Finally! Spouse Residence Status! 5 yrs!

[Snoochibear]

Many thanks to everyone who replied to my original post entitled: "Moving to Japan from the US
https://www.retirejapan.com/forum/viewt ... 6&start=10

Just some background,
My Japanese spouse & I have lived in the US for many yrs. We were trying to get spouse visa for me in order to live part time in Japan in retirement.
We originally tried the COE (Certificate of Eligibility) route. Since my wife has no relatives to help with the process, we flew to Japan to turn in the COE application ourselves. However, when we got to the Shinagawa Regional Immigration office, we were immediately turned away because my wife wasn't a resident of Japan. Dejected, we reluctantly flew back to TX, and for several months attempted to see if we could apply for a spouse visa without the COE. The Japan consulate in some US states allows you to do so in extra ordinary circumstances like ours. Unfortunately, the Texas Japanese consulate insisted that the only way we could apply without a COE was if my wife had residence in Japan. Kind of a catch 22. In order to get residency she would have to return to Japan ahead of me, set up a home on her own, and apply for Jyuminhyo (residency). We were almost ready to give up....

That's when I saw an internet blog post by a Japanese/American couple entitled "Our Story: Applying for a Japanese Spouse Visa
(https://kansai-odyssey.com/our-story-ap ... ouse-visa/)

They were able get the American wife's Tourist Visa changed to a Spouse Visa while in Japan. So, instead of going through the COE route, we took a risk and attempted to try to get a temporary visitor status (tourist) changed to a long-term resident status (日本の配偶者等)　To do so we flew to my wife's hometown in remote island of Japan, she registered at the local city hall and got a print out of here residency, we flew to the regional immigration office, turned in the APPLICATION FOR CHANGE OF STATUS OF RESIDENCE (資格変更許可申請書).

In 10 days, we received a post card saying my residency was approved. We immediately few back to the Regional Immigration Office where I received a Zairyu card for 5 years! BTW, the regional immigration office was super friendly and easy to deal with. We were in and out very quickly

We then traveled back to her hometown again, and I registered as a local resident, got my Kokumin Hoken, and opened a bank account.

We are now in the Tokyo area looking for a home. Planning to buy or build.

BTW, I also applied for the multiple re-entry permit, allowing me to continue to work part-time in the US and travel freely to Japan when ever I want. Won't have to deal with the tax implications for at least 5 years as long as I don't remit money to Japan.

Once again, much appreciate this forum hosted by Ben Tanaka and everyone who takes part in it.

[RetireJapan]

Congratulations! Welcome to Japan

[adamu]

Congrats!

we flew to Japan to turn in the COE application ourselves. However, when we got to the Shinagawa Regional Immigration office, we were immediately turned away because my wife wasn't a resident of Japan. Dejected, we reluctantly flew back to TX

Wow, that was quite an experiment.

we took a risk and attempted to try to get a temporary visitor status (tourist) changed to a long-term resident status (日本の配偶者等)　To do so we flew to my wife's hometown in remote island of Japan, she registered at the local city hall and got a print out of here residency, we flew to the regional immigration office, turned in the APPLICATION FOR CHANGE OF STATUS OF RESIDENCE (資格変更許可申請書).

In 10 days, we received a post card saying my residency was approved. We immediately few back to the Regional Immigration Office where I received a Zairyu card for 5 years!

Thanks for sharing. It's always interesting to see what kind of situations count as the "special circumstances" required to convert a Temporary Visitor status of residence to another one.

BTW, I also applied for the multiple re-entry permit, allowing me to continue to work part-time in the US and travel freely to Japan when ever I want.

Technically you don't need this as long as you return within a year, but it's always good to have in case you get caught out of the country for longer than a year.