Hello everyone.
As the title says, I’ll be going to Japan on a student visa in April. I’m married to a person the same nationality as me and I want him to move to Japan with me. The problem is that to get a CoE, it seems I have to get to Japan first. But then I found this page: https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/applications/guide/onlineshinsei.html which says you can apply for a CoE online. If that’s the case, isn’t there a possibility to get him a dependent visa before I leave for Japan in April? Who should I get in contact with in order to find more information?
4 comments
[deleted]
> * To complete the procedure online, you need to apply for use at the local immigration bureau in advance.
>* In order to be able to use the online residence application system, you will first have to submit a request for use to the regional immigration services office.
In other words: No, you cannot apply for a dependent visa online. ***You*** cannot use the online application system *at all*. It’s for companies/organizations applying for CoEs for their people.
The only way to get a dependent CoE before you move to Japan is for your sponsor (in this case your school) to submit the application for your dependent. Some schools will do that, some won’t. If your school won’t do it you will have to wait until you arrive.
EDIT: Your link is broken, and requires people who click on it to edit or some random text you included.
EDIT the second: Generally a dependent CoE application must be made *at the same time* as the primary CoE application. However, MEXT scholars don’t require CoEs, so… I would fall back on “ask your school”.
Your host organization can do a CoE for your husband at the same time as yours, but it is extra work for them. If I understand correctly, a lot of MEXT scholarships go to people in their early 20s. Your host organization might just assume that MEXT scholars are too young to be married, and never established procedures for it. You should reach out to your point of contact at MEXT.
You could also try asking your host organization how they would process your CoE(s) if you were on a JSPS postdoctoral fellowship. For those, dependent CoEs are fairly standard.
The most annoying piece of documentation you’ll need is a Japanese translation of your marriage certificate. It doesn’t have to be a certified translation, though. My host school let me translate it myself, which was a bit of a chore but didn’t cost anything.
I was a MEXT scholar who was also married – my university (Todai) would not submit an application for my dependent. I already knew this when I accepted the scholarship. In fact, I think I’d researched this before I even applied…
I knew that if my husband wanted to arrive with me at the same time, he would need to obtain a visa that was unrelated to mine and then make the switch to a dependent if so required in the future. There were 4 other married international couples in my cohort – (yes, older people do get MEXT) – and we were all in the same circumstance. My husband obtained his own work visa prior to departure so this wasn’t an issue for us in the end and he arrived 48hrs after me.
However, for other couples in my cohort who were needing dependent visas, their spouses all arrived 3-5 months later and my peers organised the CoE themselves (without help from the school). You should be prepared to be separated for some time if your school won’t assist with applying for your dependent.