Hello. I've been reading up online and on this sub hoping to see something similar to our situation to no avail.. I am just hoping to get advice or some sort of an indication if we're on the right path .. Sorry in advance if this is kinda long:
Background
My wife is half-Japanese half-Filipino who is born and raised in the Philippines. His Japanese father (who died few years ago) didn't register all of his offsprings in the Koseki since I think the plan was to settle permanently here in the PH. Only her mother is registered so the passport route is not possible.
CoE Application
Guarantor – Her older brother, who is currently just doing part-time work/semi retired was our guarantor but financially can't sponsor us. Therefore;
Source of fund/income – I declared that we will fund the initial living expenses (I forgot the exact amount but it's something around 900k yen) while working remotely with my then-current company. I was earning around 215k yen (converted from pesos) a month.
Types of CoE Application
– Child of a Japanese national (for my wife)
– Child of a child of Japanese national (for our 2yo son)
– Spouse of a Japanese national (for me)
With the goal of obtaining a Long Term Resident visa (or Nikkei-jin visa)
Timeline:
- November 2023 – Submitted CoE application form along with basic identification docs (marriage, birth certs), family photos, proof of funds (Bank certificates, job contract and certificate of employment) all translated. As well as documents from our guarantor (tax, residency, work-related certs). We even submitted a letter explaining the story of how we met/got married. Submitted to Utsonomiya branch but I guess it's under the Tokyo immigration's scope?
While I do believe our funds maybe not so ideal, we had to try since his brother was willing to accomodate us. We will be living with them. The plan was to work remotely then my wife will find work until I can find a japanese software company. I'm a software developer.
- December 2023 – I was applying online in the hopes of finding work before or at the moment we land in Japan. I fortunately got hired…and the pay is 2x the amount I was earning at previous job. Company has offered to apply a work visa on my behalf but since I already have an ongoing application, we will have to wait for the result. Remote arrangements were made temporarily.
I'm aware that immigration at this moment was packed and the usual 1-3 months waiting time was not the standard anymore. In any case, our guarantor reached out to immigration sometime last January and they said our application will take 2-3 months.
- March 15 2024 – Immigration sent out a request for additional documents:
My wife's birth certificate and its translation
My in-laws Philippine marriage contract
And a letter explaining what is the "family's life upon entering Japan (where in Japan we would live, people we plant to live with, living expenses and work)"
To give context, the plan was to live with my brother-in-law for the mean-time in Sano, Tochigi while going to the Tokyo office 2-3 times a week until we can find a place to rent. While I do believe this setup is not good commute-wise, hopefully this doesn't affect the application? idk. We went there last March 2023 as tourists and it's comfortable 2-3 hr ride from Tokyo. Light work compared to Philippine metro manila traffic.
It was also a good time to notify them that my work has change since December so I sent a copy of my job contract, job offer (also all translated) and my company (via their visa lawyer) also sent a job contract to the immigration bureau (under the same application, I gave them the application number so we can coordinate better).
Sent all docs 2 weeks after.
April 8, 2024 – The immigration office again requested a document – My wife's birth certificate, this time with the "Certificate of Live Birth" in english compared to the Japanese characters before. I think this is because my wife's birth certifcate, which she has been using all her life (as well as when we applied as a tourist previously) coming from our Statistics government office (PSA), doesn't have the headline "Certificate of Live Birth". It is "Registry of Birth Record" which I believe is not uncommon? So what we did was to request a new one, got it 'apostilled' or authenticated by the Dept of Foreign Affairs, even included the envelope and the reciepts with the words 'Certificate of Live Birth' on them to show that's what we requested for and this is what they issued.
Present-time – Still waiting. It's gotten to the point that it's embarrasing to my employer who is still being patient but is ready to process my work visa the moment I decide to withdraw it. I don't know what should I do since ideally, we want to go together as a family which is not possible with a work visa (Although, I can bring them over in a couple of months?). It's been 7 months since November.
I guess the question is, what are my options? Can I withdraw my application but not my wife and son's then go with the work visa? Or wait out a result with a potential application rejection. Would withdrawing affect their application?
Also, the letters they've been sending out was addressed from the Permanent Residency Review Office. I'm wondering if that matters and if so, why would it come from that? I believe we are not specifically applying for Permanent Residency (upon quick googling, you need to be living in Japan in a few years to be eligible, well, that's the goal).
Sorry again for the long write up. I hope I was able to lay out all the info for you.. Thanks so much in advance!
by Fukuroukororo