Unfortunately, same-sex marriage has not been legalized in Japan yet even though the number of countries legalizing the same-sex marriage has been increasing globally.
Therefore, a same-sex spouse is not applicable to any “spouse-related” visa status such as “Spouse of Japanese National”, “Spouse of Permanent Resident” or “Dependent”.
However, there is a possibility to be able to bring your same-sex spouse and live together with you in Japan if both of your countries legalize same-sex marriage and each of you and your spouse registers your marriage officially and lawfully in each country. The visa type is called as “Unspecified Designated Activities (告示外特定活動)”.
Also, through a lawsuit of a same-sax spouse legitimately married to a Japanese national in the US, the Immigration Office has granted “Unspecified Designated Activities (告示外特定活動)” to the same-sex spouse in March, 2023 even the same-sex marriage is still not legalized in Japan.
“Unspecified Designated Activities (告示外特定活動)” visa status is a special visa type granted by considering each applicant’s situation, so you should plan the application carefully before you apply for it.
Note that Unspecified visa is not subject to the COE application, so you need to apply for Change of Visa after entering Japan under a Temporary Visitor visa.
For more details, go to our page below;