Kekkon shitai

[Sukebe Uchuujin]

[center]Ok im guessing alot of you already know this from chat room conversations or my other posts.....
But i am planning on marrying my japanese fiance this summer in japan....

My question is......
I am english and I plan to enter Japan on a tourist visa and get married pretty soon after i arrive
Does anyone know how long it takes to get a spouse visa once you are married??
Obviously i need to work so thats why im asking....which i cant do on a tourist visa
Ive Heard it can take up to 3 months!!!.....is there an interim solution to the not being able to work problem???
Also is there anything i can do before i arrive to speed up the process??
I already have all the correct paperwork from england (certificate of no impediment etc)

Any advice gratefully recieved...........[/center]

[Frumious Boojum]

Have you looked into getting a fiancée visa instead? Getting one visa may be a lot easier than getting two. I think the biggest requirement will probably be that you must have a picture of you and your fiancée in order to prove that you have met. Though, Japan may not have such a visa... if they happen to have one, look into it.

3 months is pretty quick for any kind of permanent stay visa (especially as far as America goes).

[AJBryant]

You really should just give the Japanese consulate a call and ask them.

They are, after all, the experts on this kind of thing.


Tony

[Sukebe Uchuujin]

[center]I have already called the Japanese consulate but they just said I had to take the completed marrige paper work to the relevant local government office in Tokyo and then to immigration, no time scale was given for the visa conversion (and i forgot to ask).
Also it was friday evening at 6.40 when i made the original post Tony, so i was just hoping for some advice/other peoples experiences before i called them again on monday (since they are closed for the weekend).
(Funny how your dry wit doesnt seem as amusing when its directed at me:()[/center]

[keatonatron]

It can take quite a while from what I hear. When my friend got his, they actually had to provide proof that they got married for normal reasons. Proof included, as Mr. Boojum already stated, pictures and whatnot proving that they had a serious relationship and didn't get married just for the visa, or money, or what have you.

[Sukebe Uchuujin]

[center]I know about the proof that you are having a real relationship stuff.
Not a problem...we have been together for 3 years and I have hundreds of photos (I am a photographer)..........Plus her parents support the marrige and are writing a letter for us to present at immigration saying that they support it.
I guess what im looking for is a foreigner who is married to a japanese national and living in japan to share their experience..........
I feel a little baka for having started this thread now, this is maybe too personal a topic for here and i have no intention of justifying my marrige in such a public forum.
I was just looking for some advice about legalities........not relationship advice.
Thanks for your input people but lets just leave it here ok...........[/center]

[AJBryant]

BTW, Congrats!

Where in Japan will you be doing the deed?


Tony

[Harisenbon]

Congratulations on wanting to tie the knot!
"Marriage is a wonderful institution.. But who wants to live in an institution?" -- Groucho Marx

Jokes aside, I recently had to convert my Visa from a Instructor visa to a Spouse visa. The process was long and slightly complicated, but after I got the paperword, it only took about 2 months to get the visa.

The things I needed were:
Proof of Employment (in Japan)
Proof of payment of Taxes/Social Security
Family Register (mine and my wife's)
Marriage Certificate (Japanese)
4 photographs of our life
1 page (japanese) essay detailing our life up until marriage
Signature of Guarentor<sp> (in this case my mother in law)

I'm not sure how it will differ since you are not employed in Japan. I was changing from a resident visa to a different visa so I think it was a little easier for me. I've don't have any experience with changing from a traveler's visa to a living visa.

Good luck!

[Archer]

It's not a big problem mate. I got married in August last year and was working by mid september.

I had been in Japan to live and work with my Japanese fiance 1 year before on a Working Holiday Visa. After it expired I came back to the U.K. to visit my mother and returned to Japan with just tourist status (just my passport). We then got married, got all the necessary papers together (what Harisenbon said) and went to immigration. Once the application was accepted it only took about 3-4 weeks. They gave me a three year visa too

The hardest part is getting all the documents together. It's a headache.

Oh, yeah... congratulations!

[Mukade]

I went a route similar to Harisenbon, but they never asked for an essay or pictures. I think perhaps Harisenbon is just shifty-looking, and so they asked for that extra info (although, I admit that writing an essay about your life sounds terribly Japanese).

Otherwise, my list of required documents was the same. My marriage certificate was in English (since we got married in the States), but we were able to provide our own, uncertified translation without issue.

Again, after submitting all the paperwork, I got word back from the government in just over a month that my visa was ready. The worst part of the whole process was standing in that long line at the government building...

[Harisenbon]

I think perhaps Harisenbon is just shifty-looking, and so they asked for that extra info (although, I admit that writing an essay about your life sounds terribly Japanese).

That or the large number of Marriage for Visas that occur in my prefecture. :/

[coco]

宇宙人さん。
準備（じゅんび）　は　うまく　進（すす）んで　いますか？　
わからないことが　あれば　質問（しつもん）　して　ください。　
そうすれば　誰（だれ）か　が　答（こた）えてくれると　思（おも）いますよ。:)

[Oyaji]

I went straight from a work visa to a permanent resident visa. It took six months, but was fairly easy - no interviews, no essays, no photos - because I had been working here several years, and we had been married several years.

Yours sounds like a pretty straight forward case, so I don't think it should take very much time at all to get a spouse visa.

Good luck. And congratulations!!