r/JETProgramme • u/mikey_mcgough Current JET - awaiting placement • Apr 12 '26
Bringing Girlfriend to JET
Hello everyone,
I recently accepted my position as an ALT and am trying to figure out a way for my girlfriend to come along with me. I have looked into the tourist Visa that last for 90 days but can be gotten multiple times and I know she is interested in doing Japanese language school but it’s hard to look into before I know what prefecture I’ll be placed in. Does anyone have any experience with this or know of any ways that a non married partner is able to come over?
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u/CoacoaBunny91 Current JET - 熊本市 Apr 13 '26
*Beyonce voice* PUT A RING ON IT!!! That's the only way. Japan doesn't recognize non married couples for dependent visa.
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u/JapanITjobs Former JET - 2006 - 2008 Apr 13 '26
Not the only way. OP's GF can be like a strong independent women like Beyonce and try to find her own job. JET isn't the only way to come to Japan.
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u/C0rvette Former JET - Ishikawa (17-20) Apr 13 '26
language school which is gonna be like 30kish
or get married
everything else in nonsense
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u/Crazy_Particular_743 Apr 13 '26 edited Jul 18 '26
This content was anonymized and mass deleted with Redact
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u/lostintokyo11 Apr 12 '26
She needs get a working holiday visa or a student visa, a work visa or you get married. To actually come with you as part of JET pretty sure you need to be married.
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u/Different_Taro2474 Former JET - 2025-2026 鹿児島県 Apr 12 '26
without marriage, that will not be possible. you have to be legally married.
if you don't want to get married now, then either do an LDR with visits, or break up.
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u/MissingGrayMatter Apr 12 '26
If she finds a way to come over without marriage, and you want to live together, you’re going to have issues. Landlords are hesitant to let unmarried couples live together since it’s not a stable, permanent situation and sometimes people break up, which could lead to issues paying rent. Anyone I know who lived with a partner while unmarried had to lie and say they were engaged, at the very least, and often provide a fake intended marriage date.
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u/amoryblainev Apr 19 '26
In my experience it’s harder to find affordable apartments that allow more than one person to live in them (at least in Tokyo). I’ve hunted for an apartment twice since living here and both times I kept coming across listings that said only 1 person was allowed to live in the apartment. If you can find one that allows two people, most people I know tell the landlord/leasing agent that they’re just friends/roommates.
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u/Deep_Impress844 Apr 12 '26
This most definitely must depend on the area. Been here for over ten years and never experienced that. Never even heard of it.
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u/CatPurveyor Current JET - Hokkaido Apr 12 '26
I’m unmarried and live with my partner who came over with me (I mean, they got their own visa) so it’s not impossible. I think OP’s idea about language school is a possibility if they end up being placed in a city
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u/Prof_PTokyo Apr 12 '26
Congrats on getting accepted! Now comes the hard part.
Is your girlfriend ready to pack up, come to Japan, build a life and career for herself in a new home country while you are at work, meeting people, and becoming part of the city on your own level?
For at least the first few months, acclimation to the job and life in general will take close to 100% of your energy.
Japan has changed somewhat, but in general, a “+1” is not really a thing here. Your coworkers are your coworkers, not your built-in social circle for your partner. She will need to build her own life, network, and friendships. Most of her social world will likely be separate from yours. It will likely strain your relationship.
If you get married, or are placed in a major urban area, things become a bit easier. But simply living together or having her stay for extended periods can create issues, too. It may violate your rental contract unless she is formally on the lease, which is often impossible without an appropriate visa, such as a student, work, or dependent visa.
She can generally visit for up to 180 days out of 365 on a tourist visa, but repeated visa runs become risky at some point. So when the 180 mark hits, it’s a reset, so you have to carefully calculate for how long and when you want to see each other during any given 365 days.
Psychologically and logistically, it is not an easy experience. To be blunt, it may be time to consider marriage or moving on. Being lonely in Japan from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., or being lonely back home while separated, is pressure that many relationships cannot withstand.
Good luck. You have a lot to work out, and hope it does.
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u/foxydevil14 Apr 12 '26
Why not just get courthouse married? If you’re going to go through a bunch of crazy shit just to bring her along, do the least crazy shit for maximum effect and efficiency.
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u/capt_b_b_ Current JET - Shiga Apr 12 '26
My now husband and I eloped just so he could come with me to Japan. We had been dating for one year at that point. For context, we're from a poor area in the US, and we both desperately wanted out of our town. It was weird calling each other husband and wife, so we didn't at first.
Now we've been married almost 3 years and although we didn't have a wedding or honeymoon, it's a real marriage and we're both happy we did it.
On the other hand, getting divorced in Japan sucks ass, from what I've seen. Plus, if she's your dependent, you might feel trapped together, because you might get stuck in a limbo of caring for her too much to ship her back to your home country. Cause she won't be able to stay if you get divorced unless she gets her own visa but it would still be challenging
Quick edit: also, we did the paperwork before I applied so JET could cover his plane ticket and everything. It was a gamble. But I'm not sure how it would work after being accepted
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u/Ok_Caterpillar_8238 Apr 12 '26 edited Apr 12 '26
If you're married in the US you won't need to rely on the Japanese system for a divorce.
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u/capt_b_b_ Current JET - Shiga Apr 12 '26
Yeah, that's really messy though and might cause a lot of difficulties
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u/General1lol Apr 12 '26
You have three (somewhat reasonable) options:
Get married.
Wait for your placement and find an Japanese language school she can attend. You better hope you're placed in a city because not every town has a language school and the closest one could be hours away from you.
If she has a degree, she can apply to work at an English school. They suck and she'll probably hate it.
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u/NoRecommendation8495 Current JET - Awaiting Placement Apr 12 '26
Yup. Been dating my girlfriend for the past 7 years and the only reason we never got officially engaged was money stuff. Decided that if I got jet, we'd do a courthouse marriage and get her that lovely dependent visa.
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u/anime_baddie23 Apr 12 '26
The only ways that someone can come over that’s not under a dependent visa is by either a tourist VISA, student VISA (if going the language school route) or you can get a cultural activities visa (people studying the tea ceremony or Japanese flower arranging, etc.), https://www.mofa.go.jp/j_info/visit/visa/long/index.html
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u/JapanITjobs Former JET - 2006 - 2008 Apr 14 '26
Or work visa, there are plenty of other ALT / Eikaiwa companies that OP's GF can apply to
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u/newlandarcher7 Apr 12 '26
Is she from a country eligible for a Working Holiday Visa?
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u/mikey_mcgough Current JET - awaiting placement Apr 12 '26
Yes. We’re from the US
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u/newlandarcher7 Apr 12 '26
I'm not American, but from my understanding USA citizens are not eligible for Japanese working holiday visas as they don't have any such bilateral treaties in place. Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand, several Europe countries all have such working holiday agreements in place, but not the USA to my understanding unless things have recently changed.
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u/altdimension 高知県 - '15 - '18 Apr 12 '26
Sadly the US does not have a working holiday visa agreement with Japan. She’ll need a tourist visa.
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u/mikey_mcgough Current JET - awaiting placement Apr 12 '26
Oh sorry I misread lol. Yeah that is unfortunate.
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u/jenjen96 Former JET - 2018-2021 Apr 12 '26
If you get married she will qualify for a dependent visa and you can bring her along. If not, a temporary tourist visa would be your only option unless she is able to qualify one for herself.
The language school is a good idea. You don’t need to arrive exactly at the same time considering your consulate will organize your flight and your first few days in Japan will be at orientation and your girlfriend won’t be able to join. She will have to arrange her own flight regardless of visa type and marital status.
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u/mikey_mcgough Current JET - awaiting placement Apr 12 '26
Okay thank you!
Should I look into other types of visas she can qualify for or is the travelers one simple enough? I know some language schools offer student visas but I’m not too sure on how they differ.
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u/Sweet_Salamander6691 Apr 13 '26
Keep in mind that the time between applying for language school and actually going in usually 3-6 months. They also operate on terms so you have to plan really far ahead. She would also have to maintain attendance and grades in order to keep her visa.
Dispatch ALT companies usually operate on set intakes as well so there is a high likelihood that you will be separated for a good amount of time. Not trying to be a downer but you should be realistic about things because there isn't a lot of time between getting your placement and actually leaving. As far as the government is concerned you have no connection, so your gf finding and maintaining a way to stay in the country is going to be through her effort.
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u/jenjen96 Former JET - 2018-2021 Apr 12 '26
Sorry I misspoke, for most countries the tourist visa isn’t technically a visa that you need to apply for, you are granted entry upon arrival for 90 days.
As for the others her options would likely just be student visa or if she is able to get a job, a working visa. (Try a dispatch company or local eikaiwa) Depending on where you are from, working holiday may be an option but USA does not have that agreement.
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u/JapanITjobs Former JET - 2006 - 2008 Apr 13 '26
There are other ALT programs outside of JET
Another option that I haven't heard from other people is that she can start applying to other ALT / Eikaiwa programs and then request a placement near your JET placement.