Types of visa for wife

[enlight85]

Hello all,

I've accepted a role with Interac now and should be leaving in August once everything is confirmed.

Can anyone offer any advice on the following query...

We've saved so my wife can study in Japan at a language school and she is trying to decide which type of visa to come over on; Student or Spouse

I am having trouble locating pages or services online which will outline if she is eligible to study on a spouse visa and what the difference are.

Any personal experience or swift internet knowledge to point me in the right direction?

Thanks as always.

[mothy]

This site says there are no restrictions on spousal visa activities JAPAN : visa, immigration, working visa, spouse visa , but I don't know if I'd trust an internet source with something so important. Just email your local embassy.

As for advice, which one to go on would depend on how intent she is to study there. If nothing is going to shake her on that, may as well come on a student visa.

[enlight85]

Thanks very much. That's useful.

[miamicoordinator]

Hello all,

I've accepted a role with Interac now and should be leaving in August once everything is confirmed.

Can anyone offer any advice on the following query...

We've saved so my wife can study in Japan at a language school and she is trying to decide which type of visa to come over on; Student or Spouse

I am having trouble locating pages or services online which will outline if she is eligible to study on a spouse visa and what the difference are.

Any personal experience or swift internet knowledge to point me in the right direction?

Thanks as always.

The spouse visa you are talking about is "Spouse of Japanese National." In order for her to be eligible, you would beed to be a Japaense citizen. Considering the fact that you are teaching with Interact, I assume you are not a Japanese citizen, and thus are not eligible to get her a spouse visa.

She will either have to get a Dependant visa through you(you would need to get this through the Ministry of Justice in Japan). Dependants cannot work unless they get special permission from their local immigration bureau. Even then, there is a max of of how many hours you are allowed to work. Dependant visas require a Certificate of Eligiblity.

If she gets a student visa, the school would get the Certificate of Eligibility for her (as long as the program is longer than 90 days). If it is a short term Japanese Intensive Program that is less than 90 days, they most likely will not get the CoE for you, and expect your wife to come on a temporary visitor stamp. This is not the path you want to take because she will have to leave. If she is able to get a student visa through the school, she would have the same restrictions as a dependant. She would not be able to work without special permission.

If she gets a dependant visa through you, she gets to stay with you as long as you are there.

If she gets a student visa through the school, she can stay for the duration of her program.

[Zolrak 22]

If she gets a dependant visa through you, she gets to stay with you as long as you are there .

If she gets a student visa through the school, she can stay for the duration of her program.

This was the first thing that came to mind, it's a lot better to come in as a dependant than to deal with having to change your visa later on.

[enlight85]

Zolrak 22 and miamicoordinator,

Really interesting points that I didn't think of, regarding how long she can actually stay... The name of the types of visa was a good point too, yes. I thought spouse and dependent were the same! I've just been trying to take it all in and obviously tripped myself up a little. Both of your input, along with mothy, has done so much more to support us than my endless reading. A development area for me, certainly.

It's all good stuff!

[gibbity]

Just email your local embassy.

Seriously the greatest advice here.

[enlight85]

Seriously the greatest advice here.

Unfortunately, they won't take visa queries via email but I did call. It was a Japanese man who had a little trouble understanding what I was explaining. I tried Japanese and it cleared up but he never mentioned the point above, however, it still worked out. ITIL proved its worth again!

[Penguee]

Yes. Dependent visa is best because after she finishes her studies you don't have to do anything. If she is on a student visa you have to go to the Immigration bureau and pay money to change her status to dependent so you might as well get dependent from the get-go and save money.