Immigration and arrival in Japan

Now that we’re living in Japan and have worked through a lot of the immigration process, I figured that I should summarize what we did. Prior to starting the process, we did a lot of research and all the websites outlined a lot of difficulties that we simply didn’t have.
We came to Japan on a spouse visa from the United States and the process was very simple.

There appears to be two main ways to obtain the visa:

• Obtain a Certificate of Eligibility first: It seems that the Japanese government really wants you use this centrally controlled process for applying for a visa. You fill out a fairly lengthy, highly detailed description of you, your job, and your marriage and then apply at one of the immigration bureaus in Japan. If you call and ask, the immigration service will tell you that you have to use this method.
• Apply via the Consulate: There is an alternate method available at most of the Consulate General offices in America. You apply for a spouse visa with a much simpler application form and they have the discretion to approve or deny your application at the consular level without a full Certificate of Eligibility.

Using a spouse visa, the big stuff that you need to provide are the following items:

• Proof of Marriage: We provided a certified copy of the American marriage certificate and proof that the marriage was registered in Japan. My wife did not take my last name but my name is mentioned on her passport and other documents and it seems to help the process.
• Family Register (Kanseki Tohon): You’ll need to get a copy from Japan as proof of the spouse’s Japanese citizenship. It will also show that the marriage is registered.
• Letter of Sponsorship: You will need a letter from someone from Japan that is going to support you once you get there. In addition to being on the hook for you, they have to promise that they will represent you in legal action and can afford to send you home if needed. They will need to provide a statement that shows that they are wealthy enough for that, too.

In addition to that, you will need some photos that are sized for a Japanese passport and some other minor things.

We applied at the consulate and were asked to provide a statement of personal income after the first couple of days they were reviewing it. Right at the two-week mark, we received our visa. This is significantly faster than any of our research hinted it would take. All of the horror stories we read online were talking about four or five months of waiting. It appears that coming from America is easier than coming from other countries. Or, the fact that we had been married for over 12 years could have been a factor in making our visa process easier.