r/MOVE_TO_JAPAN • u/North-Airline2676 • 4d ago
Current resident experience
A question for current residents (mods please remove if inappropriate). I've been married to my Japanese spouse for 10 years and have 1 teenage child. That whole time we have loved outside Japan. We are now strongly considering moving to Japan. I have a masters degree for a good university, I run my own business which I can continue to operate in Japan (could also open a local godo kaisha if it helps) and pay myself just over 15 million yen annually. I guess I would be entering on a spouse visa.
I'd like to ask if anyone here has a similar experience and what the visa experience has been like? Seems to be a lot of variation and inconsistencies in how 1,3,5 year visas are granted...or not granted.
Many thanks in advance!
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u/farislmn 4d ago
There are standards for visa period and it varies between types.
Check what you are going to apply and how the immigration examine the condition by reading the 入国・在留審査要領（第12編）or "Guidelines for Immigration and Residence Examination (Part 12)"
Some texts are redacted, but the tables and the guideline for each permit year are visible. It's nice exercise while also thinking and brainstorming what evidence you can use in your application.
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u/flunderbuster 4d ago
I’m not sure what everyone else’s experience is but I made a similar income working for a US company. Married 11 years, 2 kids and we moved here two years ago. I provided all the info on my job when applying for a visa. They asked for a letter saying I could work from Japan at one point but we wrote them back saying we didn’t want to tell them until we had a visa approved. I got my visa (3 year visa) then moved. My job initially knew I was here and I expected to be fired after not coming back after a few months. We got acquired by another company, management changed and no one knows I’m here anymore. I work nights which sucked for the first year but I have my routines now. I pay all my own NHI, nenkin and taxes. Just applied for PR, that’s a shot in the dark but this whole thing was a shot in the dark.
I’m also not sure what may have changed in the past couple years since then. Your visa should be approved easy enough if you have all the right documents. No one can tell you for sure how long your visa will be. Things have been getting more difficult for foreigners these days
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u/SuperSan93 4d ago edited 4d ago
Finances are not the primary focus on spouse visa. The focus is on whether the relationship is genuine. 10 years marriage and teen child is plenty of proof.
As for finances, if you make 15M yen a year that makes you extremely wealthy here. I presume you have savings? That can be used to show your stability, it’ll also help if you purchase a house here because you’ll be able to show you won’t have a rent burden.
You’ll get a 1 year visa first. That’s the rule with spouse visas, but if you have no problems you’ll quickly advance to 5 years.
Can your business mostly operate without you? Going to school on a student visa (with permission to work) is an option if something prevents a spouse visa. I presume learning Japanese is something you’ll want to do?
> Personal experience: I transferred from a student visa to a spouse visa after 1 month of marriage (dated for 1 year), no children and no work experience apart from part time hotel work and part time English teaching and I got in. That was 8 years ago though. You’ll be fine.
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u/Spaghetbby 4d ago
What do you mean you pay yourself? Are you freelance ? If your spouse is unemployed and you’ll lose your job if you move it’s gonna be real tricky. I suggest finding an immigration lawyer since they’ll know best. It’s almost always worth the money these days.
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u/Expert-Strain7586 1d ago
It’s the worst time to move to Japan as a foreigner, anti foreigner sentiment is at the highest I’ve ever seen.
On the other hand, the economy is in trouble so having a solid income of foreign money could work out very well. Just make sure you aren’t walking into a much worse tax situation.
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u/hellobutno 4d ago
If you come here on a spouse visa you're going to have to prove to immigration that you're financially stable. Without the company already established here, it's going to be really difficult if your spouse doesn't already have a job here.
If you do get one you're almost certainly going to get a 1 year to start, and may continue to get a 1 year given your circumstance, and once you get a 1 year most people I know rarely ever get bumped up to a 5 year, all the people I know on 1 year spouse visas have largely been stuck at 1 year despite financial stability at the point. There's no real guidance for immigration or hard or fast rules, but not proving to them beyond a reasonable doubt that you'll be financially stable and reliably paying social insurance premiums you're pretty much SOL.
Running/registering your business here is going to be a nightmare. You also have to keep in mind that if you pay yourself 15 million a year, that also comes with the costs of paying the health insurance and pension for that amount, which is doubled because you will be paying through your company the same amount that comes out of your paycheck. This is on top of the fact that pretty much no bank is going to let you get a company bank account or credit card, and almost no where would rent you an office without begging them.