Please Help!

Hi there,

I'm sure what I am about to ask has been asked a thousand times before, please forgive me.

I have been married to a Japanese girl for about 4 years now and we have decided that we want to go and stay in Japan for 2 - 3 years.

Please can you tell me or give me some links to the type of visa I will need to apply for and how much it will cost.

If it helps your answers, I am from the UK and we are both currently living in Australia.

Thanks,

Richard

The Japanese Embassy in Australia (or their website) seems a more obvious stop than our happy little corner of the internet. You're going to end up there anyway.

Don't misunderstand. We're happy to have you in our midst and all that sort of thing. But checking with the relevant authority for relevant and authoritative information has always struck me as preferable to the well-intentioned but perhaps misinformed postings of a bunch of strangers on the internet. Especially since, as I said, you're going to have to go through the Embassyanyway. For some reason people seem to have a real aversion to contacting the Embassy, as evidenced by a long string of people posting this sort of question

Took me a whole 10 seconds to find the relevant contact information. Do you not have the googles installed on your chat machine?

Mike Cash said:

The Japanese Embassy in Australia (or their website) seems a more obvious stop than our happy little corner of the internet. You're going to end up there anyway.
Don't misunderstand. We're happy to have you in our midst and all that sort of thing. But checking with the relevant authority for relevant and authoritative information has always struck me as preferable to the well-intentioned but perhaps misinformed postings of a bunch of strangers on the internet. Especially since, as I said, you're going to have to go through the Embassyanyway. For some reason people seem to have a real aversion to contacting the Embassy, as evidenced by a long string of people posting this sort of question
Took me a whole 10 seconds to find the relevant contact information. Do you not have the googles installed on your chat machine?

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Thanks for your "helpful" advice, I'm sorry if I wasted your valuable time. Forgive me if I made a mistake in posting a question on an "immigration and foreigners" section of a forum, I assumed that because my question was about immigration this may be a good place to start, clearly I was mistaken.

Yes, I think I do have my "googles installed on my chat machine" and I had actually seen the website that you gave me a link to, however, I'm not sure if you've actually tried to look for anything on that website or not, but, it's not the most user friendly website on "googles".

The reason I posted a question here is because I have applied for numerous visas to visit and live in Australia and I know that it's not a simple process so I was hoping that someone could either summarise the process and the costs involved in applying for a spouse visa or they could give me a link to some pages that actually explain the process.

So if there's anyone else that can give me any information or links that would take me more than "a whole 10 seconds to find" who would like to help me out then I would really appreciate it.

Thank you again,

Richard

Have you actually visited the link Mike gave?
The page give you visa information, and if you just click "Specified Visa", you'll find the information on Spouse visa which allows you to stay max. 3 years at the top of the page.

For more information (how to apply, what documents required, etc.) you should contact embassy/consulate of Japan in your area, and contact details are given on the first page Mike indicated.

You might have found a bit of sarcasm in his post but actually Mike always give others very good and practical information/help and this time is no exception.

undrentide said:

Have you actually visited the link Mike gave?
The page give you visa information, and if you just click "Specified Visa", you'll find the information on Spouse visa which allows you to stay max. 3 years at the top of the page.

For more information (how to apply, what documents required, etc.) you should contact embassy/consulate of Japan in your area, and contact details are given on the first page Mike indicated.

You might have found a bit of sarcasm in his post but actually Mike always give others very good and practical information/help and this time is no exception.

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Like I said in my last reply, yes, I have visited that link but it's not the greatest website in the world.

I just thought there may have been someone else on this forum who had been through the same process who could give me some helpful advice - obviously I have come to the wrong place.

I'm sorry I asked and sorry for wasting your valuable time.

richkoto said:

I'm sorry I asked and sorry for wasting your valuable time.

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This is by far the strangest forum I have come across on the web...

richkoto said:

This is by far the strangest forum I have come across on the web...

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Oh, we're alright once you get used to us.

Did you telephone the embassy or any of the consulates? You know....as the website requests that you do.

I realize it is a personal character flaw of mine, and perhaps it is because I managed to grow up in a world without the internet and even migrate to Japan in a world without the internet, but I just can't understand why in important matters where one monolithic organization controls everything (immigration) anyone doesn't make that their first stop for information.

If what someone here tells you is right....it will be the same info you'll get from the Embassy anyway.

If what someone here tells you is wrong....Japanese Immigration isn't going to change their policy to comply with our misinformed perception of it.

So logically, where exactly is the benefit of getting (mis)information from irrelevant and non-authoritative sources?

Drifting a bit and not specifically addressing your particular situation......we generally end up chewing this same topic over and over and over and over for people who never actually show up anyway. People who are actually going to do something generally make a move and the first you know BAM! it's done. Those who come on internet forums and yak yak yak about it generally burn up their enthusiasm in the yakking and never actually do anything.

If you had already been in contact with Immigration, researched employment opportunities, and other such stuff and come here with questions born of the process, then I would take you more seriously. As it is you show up looking like the typical person who can't even be bothered to Google something for himself.

If you can't be bothered to pick up a telephone and talk to the Immigration section of a Consulate on your own behalf, then why the hell should you expect strangers to go through the motions of typing up a bunch of stuff which is entirely irrelevant and immaterial to the folks who actually handle the process and give you a yea or nay?

Another nasty aspect of my character is that I get surly and snappy when people expect me to care about and put more effort into solving their problems than they do themselves....which is sorta what you're asking for here.

Mike Cash said:

Oh, we're alright once you get used to us.

Did you telephone the embassy or any of the consulates? You know....as the website requests that you do.

I realize it is a personal character flaw of mine, and perhaps it is because I managed to grow up in a world without the internet and even migrate to Japan in a world without the internet, but I just can't understand why in important matters where one monolithic organization controls everything (immigration) anyone doesn't make that their first stop for information.

If what someone here tells you is right....it will be the same info you'll get from the Embassy anyway.

If what someone here tells you is wrong....Japanese Immigration isn't going to change their policy to comply with our misinformed perception of it.

So logically, where exactly is the benefit of getting (mis)information from irrelevant and non-authoritative sources?

Drifting a bit and not specifically addressing your particular situation......we generally end up chewing this same topic over and over and over and over for people who never actually show up anyway. People who are actually going to do something generally make a move and the first you know BAM! it's done. Those who come on internet forums and yak yak yak about it generally burn up their enthusiasm in the yakking and never actually do anything.

If you had already been in contact with Immigration, researched employment opportunities, and other such stuff and come here with questions born of the process, then I would take you more seriously. As it is you show up looking like the typical person who can't even be bothered to Google something for himself.

If you can't be bothered to pick up a telephone and talk to the Immigration section of a Consulate on your own behalf, then why the hell should you expect strangers to go through the motions of typing up a bunch of stuff which is entirely irrelevant and immaterial to the folks who actually handle the process and give you a yea or nay?

Another nasty aspect of my character is that I get surly and snappy when people expect me to care about and put more effort into solving their problems than they do themselves....which is sorta what you're asking for here.

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Again I apologise if me asking a question about immigration on an immigration forum was the incorrect thing to do, obviously I've misunderstood the purpose of this forum.

All I wanted was some advice from someone who had been through the same process, instead I get moral guidance from an idiot like you.

Who cares how you grew up and how you've done everything by yourself? Not me. Were you always this rude before you started to use the internet or is it the anonymity of these forums that has given you the confidence to lecture people on what's right and what's wrong?

Dude. You fail on SUCH a level.

Mike's not an idiot. He's actually trying to help you. What are you, fifteen? (And I ask that because you really are coming across as a thin-skinned kid with an attitude he hasn't earned, something Mike and I have seen over and over and over.)

If I weren't an an American and therefore incapable of recognizing irony I would be tempted to think being taken to task by someone using a netnym for anonymously posting under my real name were a specimen of it.

That was a pretty long-winded way to say, "No, I still haven't made a phone call on my own behalf yet." Would you like one of us to do it for you, Rich?

A piece of parting advice...if someone posts a question on here that you have seen over and over and over again and you are bored of answering the same question, don't answer them anymore. Leave it to someone else to give them some advice.

Thanks for nothing.

Advice we have in spades. You didn't ask for advice.

You asked us to give you information...which may or may not be correct....and which you are going to get from Immigration anyway if you ever decide to put more effort into solving your own problem than you expect others to do.

So basically what you were asking for was an unnecessary duplication of effort.

You gave no indication that you had bothered to contact the relevant authorities for information or that you had even bothered to do a search for answers to what you say you know must have been answered a thousand times. It shows very little effort or common courtesy on your part. Why then do you feel entitled to expect more effort or courtesy from total strangers?

We could go on forever like this, but really what's the point? I get the feeling that you are as likely to back down on a point as I am. However, on this occasion I am willing to let this one go.

Just a bit of further background on the reason why I posted a question on here rather than calling immigration:

I have just returned to Australia from my 6th holiday to Japan in the past 5 years and my wife and I have decided that we would like to go and stay there for a few years and then come back to live in Australia permanently. We don't anticipate going to Japan for at least a year as we are planning our second baby and want the baby to be born in Oz.

It's too early to be getting all the information needed as I won't be moving for a while anyway, I was just wanting to know rough costs involved, rough time-frames and anything else that may be relevant.
In regards to employment opportunities we know quite a few people with young children who have said they would like their children to learn English from a native speaker, some are already getting lessons from Japanese teachers and they would let me teach them instead. If that doesn't work out or I don't get enough students I also know a few people who run businesses who have said they would give me a job.

And you're right, there is a chance this may never happen but I hope it does.

Anyway, that's about it, not looking for anymore advice or information just wanted to clear the air and say no offence was intended.

Peace and love and all that.

Richard

Peace, love, and the hand of sincere brotherly fellowship to you as well, Rich. I was quite sincere when I said we're happy to have you among us, and I do hope you'll hang around and participate with us further.

If you're looking at a one-year time frame, then now is not too early to start getting together the information so you can gather up whatever Immigration may want from you in the way of paperwork and to allow for them to take their own sweet time about processing your application. There is no deadline on the time you have to get an application in once they have sent stuff out to you, so having it in hand early is to your benefit.

A spouse visa application is pretty much a pro forma sorta thing and so long as you have your paperwork all together issuance of a visa is almost a certainty. I don't know the exact cost currently but I feel certain it is something reasonable, probably in the neighborhood of 5,000 yen or so. Compared to the cost of moving yourself and family here it is an amount that fades into insignificance.

It is technically not allowed, I believe, but it is possible to come on a tourist visa and then apply for a change of status once you are here (I've done it). The folks at Immigration don't like it, but it can be done. The theory is that they have a Japanese citizen spouse who is dependent upon the foreign applicant and it is not in the interest of the Japanese government to not facilitate the putative breadwinner getting squared away toward earning the money to pay for her keep. Nor is it in anyone's interest to boot the errant foreign spouse out of the country and break up a family. So like I said....they don't like it, but they'll do it.

Oh, and a little side note:

As the old saying goes, life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans. Of all the people I know who have ended up making Japan their permanent home not one of them came here with the slightest intention of doing so. Most intended to stay a couple of years. On the other hand, people who profess their intention to come here and stay forever-n-ever almost without exception never show up at all.

Just be aware that once Mrs. Rich gets all settled and comfy living in Japan again like an old mother hen on her nest with her little chicks you may find it will take dynamite to blast her out again. She wouldn't be the first. So if you make the decision to bring her here "temporarily" just make sure you come into it knowing up front that at some point there is the possibility....however slim....that you may have to make the decision to remain here and grow old and gray yourself. If that is something you are absolutely unwilling to risk, then you may wish to reconsider moving here at all.

Mike Cash said:

Peace, love, and the hand of sincere brotherly fellowship to you as well, Rich. I was quite sincere when I said we're happy to have you among us, and I do hope you'll hang around and participate with us further.
If you're looking at a one-year time frame, then now is not too early to start getting together the information so you can gather up whatever Immigration may want from you in the way of paperwork and to allow for them to take their own sweet time about processing your application. There is no deadline on the time you have to get an application in once they have sent stuff out to you, so having it in hand early is to your benefit.
A spouse visa application is pretty much a pro forma sorta thing and so long as you have your paperwork all together issuance of a visa is almost a certainty. I don't know the exact cost currently but I feel certain it is something reasonable, probably in the neighborhood of 5,000 yen or so. Compared to the cost of moving yourself and family here it is an amount that fades into insignificance.
It is technically not allowed, I believe, but it is possible to come on a tourist visa and then apply for a change of status once you are here (I've done it). The folks at Immigration don't like it, but it can be done. The theory is that they have a Japanese citizen spouse who is dependent upon the foreign applicant and it is not in the interest of the Japanese government to not facilitate the putative breadwinner getting squared away toward earning the money to pay for her keep. Nor is it in anyone's interest to boot the errant foreign spouse out of the country and break up a family. So like I said....they don't like it, but they'll do it.

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Mike, you heartless bastard! Do you have any idea what this poor guy is going through?;-)

Rich,

Mike Cash said:

As the old saying goes, life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans. Of all the people I know who have ended up making Japan their permanent home not one of them came here with the slightest intention of doing so. Most intended to stay a couple of years. On the other hand, people who profess their intention to come here and stay forever-n-ever almost without exception never show up at all.

Just be aware that once Mrs. Rich gets all settled and comfy living in Japan again like an old mother hen on her nest with her little chicks you may find it will take dynamite to blast her out again. She wouldn't be the first. So if you make the decision to bring her here "temporarily" just make sure you come into it knowing up front that at some point there is the possibility....however slim....that you may have to make the decision to remain here and grow old and gray yourself. If that is something you are absolutely unwilling to risk, then you may wish to reconsider moving here at all.

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Thanks for the help Mike,

Believe me I have run this scenario through my mind a few times, even though my wife says she doesn't want to live in Japan forever, and I think I'd be happy with staying in Japan. However, I have only been there on holiday and never stayed for more than 5 weeks, so I don't know until I try. Ultimately I would like to live in Australia but I think I could pretty much settle anywhere.

Anyway, my plan is to go for 2 - 3 years and then just to go with the flow, if we're enjoying ourselves and making a decent living then we may stay or we may just come back to Oz.

Should you or anyone else ever decide to come to visit/stay in Oz please feel free to ask any visa/lifestyle related of me, I'd be more than happy to help.

Richard

FrustratedDave said:

Mike, you heartless bastard! Do you have any idea what this poor guy is going through?;-)
Rich,
]

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Too true, I suppose we all are at some stage.

richkoto said:

Too true, I suppose we all are at some stage.

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At least you can see the funny side to things! Welcome to the forum.