is to apply early. Japanese immigration is backed up and because of the marriage fraud out there it can take well over 6 months after you send in the application for them to look at it.
That’s assuming you do all the very complicated paperwork correctly.
Make sure you have family pictures showing you actually live together and be prepared to need to go in for an interview.
If you or your wife are properly detail oriented to a Japanese level then it should be fine to fill out the application yourself, if not a scrivener can help for relatively low cost.
As far as I know spouse visa is always 1 year renewal to start, no longer.
Due to fraud out there they want to check after a year to prove you are still living together.
Start spouse visa before renting. It’s going to take a few months to process and why pay for rent for multiple months: once that is done, start looking for places to rent. We had to pay rent one month early to reserve the house but better than 3 or 4 months while waiting for the visa processing and finishing dealing with your US stuff. It’s pretty unlikely that you would literally leave the US the day you pick up your visa from the embassy. It took us about a month to deal with selling cars , giving away stuff, closing accounts, etc…
Generally speaking you need someone in Japan to act as a guarantor of sorts. If your mother-in-law is still alive and kicking then she could be this person. There is no legal obligation or promise of financial support. It’s more about someone in Japan promising immigration that they’ll make sure you know the rules of society and follow them.
From the United States you can submit the complete application following these instructions:
https://www.us.emb-japan.go.jp/itpr_en/visa-dependent.html
If your mother-in-law is no longer in the picture and you don’t have anyone in Japan to act as the guarantor, then your wife would need to go back and establish residency.
Whether or not you go with them at this point is mostly a matter of whether or not you could afford multiple back & forth trips. You might be able to apply to acquire a status of residence to switch from tourist to spouse, but immigration might require that you leave and come back. It really depends on the specific immigration bureau you use and any recent guidance they’ve received. Historically spouse of a Japanese national was one of the regular exceptions to the “tourists can’t switch status” rules but it’s been reported recently that this is not always the case anymore. Plan for the worst, hope for the best. Even in the best case scenario it may take a few months to process the request meaning you may run out of time as a tourist and have to leave anyway.
In addition to everyone’s advice, you’ll be eligible for permanent residency after 1 year in Japan (that is if you are given a 3 year or longer spouse status). Probably worth applying for if you plan on staying in Japan long term.
Are there not issues of double taxation if the US spouse has retirement accounts in the US after moving to Japan and drawing those funds to support retirement?
My husband lost his green card for not living in the USA for 2 years.
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