adamu wrote: ↑Wed Apr 21, 2021 5:39 am
Beaglehound wrote: ↑Wed Apr 21, 2021 5:35 am
If it’s OK with you I will put info that I think is worth noting on this thread later on and let you decide what is generally useful/what is anecdotal.
To summarise the guidelines for holders of spouse visas, it is necessary to hold at least a three year spouse visa when you apply. Applicants have to have been married for at least three years and have lived in Japan for at least one year. Of the legal tests for approval, spouse visa holders do NOT need to satisfy points one or two, relating to being ‘of good character’ and ‘possessing independent assets or skills to make a living in Japan’. This leaves ‘permanent residence would be in the interests of Japan’. This is a catch all and one would think that the applicant would need to satisfy both points one and two to a certain extent. The key things mentioned are that you should not have been sentenced to fines or imprisonment and should have paid all your public dues (taxes, pension, health insurance premiums) on time.
Regarding the required documents, the link on the wiki is a decent enough description but does take a bit of deciphering. One issue we had was that they required pension/health insurance proof from my wife as well as me. This is unlikely to be an issue if the applicant is earning huge amounts independently but they obviously decided that they would treat our ‘means of support’ as joint. Which made me wonder how much they actually take income into account. Is it just a box ticking exercise or do they consider it important? Not sure, but I would suggest erring on the safe side and submit the requested documents for both spouses.
The other thing is about proof of employment. If employed by a company it is straightforward, but for self employed not so clear. Basic advice is to submit as much ‘proof’ as you can in the form of tax return, bank books, letters from companies who have employed you, and a covering letter explaining your business. I have a classroom at home so sent a photo of that as well.
Worth mentioning is the situation if you have been in the country only a short time but need to submit multiple years of pension/health insurance payment receipts/residence tax etc. This seems to be OK (as per the rule of only one year living in Japan being necessary) but they did ask for a ‘document’ explaining why we could not submit the requisite three years worth of residence tax payments. We actually asked for this at the City Office, they said ‘no can do, you weren’t here’ and on enquiring to immigration they said all they wanted was a letter explaining why we couldn’t provide them. It’s useful to note that when the requirements say ‘document’, sometimes a simple letter of explanation is all they want.
Finally, it is not a matter of great concern if they ask for more information. We got the impression this is entirely routine (when we submitted, the guy told us they would be in touch to do this, and they did after three months or so). And they were pretty helpful when we needed to clarify a couple of points by phone relating to the request for more information.
Oh, and although the requirements for applying as a spouse don’t specify writing a letter explaining why you want PR, I did it anyway. Showing you are willing to put an effort in cannot hurt.
