How to Renew a Spouse Visa in Japan

It’s that time again – the dreaded Japanese spouse visa renewal! While many resources exist, many are contradictory and ambiguous, adding unnecessary stress to the already tedious task of preparing to renew your visa successfully.

This article explains how people with a “Spouse or Child of Japanese National” visa who are married to someone from Japan can easily renew their visa.

Of course, procedures can differ based on your nationality and prefecture, so we implore you only to use this as a rough guide while seeking personalized advice from an immigration specialist.

Please note that this guide discusses the renewal of the Japanese spouse visa. Oops!!! actually, the spouse visa means your spouse is a Japanese citizen and not a foreigner living in Japan.

If you do not already have a spouse visa in Japan and wish to get one, please go through the guide, which will answer How to get a Spouse visa in Japan.

When Can I Renew My Spouse Visa in Japan?

Thankfully, you can apply to renew your spouse’s visa up to three months before the expiry date, allowing a generous window to organize your schedule if you are busy. You can apply anytime during these three months as long as the expiry date written on your Japanese residence card doesn’t pass.

Once you apply, assuming everything is in order, immigration will instantly grant you a short-term extension while immigration confirms your application and prepares the result.

Remember that immigration will not notify you of visa expiry, so it’s entirely up to you to stay organized and remember your visa’s expiry date. 

What Do You Need to Renew Japanese Spouse Visa

You must prepare several documents and items before visiting the immigration office. Please ensure you have official and up-to-date copies of all of the following:

Your Own Stuff:

• Passport (with at least one year’s validity for best results)
• Residence Card (non-expired)
• Photo (passport-sized (40×30), best taken in a photo booth)

From the Internet:

• Letter of Guarantee (身元保証書): You can print the English version here, or the Japanese version here
• Application for Extension of Period of Stay: No. 15 Spouse or Child of Japanese national, print here

From City Hall:

• Spouse’s Family Registry (koseki tohon, 戸籍謄本)
• Certificate of Residence (juminhyo, 住民票)
• Your Tax Certificate (nozei-shomeisho, 納税証明書)
• Your partner’s Tax Certificate (nozei-shomeisho, 納税証明書)
• Your Resident Tax Certificate (kazei-shomeisho, 課税証明書) 
• Your partner’s Resident Tax Certificate (kazei-shomeisho, 課税証明書) 

Always visit the city hall (ward office) where you initially registered your family. If you’ve moved, re-register in advance at your new city hall.

Each document from the city hall will generally cost around 300 yen, so don’t forget to bring cash.

Generally, you’ll be able to get both your and your partner’s documents without their presence. However, some cases may differ. Always ask for and confirm you’re getting the latest documents.

Most of the city halls or ward offices are often crowded, and normally, you may need to wait. However, the preparation of documents is easy, and you can do it quickly and without trouble.

Moreover, nowadays, ward offices are equipped with a machine where you can insert your My Number card and get the required document printed by inserting the required money.

Moreover, you can also find these machines at convenience stores to get the documents without going to the ward office. 

How to Prepare Your Spouse Visa Documents

Don’t touch the documents from city hall – ensure they’re neatly organized and safely stored. You won’t need to do anything with your passport or residence card other than showing those when they ask you. 

Your main tasks will be the Letter of Guarantee and Application for an Extension of the Period of Stay. Both are surprisingly straightforward and can be completed in less than 15 minutes, depending on the circumstances.

Your partner may also need to fill in the Letter of Guarantee and the “Supporter” or “Guarantor” part of section 21/22 on the Application for Extension of Period of Stay, depending upon your situation.

After carefully filling out and triple-checking everything, staple the Application for Extension of Period of Stay pages together, glue your photo on the box provided, and place it with the Letter of Guarantee and other documents. While you shouldn’t have much trouble, there are a few ambiguities covered below:

Page 1, Section 13: Desired length of extension

Please put down a sensible number of years, like 3 or 5. Please note that the decision about the length of stay lies with immigration, and even if you request 3 or 5 years, you may get an extension of only one year, so don’t be too optimistic!

Page 1, Section 14: Reason for extension

You can simply write something along the lines of “to live with my partner and continue working” = 妻(wife)／夫(husband)と一緒に暮らすため・仕事のため

Page 1, Section 16: Family in Japan

Don’t neglect to write your partner’s details here, along with any other family, such as children you may have in Japan.

You do not have to mention the details about your spouse’s family.

Page 3, Section 18: Dates of Notification of Marriage or Birth

Section 18 on page 4 of the application asks for the following:

• For a spouse, the place and date of notification of marriage
• For a child, the place and date of notification of birth or adoption

If you were married in Japan, write the name of the city hall (ward office) where you were officially married. Apart from the ward office’s name, you also need to mention the date of the marriage registration.

Please leave the “Foreign authorities” section blank in such a case. However, If you were married overseas, write the details and date in the “Foreign authorities” section.

It is possible that after marrying in Japan, you might have also registered your marriage in your home country. In such a case, leaving the “Foreign authorities” section blank is better. This is to avoid any confusion about two different dates of marriage registration.

Page 3, Section 20, Part 1: Method of support

This section of the application form for spouse visa renewal ensures your spouse, or you can afford your living expenses while in Japan.

Along with your income (self), please mention your partner’s income in the “Supporter in Japan” section to bolster your application’s strength.

Page 3, Section 20, Part 3: Supporter

If the supporter is your partner or the person who will fill in section 21 on page 4, don’t bother filling this section in.

Page 4, Section 21/22

This page has room for a “supporter” and a “guarantor or contact in Japan” to fill in their details. As for which section your partner should fill in, it remains a little mysterious.

However, whatever you choose shouldn’t really affect the outcome of your application. In my case, we personally went with “supporter” and had no issues.

Visiting the Immigration Center

After you’ve found your closest immigration center, bring everything listed above and present it to an immigration officer. You can find the closest immigration center with a simple Google search.

While waiting times will drastically change depending on the time of day and location, it will rarely be a speedy experience. Considering this, you should prepare yourself to dedicate most of your day to this activity.

If all goes well, the officer will attach an extension to your passport and residence card and request you to write your name and address on a postcard.

The Second Visit to the Immigration Center

Once a postcard arrives at your home from immigration, it’s time to return! You’ll have one month until the postcard expires.

This expiry period of one month gives you plenty of leeway to arrange your schedule to visit immigration again. The expiry date will be listed on the postcard, so check it carefully. This time, you’ll need to bring the following:

• The postcard
• Passport     
• Residence Card
• 4,000 yen in revenue stamps. Please ask for 4,000 yen in “shunyu inshi (収入印紙)” at any convenience store
• Certificate of Payment of Fee (print from the website here)

While many people print and prepare a “Certificate of Payment of Fee” and attach the revenue stamps in advance, if you don’t have time for this, you can do it at the immigration center (I personally forgot to do this, so they did it for me with no trouble!). Ensure you have the revenue stamps in advance – and don’t lose them! 

And There You Have It!

If all goes well, you’ll have successfully extended your stay in Japan! While a long-term expat successfully tried and tested this guide, always confirm your information with another source.

In fact, if your Japanese is good enough, you should call or have your spouse call the immigration center for the latest information about the visa renewal. Surprisingly, there seems to be a severe lack of English speakers at immigration.

You will find some English support in big cities like Tokyo and Osaka but not much in smaller cities. At least this has been my experience, so either has your spouse or a fluent Japanese speaker accommodate you or memorize some of the terminologies you’ll need to navigate the system.

Thankfully, if your documents are checked out, no one will need to speak with you extensively, so don’t hesitate to go alone! Good luck, and fingers crossed for a longer extension while renewing your “spouse visa” in Japan!