Me (19f, trans) and my partner (21f, cis) plan on moving to Japan, but would like to get married first. As, it isn’t recognized legally there; particularly wanting to share her last name. I am ok with them simply not recognizing our marriage, but, will it cause any issues with getting visa’s or permanent residency? Or could there possibly be benefits to being married already?
And as a secondary question, if I get my gender legally changed here in the US will that also be recognized in Japan (Possibly without needing full bottom surgery)? Or will I also need to go through their process which I have seen is rigorous, or possibly face other issues
I searched around the internet some and couldn’t find anyone asking questions similar to this, and I can’t find anything concrete on the legal websites, so any help would be appreciated
7 comments
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>I get my gender legally changed here in the US will that also be recognized in Japan
Your gender is what your passport says it is. So you will absolutely want to get that updated before coming to Japan.
Regarding your marriage; You would not be able to use your marriage to get a dependent visa. If you make enough noise about it, you could get a ‘designated activities’ visa that for all intents and purposes is the same. If you are both coming on your own visas then marital status is irrelevant to immigration.
You’re around a decade away from permanent residency (its 10 years of unbroken residency, unless there are other mitigating factors) so don’t worry about that until the time comes. Who knows, Japan might even have joined the 21st century by then.
Pretty sure Japan still bases everything on actual empirical evidence such as birth certificates and your status and documentation within Japan will reflect that. If you are trying to do things with a name that does not match your passport etc it will be a constant hassle and I’d imagine there will times when it will simply fail because of the mismatch.
Culturally speaking people will treat you as whatever you seem to be (if I’m understanding your description you will end up being treat as a young lesbian couple?), although only secondarily to threating you like a gaijin.
Visas is simple: if you have an employer or some other justification for being granted a visa (student visa etc) it will be straight forward. Your sex & sexuality will not matter at all for that. As long as you have the basic documents and follow the procedures it’s pretty simple.
Permanent residency is a totally different thing for that they want to see clear evidence of social contribution and integration. In the simplest terms that means stay out of trouble & pay your taxes for 10+ years – preferably by doing a job that they actually want people doing, for easy mode be either the father/mother of a child born in Japan – optimally (but not essentially) with the mother/father being Japanese.
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This is based on what I have read and heard from others and not based on any personal experiences, so you can take this in with others are saying (since I’m not sure if any of them have experience in this matter):
The name and gender from your passport is what Japan will recognize. However if you live in a place that offers a third option, then I’m not sure how Japan handles that.
If your partner is a Japanese citizen and you get married, then I don’t think you will be able to get a spouse visa if the gender on your passport says female (the same gender as your partner). While some cities recognize “civil unions” this is only local and wouldn’t apply to visas from my understanding. Also keep in mind that in order to qualify for a spouse visa your spouse needs to prove they make enough money in Japan, have enough money in the bank or you have a guarantor in Japan that makes enough money and is willing to take responsibility.
If your partner is not a Japanese citizen and your marriage is legal in the country you live in then I have heard that you can come on a dependent visa (or vice versa) if one of you has a valid work visa and makes enough money to support another person. However, if you come on a dependent visa you will only be able to work part-time. You would need someone to sponsor a visa to work full-time and this is very hard to do if you don’t have a 4 year degree.
Unfortunately I think that these types of questions aren’t necessarily clear in Japanese law, so there might be situations where some people were able to be accepted and others have had issues. Please continue to do your research. If you partner is not Japanese then you should look into visas more in general.
What’s your visa based on?
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