Putting it all together: family coming to live in Japan - How To

[solo7100]

Hello all,

I’ve asked various questions on this awesome forum before and y’all’s responses have greatly aided in decision making on my part. Now it’s time for the next step, so hopefully my questions below make sense:

1. Mom (71) and sister (45) coming to live in Japan. They will have general visas.
- Will their general visa automatically put them into the National Health Insurance whereby they can access the healthcare system just like someone with a working visa?

2. Mom’s fixed income (retirement) will be coming in monthly and we would transfer her funds monthly to Japan for living expenses (rent, food, etc).
- Any issues with taxes in Japan that we need to be aware of? As in, she’d be getting it post tax from America. Would she be taxed again here in Japan just by sending herself her own money?

3. What is an expat to do should a fellow family member pass away while here in Japan? What services are recommended?

Thanks so much in advance. Next step decisions need to be made as things in our home country aren’t moving in a comfortable direction.

Thank you!

[RetireJapan]

1. Mom (71) and sister (45) coming to live in Japan. They will have general visas.

What is a general visa?

[Roger Van Zant]

Will their general visa automatically put them into the National Health Insurance whereby they can access the healthcare system just like someone with a working visa?

You have to pay for your healthcare in Japan one way or another.
I am guessing your mom will have to sign up for the National Health system (国民健康保険).
You can do this at your city/town hall.

She won't be automatically enrolled in anything.

[solo7100]

1. Mom (71) and sister (45) coming to live in Japan. They will have general visas.

What is a general visa?

It’s the 90 day one. We hope to get them as dependents on my visa (somehow…??), but until then it seems they can only get the 90 day visa.

My understanding is that if things go longer than 90 days they can just pop over to another country and come back in, or apply for another general visa?…

[Tony]

1. Mom (71) and sister (45) coming to live in Japan. They will have general visas.

What is a general visa?

It’s the 90 day one. We hope to get them as dependents on my visa (somehow…??), but until then it seems they can only get the 90 day visa.

My understanding is that if things go longer than 90 days they can just pop over to another country and come back in, or apply for another general visa?…

So it's actually a visa waiver, not a general visa. As they won't have a visa, they will not be legal residents and will not be able to enroll in health insurance, nor will they be able to open a bank account. So any money transferred, would have to be transferred to your bank account, and if the amount exceeds a total of 1.1 million yen you will have to pay gift tax. I also believe there is a hard limit of 2 visa waivers per calendar year, meaning they would only be able to spend half the year with you, and I cannot say whether immigration would start denying waivers if they were staying for 180 days every year, but it is definitely a possibility, as you would clearly be violating the waiver program (intended for people visiting, not trying to live).

From everything I have read online, unless you are on a HSFP visa, getting a dependent visa for a parent, especially if you have siblings and there is no reason for them to be your dependent, is very difficult.

As for the question about taxes, I really don't know. Japan and the US have a tax agreement, so there should be no double taxation, she should be taxed in Japan, but I don't know if her pension is post-tax or if it is tax exempt. If it is tax exempt in the US, it's likely Japan would not recognise that tax exempt status, and tax the money. A better place to ask about this would be r/japanfinance on reddit.

[ClearAsMud]

The English MOFA page uses the expression "general visa" (ippan bisa in Japanese) to refer to four types of visa: cultural activities, student, training, and dependent. Unless you are referring to a dependent visa (category "R" on the COE application form), you appear to mean a short-term stay (tanki taizai) visa, for which an SOR card would not be issued, nor would one be even if they extended their stay for another 90 days. Your relatives would not be "living" in Japan and would not be eligible for social insurance; repeated departures and entries may cause problems (at least when such re-entries start to multiply). The relatives also would not be able to open bank accounts or do other things for which an SOR card is necessary.

You should probably read up more on visas and develop a strategy for arranging for a long-term stay before worrying about taxes and other issues. Dependent visas, by the way, are meant primarily (some sites say only) for spouses and minor children, so it's doubtful your mother and sister would qualify, especially since your mother would have a fixed income.

[adamu]

A bit more pedantry. A visa is what you get from the embassy. A status of residence is what you get from the immigration inspector when receiving landing permission in Japan. You need a visa to get a status of residence, except for the Temporary Visitor status, for which the visa is waived for some nationalities.

As the others have mentioned, Temporary Visitor is what you seem to mean when you day "general visa". Temporary Visitor (or 短期滞在 - short-term stay in Japanese) is treated specially in immigration law, and is much more restricted than the other statuses of residence that require a visa, because as the name implies it's designed for people temporarily visiting, not living here. It's also not possible to convert to another residence status from Temporary Visitor.

[TokyoBoglehead]

The bottom line here is OP is being incredibly cavalier about an very difficult and fraught process. They are 10 steps ahead of themselves, and should probably consult with a professional for advice.

[goodandbadjapan]

As far as I can tell, it seems your mum and sister are really just coming here as tourists and so will not be entitled to enrol in health insurance or indeed anything that is limited to residents. Now, I do know of one person who lived in Japan for a few years without any specific visa (just the tourist one, which your mum and sister would be on), but they had to leave every three months as tourist only usually get a 90-day permission, and then often faced awkward questions when returning as they had no permission to work and had to pretend they were just visiting a lot! It's not really viable long-term. You've said you want to try to get them as dependants on your visa - I have no idea if that is possible, but if it is, that is what you need to be looking at first. Until they have some sort of visa I think they will just be considered tourists. Maybe if your sister could get a job here and both of you live here, getting your mum in as a dependant might be more likely, but that's another thing you would need to look into first, I think.

[Tkydon]

Certain countries can extend the Period of Stay on a Tourist Visa Waiver by visiting immigration, by another 90 days.

https://www.jetro.go.jp/en/invest/setti ... age10.html

"Under the visa exemption agreement, nationals from Ireland, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Liechtenstein, the United Kingdom, and Mexico may stay for more than 90 days and stay up to 6 months if permitted by the procedures for extension of period of stay at the Regional Immigration Bureau before the expiration of the period of stay."

It seems generally OK to spend up to 180 days in country in any given year, by either extending or leaving and re-entering. I think it gets harder, and they get more inquisitive, if you go over 180 days in country in any given year.