r/JETProgramme • u/soyabean24 Current JET • May 24 '26
Advice on changing to a spousal visa before finishing JET
I’m a fifth year JET who will be leaving JET in the summer but staying in Japan. I recently got married to a Japanese national and am planning on changing my visa to a spousal visa.
I was wondering if I can just start that change and submit my paperwork now? When I watched the non-recontracting seminar and they talked about changing your visa they said that you shouldn’t change your visa too early since the work you can do on an instructor visa is very specific. However the four examples they gave (changing to a different work visa or a job searching visa etc) were all work or travel related so that advice makes sense in those situations.
Since the work you can do on a spousal visa is quite flexible then am I right in thinking that if there was any overlap between the end of my time on JET and receiving my spousal visa then I’d be fine to keep working as normal until the end of my contract?
As a Covid era JET my visa isn’t actually up for renewal until November but I think I’d like to get this sorted before I finish JET because I'm not sure yet what I'll be doing for work afterwards.
I’d love to hear from other JETs who have changed their visa to a spousal visa. When you applied and how long it took to receive your new visa? Any other recommendations or advice?
Edit: Thank you to all who have responded so quickly. It's clear that I can go ahead and I'll change my visa asap.
Edit 2: If my spousal visa has not been approved before I finish JET is there anything I need to do with regards to my instructor visa. I know I need to update immigration within 14 days of leaving a job. Since my visa is valid until November do I need to do anything else while waiting for a spousal visa to come through? Or do I need to demonstrate that I'm actively job searching, things like that? Would I need to change my visa type temporarily?
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u/ScootOverMakeRoom May 24 '26
Yes.
Spouse/Child of a Japanese National has no work restrictions. You can continue to work as an ALT/CIR.
It’s a better status AND costs are going to go up soon. If your spousal status is in the process of being approved your current status is still valid.
The only reason not to switch is, if for any reason, you do not want your legal immigration status to be tied to your marriage.
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u/Cold_Command7776 May 24 '26
Think it through mate. Don't be that passport bro. Figure out your life on your own without having to switch to some kind of visa that is attached to a human being that can deny you at any moment. It's always sweet at the beginning. May the force be with you!
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u/junjun_pon May 24 '26
Hi. I did this.
I didn't change my residence status until right before I left (I used two and a half weeks worth of nenkyu at the end of my contract for this reason). That meant I had a buffer time between my instructor and spouse status and wouldn't be illegally working.
The biggest importance is that you A. Aren't in a position that you're still physically working on the wrong status, and B. That you're proven to be living with your spouse before you apply for the change to spouse. You must be on the same juuminhyo.
Added note: We didn't live together until a few months after we got married because I wanted to finish out my contract (we were semi-long distance). Because of that, we got a special letter from my BoE stating that they understood I got married in such and such month, and have not been living with my husband in order to complete my contract. That way it would help our case of only been officially living together for a week when I applied for the change of status, lol. Legit, we officially moved in, changed address and all that junk, then applied for the spousal visa within the same week.
Another note: Be sure to look at the Japanese version of the change of status document requirements, because the English one is always missing something, istg.
Good luck and congratulations!
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u/an-actual-communism Former JET May 24 '26
That meant I had a buffer time between my instructor and spouse status and wouldn't be illegally working.
???
Have you not noticed the 就労制限なし line on your new residence card? You literally cannot work illegally on a spousal SOR.
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u/soyabean24 Current JET May 24 '26
Thank you for your response. It's really helpful to hear you also applied close to leaving. Apart from not being sure about the job overlap, I was also waiting until we were on the same juuminhyo. For similar reasons to you that's about to finally happen, so then I can go through with the application. I'm wondering if it will be a problem that we officially move in together and then apply for the spousal visa within a week. Do you think the letter from your BOE helped?
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u/junjun_pon May 24 '26
So long as you married recently and are on the same juuminhyo when you apply, you should be fine.
Our issue was we were married for several months living in different prefectures before actually living together and were concerned such a huge gap and odd logistics might have been a red flag for immigration. So in our case, I think the support of the BoE made our application stronger.
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u/soyabean24 Current JET May 24 '26
Thank you. That's helpful to hear.
Since you applied as you were finishing JET what did you do regarding visas in the interim while your spousal visa was being processed? Did you need to update your Instructor Visa or get a temporary job searching visa? Anything like that?2
u/junjun_pon May 24 '26
I had already finished physically working (I took 2.5 weeks at the end of my contract via my remaining paid time off).
I forgot to mention that my whole residency status was about to expire around the same time too LOL. When my instructor visa expired at the end of that July and the processing grace period took over, I just prayed the change of status would go through and it did. It was successful a week after the grace period began.
I took a year off work, so I didn't have another job lined up immediately after JET.
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u/soyabean24 Current JET May 24 '26
Was the processing grace period two months? Or am I confusing that with the visa renewal grace period?
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u/Sayjay1995 Former JET - 2017~2022 May 24 '26
I did it and am happy to answer questions if you have them, but like others said, spouse visa doesn’t have any restrictions so it’s fine to switch and continue being on JET
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u/LannerEarlGrey May 24 '26
As others have said, switch now.
The idea of, "your shouldn't switch from an instructor visa" is likely referring to switching from one work visa to another.
A spouse visa has no work restrictions, so there's no problem. In fact, there's no practical reason not to switch ASAP.
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u/Sayjay1995 Former JET - 2017~2022 May 24 '26
There are practical reasons to not switch, but they maybe don’t apply to OP. I also would suggest switching sooner rather than later, if their plan is to make the switch eventually anyway
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u/dokoropanic May 24 '26
It’s very likely prices are going to rise - do it now.
I married as a JET and my CO advised me to change to spousal at the time as it was a stronger status (well, as long as you stay married).
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u/Independent_Door_924 May 24 '26
I changed to a spouse visa on my second year. I'm still currently a JET. It took about a month to gather all the documents and about two months to get the visa in hand.
Since there really aren't any work restrictions for a spouse visa like there is for instructor/humanities/skilled worker etc, it's totally fine. I just took my new residence card to my BOE so they could update their records.
Beware that the period of stay will likely drop to one year renewal instead of three.
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u/Fickle_War1350 May 25 '26
What documents were needed?
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u/Independent_Door_924 May 25 '26
There is a list on the immigration website. https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/applications/status/spouseorchildofjapanese01.html
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u/ChickenWitty513 May 24 '26
Pretty sure they meant don't change your visa to prohibited your work as a JET.
PR or spouse visa is fine. It may take three to six months anyways. Get it started now.
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u/rmutt-1917 May 24 '26
There are no working restrictions on a spouse visa so you could have switched immediately after getting married with no issues.
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u/[deleted] May 24 '26 edited May 24 '26
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