Hi all, need some advice in regards to visa.
I’m a Canadian doing PhD in a uni right now in Japan. I’m only in year 1, but due to family emergencies back home, I need to go back to Canada for 2 years.
I talked to my school and they’re ok with having me 休学 for 2 years. However, the visa would need to be forfeited upon leaving Japan.
After 2 years, I would like to come back to Japan and finish my PhD. I’m married in Japan (to a Japanese spouse) and can either choose a Student visa or Spouse visa.
I’m wondering if having a record of prior visa forfeiture lowers your chance of getting a new one in the future? Maybe I’m being paranoid haha. I do not have any “bad” record.
Thank you all
5 comments
It doesn’t, this kind of thing happens all the time. I was on a spouse status in 2018, returned to the US, then came back in 2020 on an HSP visa, and now I have PR.
>I’m a Canadian doing PhD in a uni right now in Japan. I’m only in year 1, but due to family emergencies back home, I need to go back to Canada for 2 years.
I’m not going to ask but that’s an awefully long emergency. Good luck though hope things work out for you.
>I talked to my school and they’re ok with having me 休学 for 2 years. However, the visa would need to be forfeited upon leaving Japan.
As long as the school is fine with it the government should be as well. It’s not like you’re committing visa fraud, you’re doing the exact opposite, which is to say you’re doing exactly what you need to do what they want you to do and they won’t penalize you for that.
Won’t impact you at all – if you’re still married in two years (hopefully to the same lady!) you’ll be able to get a spousal visa, which I’d recommend as it gives you more options.
No problem.
Next time, the spouse visa would probably be a better choice. Especially when you finish being a student.
I hope it’s okay for me to piggyback off of this post. I’m new to Reddit, and can’t make my own posts yet. But I need advice from others who have experience, and I hope there’s someone in this sub who would be willing to help. I promise my situation is related to OP’s.
I am currently here in Japan on a student visa. I will have to go back home to the US by, I believe, June. My Japanese bf (we dated long distance for almost 4 years before I came here) is about to graduate from University in March. He decided to put off going to graduate school so that we can get married. He’s been working his butt off to get a job for after he graduates, so he can sponsor me and we can get a spouse visa for me. Luckily, he scored one this week! Of course, he can’t start working until April, after he graduates. I know it’s wise for us to start the paperwork as early as possible. Other than getting the marriage certificate, do we have to wait to do the other paperwork (COE application and visa application) until after he starts working? Or is it possible to start everything now, even though he hasn’t graduated yet? Is it even realistic to try to get a spouse visa before I am required to leave the country, if we have to wait until he actually is working before we can start the process? I guess I just want to know what exactly we should do in our situation, and the timing of everything. I don’t want to go back home, if I don’t absolutely have to.
Also, where do we get that paperwork? The embassy itself? I went through a company for my student visa, so I’m not sure how to do this on our own. We also can’t afford an immigration lawyer or anything like that.
If you are knowledgeable on this, please feel free to give me any advice you have! よろしくお願いします！🙏🏻