【Case Study】Cases of changing from a temporary visitor visa to a spouse visa

1. Possibility of changing from a temporary visitor visa to a spouse visa

On the internet, there are contradicting information. Some says that application for the change from a temporary visitor visa to a spouse visa is permitted, and some says that it is not permitted. On the other hand, on the websites of some administrative scrivener offices, fees for application for the change from a temporary visitor visa to a spouse visa are listed. In fact, we are one of them. This is because, as you will see later, changing from a temporary visitor visa to a spouse visa is not impossible.

No provision in the Immigration Act bans such change. Article 20, paragraph 1 of the Immigration Act, which stipulates the applications for visa change, states, “Any foreign national residing under a certain status of residence may…” As you can see from this article, the change of visa is limited to legitimate residents, but there is no provision forbidding the change from a temporary visitor visa.

Then why some information on the internet says that a temporary visitor visa cannot be changed to a spouse visa?

2. Why is it said that a temporary visitor visa cannot be changed to a spouse visa?

In order to call your spouse to Japan and live together in Japan, you need to apply for the Certificate of Eligibility.
For that, you first apply for the issuance of the Certificate of Eligibility at the relevant immigration office. After you receive the Certificate of Eligibility, you mail it to your spouse overseas. Your spouse then applies for a so-called visa at a Japanese government office abroad and finally enter Japan with the visa.

In the series of procedures above, careful examination is carried out not only for the application for the Certificate of Eligibility but also for the visa application.
On the other hand, temporary visitor visas only allow a short stay in Japan, and work, etc. are not expected to be conducted, so temporary visitor visas are issued after a relatively simple examination.

Therefore, if the change from a temporary visitor visa to a spouse visa is accepted, applicants for such change will be allowed to stay in Japan only after a simple examination, skipping careful examination conducted in the course of the application for the Certificate of Eligibility and the subsequent visa application.
For this reason, it is said that changing from a temporary visitor visa to a spouse visa should not be easily allowed.

3. Provisions in the Immigration Act which stipulates the change from a temporary visitor visa to a spouse visa

Is there any provision regarding the change from a temporary visitor visa to a spouse visa in the Immigration Act?

The proviso of Article 20, paragraph 3 of the Immigration Act states,
“in the case of an application submitted by a person whose status of residence is ‘Temporary Visitor’, permission is not to be granted unless the application is made based on special unavoidable circumstances.”

The existence of this provision is the source of the 2 opposite information: The change from a temporary visitor visa is permitted, and not permitted.

For accurate understanding, it is necessary to clarify whether the change is “based on special unavoidable circumstances” as stated in the proviso of Article 20, paragraph 3 of the Immigration Act.

In the next section, we will examine “special unavoidable circumstances.”

4. What are the “special unavoidable circumstances” required when changing from a temporary visitor visa to a spouse visa?

The “special unavoidable circumstances” here means circumstances where there is a rational reason for the change in the original purpose of residence due to the change in circumstances after entering Japan, and it is appropriate to permit continuous stay in Japan without forcing the person to leave Japan to take new procedures for entrance to Japan (“Explanation of Each Article of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act <Revised 4th Edition>” by Hidenori Sakanaka / Toshio Saito).

In other words, 2 items are considered to be required: There is a reasonable ground for the change of a visa after entering Japan with a temporary visitor visa, and it is reasonable to permit continuous stay in Japan.

One example of this is when a foreigner marries a Japanese person and wishes to continue living in Japan.

5. Can a temporary visitor visa be always changed to a spouse visa after marriage?

If you get married while you are in Japan on a temporary visitor visa, will you always be allowed to change to a spouse visa? No, actually it doesn’t work like that.

Not only the existence of the special unavoidable circumstances mentioned in 4 above, but also fulfillment of the requirements for permission for a spouse visa is required for the change from a temporary visitor visa to a spouse visa.

Therefore, when changing from a temporary visitor visa to a spouse visa, a special unavoidable circumstance is required in addition to the regular spouse visa requirements, which may give you an impression that changing from a temporary visitor visa to a spouse visa is difficult.

6. Conclusion of the case example

When we dealt with the abovementioned case, in addition to the regular requirements for spouse visa permission, we verified and proved special unavoidable circumstances, abiding by the basic principles.

In this case, his wife’s temporary visitor visa was expiring, so it was an urgent matter. Therefore, we proceeded quickly not to lose any time after grasping the whole picture of the case.

Since she entered Japan with a 90-day temporary visitor visa, she was subject to the special period, but she was able to receive a spouse visa before the special period started.

She and her wife were originally prepared to leave Japan, so they were very pleased about the outcome.

* What is the special period? There is a provision in Article 20, paragraph 5 of the Immigration Act. For example, if the Korean wife of the case example applies for the change to a spouse visa within the period of stay of the temporary visitor visa and does not receive the result from the immigration office by the expiration of her visa, the original status of residence (temporary visitor) will be treated as valid　for 2 months from the expiration date at the longest (or to the date of receipt of the result if it is given by the immigration office before the expiration date).
*Note: However, the special period is not applied to foreigners who have a period of stay of 30 days or less.

7. Summary of this article

In this article, we have picked a case of changing from a temporary visitor visa to a spouse visa, about which we often receive inquiries.

You may feel worried as the immigration authorities have discretion and there are many points that are unclear to the public. Plus, as mentioned in 2 above, there is such idea that changing from a temporary visitor visa to a spouse visa should not be allowed easily.

However, it is not impossible to apply for the change from a temporary visitor visa to a spouse visa if you obtain the correct information, and manage to assert and prove the required points.

If you would like to change from a temporary visitor visa to a spouse visa, please feel free to contact Daiichi-Sogo Group.