SPOUSE/CHILD of JAPANESE NATIONAL (日本人の配偶者等; hereinafter referred to as SPOUSE/CHILD of JAPANESE) is applicable to;

  • those who are married to Japanese National
  • those who was born as a child of Japanese National
  • those who are adopted to Japanese National

This SPOUSE/CHILD of JAPANESE visa status are allowed to work without limit. In addition, it is quite easier for them to be applicable to PERMANENT RESIDENT status.

However, it is not always necessary to change your current visa status to SPOUSE/CHILD of JAPANESE in case you have been living in Japan under work related visa status especially when it comes to SPOUSE of JAPANESE. Some people keeps FOR WORK type visa without changing to SPOUSE of JAPANESE visa status to prevent from unexpected situation such as death of Japanese spouse and divorce etc. FOR WORK type visa holder married to a Japanese national is also applicable to “Exception for the Residence Requirement” for PERMANENT RESIDENT status.

IF YOU ARE NOT FAMILIAR WITH VISA PROCEDURES IN JAPAN, JUMP TO INTRODUCTORY PAGES BELOW FIRST:

Contents
  1. BASIC REQUIREMENTS
  2. POINTS TO NOTE
  3. HOW to PROCESS
  4. PERIOD of STAY
  5. BASIC REQUIRED DOCUMENTS
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BASIC REQUIREMENTS

Immigration Office judges your eligibility for SPOUSE/CHILD of JAPANESE visa status comprehensively – In order to be eligible for this visa status, you need to certify blood relationship, marriage etc. by the documents.

Here’s the list of basic requirements for SPOUSE/CHILD of JAPANESE;

Basic Criteria

Regardless of which visa status you apply for, you need to satisfy basic criteria first;
>> WHAT IS VISA STATUS?

Condition

Your situation must fall under one of [A] – [C] below;

[A] Spouse of Japanese National

This is applicable to a foreign national who is legally (both in your country and in Japan) married to a Japanese national.

In addition, your marriage has to be “substantial”; you and Japanese spouse must be found as a married couple making living together, helping and supporting each other with a good relationship.

If you and your Japanese spouse are not considered as a married couple legally, substantially and socially, the Immigration Office will not grant you this visa status.

  • Common-law marriage (de facto marriage) is not applicable.
  • You and your Japanese spouse have been in legal marriage in each country (both in your country and in Japan).
  • You cannot obtain this visa status based on the past marriage to a Japanese national. You and a Japanese spouse must be “in the state of being married” at the time of application.
  • Unless there are reasonable grounds, husband and wife must live together, support each other and make living together as a married couple.

Of course, falsification marriage or fake marriage is NOT ALLOWED strictly. You will need to explain how you and your Japanese spouse has developed relationship each other until the marriage and prove it with the documents such as photos, emails and other communication tool etc.

Basically, this visa status is to be issued to live together with a Japanese spouse in Japan based on the marital relationship. You need to process legal marriage both in your country and in Japan in advance of application. Guarantor and visa sponsor for this application must be his/her Japanese spouse.

You or your spouse has to be financially stable enough to make living in Japan and you need to certify the financial stability by documents like bank statement, documents to prove your/your spouse’s income etc.

[B] Adopted Child of Japanese National by Special Adoption (特別養子)

This is applicable to a child adopted by Japanese National pursuant to the provisions of Article 817-2 of the Civil Code of Japan (特別養子縁組の成立; 第817条の2).


This adoption is so called “Special Adoption (特別養子)”, which establishes the parent-child relationship separating from the biological parents according to judgement of the Family Court (家庭裁判所).

[C] Child of Japanese National

This is applicable to a foreign national who is child of a Japanese national biologically.

Child need to have blood relationship to Japanese father or mother, such as;

  1. Biological father/mother was a Japanese national at the time of birth of the child,
  2. In case of illegitimate child, biological father is acknowledged of the child,
  3. Biological father was deceased before the child was born, and the father was a Japanese national at the time of death,
  4. Biological father/mother has renounced the Japanese nationality after the child was born.

Place of birth of the Child doesn’t matter.
NOT applicable in case that biological father/mother obtained Japanese nationality AFTER the child was born (the father/mother was not a Japanese at the time of birth of the child).

[NOTE]
Regarding a minor child (under 18 years old) who was acknowledged by biological father/mother, the child can obtain Japanese nationality by Notification of Acquisition of Japanese Nationality (国籍取得届) at the Legal Affairs Bureau in case that the biological father/mother was a Japanese national at the birth of child and either one of below (*);

  • the father/mother is still a Japanese national, or
  • the father/mother was a Japanese national at the time of death.

(*) Except for a child who has ever obtained Japanese nationality previously.

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POINTS TO NOTE

In case of divorce to Japanese or decease of Japanese spouse

In case that you are living in Japan under SPOUSE of JAPANESE visa status as a spouse of a Japanese national but you got divorced or were separated by death from a Japanese spouse, you need to notify your divorce or spouse’s death to the Immigration Office within 14 days after the event occurs.

Jump to the webpage of the Immigration Office;
>> NOTIFICATION of RELATIONSHIP with SPOUSE (DIVORCE / DEATH)

You will need to change your visa status from SPOUSE of JAPANESE to other visa status applicable to your situation/career if you still want to continue to live in Japan after your divorce or your spouse’s death.

Applicable visa status would depend on your situation.
If you have been living in Japan under SPOUSE of JAPANESE for 3 years or more and you are financially stable enough to keep living in Japan, LONG-TERM RESIDENT would be the best visa status to apply for.

If your situation is not applicable to any other visa status, you lose visa status to live in Japan and need to leave Japan – in that case, the Immigration Office will grant you DESIGNATED ACTIVITIES (the period of stay will be one month in general) for preparation of departure from Japan.

If you don’t submit NOTIFICATION of RELATIONSHIP with SPOUSE (DIVORCE / DEATH) without reasonable grounds and 6 months more has passed after your divorce or death of your Japanese spouse, your visa status is subject to be revoked.

We recommend that you should consult a professional for your case as soon as possible (or in advance of the divorce) if you want to keep staying in Japan under other visa status.

Your visa status would not be revoked in case you are applicable to the following;

  • You are suffering from domestic violence (DV) and you need to evacuate or to be protected temporarily.
  • You are currently living separately from the Japanese spouse for the support of your child but the spouse still keeps supporting you and your child.
  • You are staying outside Japan obtaining Re-entry Permit (or Special Re-entry Permit) to look after sick/hospitalized relatives in your country.
  • You and your spouse are in the middle of divorce mediation or divorce proceedings.
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HOW to PROCESS

In case you are currently residing outside Japan yet or you are staying in Japan as a TEMPORARY VISITOR:
>> COE APPLICATION

In case you have been living in Japan under specific status and holding RESIDENCE CARD already:
>> CHANGE of VISA STATUS

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PERIOD of STAY

Each visa status has the expiration date – you can stay in Japan under the visa status during the specific period stated on Residence Card issued by Immigration Office.

Period of stay shall be decided by Immigration Office depends on the applicant’s circumstance.

In case you wish to extend the period of stay granted, you may apply for EXTENSION of PERIOD of STAY before the expiry date.
>> EXTENSION OF PERIOD OF STAY (VISA RENEWAL)

In case you would like to travel outside Japan temporarily under the visa status.
>> RE-ENTRY PERMIT

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BASIC REQUIRED DOCUMENTS

The Immigration Office considers your eligibility for the visa status by your situation and by documents you provide. You are required to prepare documents which certify that the contents of the application are true and correct. The Immigration Office will request at any time if they have any questions or would like to confirm the information you provided case by case.

Specific documents are varied depending on the situation of each applicant and the host organization/company, however, the basic documents for this visa status are as follows;

In case of COE APPLICATION and CHANGE of VISA STATUS

[A] Spouse of Japanese National
  1. Application form (You can download it from the website of the Immigration Office >> COE / CHANGE )
  2. Photo
  3. [In case of CHANGE of VISA STATUS] Residence Card and Passport
  4. Transcript of Family Register (戸籍謄本) of Japanese spouse
    In case that the marriage has not been confirmed on the certificate yet, Certificate of Acceptance of Marriage Report (婚姻届受理証明書) is also required.
  5. Marriage Certificate (or equivalent official/legal document) issued by the authorities in your country.
  6. Document to certify financial ability to make living in Japan
    • Tax/Income Certificate and Tax Payment Certificate for Resident Tax for the last year (直近1年分の住民税の課税・所得証明書および納税証明書)
    • Other documents such as bank statement (deposit certificate), Employment Certificate which can confirm the salary etc.
  7. Letter of Guarantee / 身元保証書 signed by Japanese spouse (You can download it from the website of the Immigration Office >> EN / JP )
  8. Certificate of Residence (住民票の写し)
    • All the members in the same household must be listed.
    • No omission except for the items related to “My number (個人番号)”.
  9. Questionnaire / 質問書 (You can download it from the website of the Immigration Office >> EN / JP )
  10. Documents which confirm development of relationship between you and your Japanese spouse.
    • Snapshot which were taken together with the Japanese spouse or each family etc. while you and your spouse are in a relationship
    • Photos at the wedding, marriage ceremony and travel of each country are also effective.
    • Other material such as emails, call log, message/SNS log etc.
[B] Adopted Child of Japanese National by Special Adoption (特別養子)
[C] Child of Japanese National
  1. Application form (You can download it from the website of the Immigration Office >> COE / CHANGE )
  2. Photo
  3. [In case of CHANGE of VISA STATUS] Residence Card and Passport
  4. Transcript of Family Register (戸籍謄本 or 除籍謄本) of Japanese father/mother
  5. [In case you were born in Japan] Either one of the below;
    • Certificate of Acceptance of Birth Report (出生届受理証明書)
    • Certificate of Acceptance of Acknowledgement Report (認知届受理証明書) : only in case the acknowledgement has been reported to the Japanese authorities.
  6. [In case you were born outside Japan] Either one of the below;
    • Birth Certificate (or equivalent legal/official document) issued by the authorities in the birth country.
    • Acknowledge Certificate (or equivalent legal/offical document) issued by the authorities in the birth country if applicable.
  7. [In case of Adopted Child of Japanese by Special Adoption (特別養子)] Either one of the below;
    • Certificate of Acceptance of Report of Special Adoption (特別養子縁組届け出受理証明書)
    • Copy of Judgement and Certificate of Decision regarding the special adoption issued by the Family Court of Japan (日本の家庭裁判所発行の養子縁組にかかる審判書謄本および確定証明書)
  8. Document to certify financial ability to make living in Japan
    • Tax/Income Certificate and Tax Payment Certificate for Resident Tax for the last year (直近1年分の住民税の課税・所得証明書および納税証明書)
    • Other documents such as bank statement (deposit certificate), Employment Certificate which can confirm the salary etc.
  9. Letter of Guarantee / 身元保証書 signed by your guarantor, one of your parents or relatives who is living in Japan and is financially stable (You can download it from the website of the Immigration Office >> EN / JP )
  10. Certificate of Residence (住民票の写し) of the guarantor
    • All the members in the same household must be listed.
    • No omission except for the items related to “My number (個人番号)”.

In case of EXTENSION of PERIOD of STAY

  1. Application form (You can download it from the website of the Immigration Office >> EXTENSION )
  2. Photo
  3. Residence Card and Passport
  4. Document to certify financial ability to make living in Japan
    • Tax/Income Certificate and Tax Payment Certificate for Resident Tax for the last year (直近1年分の住民税の課税・所得証明書および納税証明書)
    • Other documents such as bank statement (deposit certificate), Employment Certificate which can confirm the salary etc.
  5. Letter of Guarantee / 身元保証書 signed by your guarantor (You can download it from the website of the Immigration Office >> EN / JP )
  6. Certificate of Residence (住民票の写し)
    • All the members in the same household must be listed.
    • No omission except for the items related to “My number (個人番号)”.

NOTE / REMARK

  • All the documents written in foreign languages need to attach the Japanese translation.
  • Additional documents may be requested by the Immigration Office during the screening.
  • Some documents may be exempted in case your visa sponsor is classified under specific categories as follows: 1) listed corporation, government related organization, Independent administrative institution and other organization specified in this category 2) the total amount of annual withholding tax on the latest “Records for Salary Payment and Withholding Tax (給与所得の源泉徴収票等の法定調書合計表)” counts 10 million JPY or more, 3) your visa sponsor can submit a copy of the latest “Records for Salary Payment and Withholding Tax”.
  • Any certificate issued by the Japanese authorities (Tax/Income Certificate, Certificate of Residence, Certificate of Company Register etc.) has to be the one issued within 3 months before the date of application.
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