scholarship and visa status

hi there! i hope there's somebody out there who can help me with my current dilemma. i am a foreign student here supported by the japanese government scholarship. my japanese boyfriend and i are planning to get married by next year. however, we are quite worried that the marriage would forfeit me of my scholarship as my visa status here in japan as a 'college student' can change into a 'spouse of a japanese'. hence, i'd like to ask if having our marriage registered in the local ward office would require me to change my visa status. will it be alright too if i will not declare my new civil status when i extend my college student visa? i really would like to retain my college student visa until i finish my studies in 2012. thanks a lot!

Getting married doesn't require you to change visa status to a spouse visa. Whether it affects the continued validity of your current visa is something you should really consult with competent appropriate authorities about, not strangers on the internet.

Don't you think you ought to contact the scholarship folks about this? I doubt that being married will affect your student status, but it is conceivable that it could affect your scholarship status. Surely you don't wish to dishonestly game the system to scam the scholarship money....do you? No, of course not.

I agree. Just because you get married, you don't have to change your visa status to spouse visa. That's a decision you make whenever you like.

Doesn't your school have someone to give you advice on the scholarship question? They should. It seems to me that whether you have a spouse visa or student visa, it wouldn't matter as long as you remain a registered student there.