Changing from tourist visa to spouse visa

[kiwigaijin]

Hi all,

Apologies if this has been answered before but I couldn't find it in previous posts. Basically, I have been in Tokyo for about 2 months on a tourist visa (Irish passport). My Japanese fiancee and I will be getting married this month in Japan, and I need to know what documents/procedures need to be done/completed in order to apply for my spouse visa once I am married. Also, do I need to leave the country and re-enter, and/or are there restrictions on my travel? We know what we need to do for the marriage, however I read somewhere that I might need a document saying that I am eligible for marriage?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

Cheers

[Glenski]

You do not need to leave the country to change your status of residence.

Ask your embassy what forms they require. Some want a certificate of eligibility (affirmation that you are not already married). Perhaps more.

The ward office or city hall will want to see her family register (koseki). She should know that.

[Udongein]

I would suggest going to your city/ward office and asking what they require to get married first. You can go to immigration and ask questions first, but you need to be married in order to apply for a spouse visa anyhow. So get married.

I'm American, not Irish, but you'll probably have to go to your embassy and get a certificate of eligibility (form proving you're not married in your home country). That's all I got from the American embassy. If the Irish Embassy is anything like the American embassy in Roppongi, they're not going to bother answering any questions for you.

You use the certificate of eligibility to get married at your city/ward office along with whatever forms they give you. You might be required to provide some other documents such as a birth certificate.

Get married. I did it in about 30 minutes without my husband. So romantic...

Then go to immigration, they'll give you a bunch of stuff to fill out and a list of all the forms you have to provide as well. It's better just to ask there, because as far as I can tell everyone's case by case, and while I had to provide X, Y, Z, you might have to do a few things different. I'm not sure. In any case though, immigration is responsible for your visa, so going there and asking is really the best, if not the *only* thing to do.