For context, I am a 26 yo working as a software developer(2y experience) and I hold a bachelors. My fiancée(23) does not work currently but has a bachelors. We have visited Japan but have limited conversational ability. Our options seem to be: apply for a Japanese position in software development and get a work visa. The issue is, I would probably be making anywhere from 5-10m and I don’t know if that’s enough for my fiancée and I to live on. Would it be a good idea to have her apply for ALT? Or go the dependent visa route? Can she work on one as a teacher? Would it be smarter we both try to get a work visa?
Another question. My job currently is fully remote. Could I apply for a tourist visa and live in Japan for 3 months while working remote. What are the options for my fiancée?
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**Fiancée and I thinking about moving to Japan, need advice**
For context, I am a 26 yo working as a software developer(2y experience) and I hold a bachelors. My fiancée(23) does not work currently but has a bachelors. We have visited Japan but have limited conversational ability. Our options seem to be: apply for a Japanese position in software development and get a work visa. The issue is, I would probably be making anywhere from 5-10m and I don’t know if that’s enough for my fiancée and I to live on. Would it be a good idea to have her apply for ALT? Or go the dependent visa route? Can she work on one as a teacher? Would it be smarter we both try to get a work visa?
Another question. My job currently is fully remote. Could I apply for a tourist visa and live in Japan for 3 months while working remote. What are the options for my fiancée?
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>The issue is, I would probably be making anywhere from 5-10m and I don’t know if that’s enough for my fiancée and I to live on.
The average household income for two-person or more household in Japan is under 6m. So you’d be fine supporting the both of you.
> Would it be a good idea to have her apply for ALT?
Odds are if she’s applying from abroad for an ALT position she won’t get one near where you’d be with your work. So I’d say better to bring her over as your dependent and she can look for local opportunities at her leisure.
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>Can she work on one as a teacher?
As your dependent she can work up to 28 hours per week. So she can find part time local work until she finds something that can sponsor her own independent status and she can go fulltime then.
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> Could I apply for a tourist visa and live in Japan for 3 months while working remote.
As a tourist you are not allowed to work. Full stop. Doesn’t matter if your employer is remote, doesn’t matter if the money never enters Japan.
> I would probably be making anywhere from 5-10m
The median income for men is 5.67 million yen. You’ll be fine.
>Would it be a good idea to have her apply for ALT?
If she enjoys a service industry job, yes.
>Would it be smarter we both try to get a work visa?
Yes because otherwise she can’t come to Japan with you (that is unless you marry her beforehand)
>Could I apply for a tourist visa and live in Japan for 3 months while working remote.
This subreddit is quite harsh on visa fraud…
You got a lot of advice already but I wanted to mention your salary expectation is really high if you don’t already have an offer lined up. With only two years of experience and limited Japanese knowledge/no work experience in Japan, you’d be lucky to get even 5m yen. If you are applying at Japanese companies you should a expect a pay cut of around 60% of what you currently make. If you can get into a western company with a branch in Japan and then transfer, you could probably get a more decent salary though.
Important note: you need to be married in order to get her a dependent visa.