Working as the spouse of a J-SKIP visa holder

Hi all, pardon the lengthy post! m(__)m

I am a current resident of Japan with profile as follows:

  • Entered Japan ~1 year ago on J-SKIP visa (info here and here) and working in Tokyo
  • US citizen with N1 JLPT, multiple Ivy League degrees, >10yrs work experience, etc.
  • Earn above 20mil JPY threshold for the J-Skip "Advanced/Specialized Technical Activities" category
  • Not interested in Permanent Residency, plan to just stay on as J-Skip HSP2 for 5~7 years

My fiancée (also a US citizen) and I are getting married in the US this winter. We are planning for her to file for a COE after we're married and then have her relocate so we can live together in Tokyo.

She is a freelance junior software engineer, and has neither an undergraduate degree nor the 10 years of experience normally required for a work visa on a standalone basis. She also doesn't speak Japanese.

However, as I understand it, my J-Skip visa would allow my spouse to 1) work in Japan without the usual 28 hours per week limitation on dependent spouses and 2) obtain permission to work without being subject to the requirement of an undergraduate degree or 10 years' experience. It would also allow us to invite her mother to live with us during pregnancy and a child's early years.

With that context in mind, she would like to do one of the following:

A) work remotely as an employee of a foreign company while residing in Japan (seems challenging);

B) set up a GK entity in Japan and work for foreign companies remotely as a contractor; or

C) work as an employee of a Japanese company (or Japanese entity of a foreign company) while residing in Japan.

For any of the above, if she does not have an offer from a company in Japan, I am thinking the order of operations (after we are married) is as follows :

Apply for COE as dependent spouse -> enter Japan as a dependent spouse -> change status (how?) to working spouse

The one semi-useful link I've managed to find online on this is here, but it is still rather light on detail as far as the actual mechanics of a spouse entering Japan and working under this context.

Am I correct in my assessment that any of the options A-C above would be viable in this scenario?

Anyone have experience with the process of inviting a dependent spouse and then having them obtain permission to work fulltime after entering Japan as a dependent?

Many thanks in advance!

by Significant_Wave_856

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