2025-06-04

There are four types of Spouse Visa status: 6 months, 1 year, 3 years and 5 years. However, there are high hurdles to overcome in order to be granted a 5-year visa. Here, we will explain the requirements to be granted a spouse visa with a 5-year period of stay.

What is a spouse visa?

A spouse visa is a status of residence that a foreign national living in Japan can obtain by applying for a spouse visa when married to a Japanese national. To be precise, it is called “Status of Residence: Spouse or Child of Japanese National. This status of residence includes not only those who married a Japanese national, but also those who were specially adopted by a Japanese national or born as a child of a Japanese national.

To obtain a spouse visa, the applicant must submit the application form and required documents to the Immigration Bureau with jurisdiction over the applicant’s place of residence, and must obtain approval after an examination.

What is the period of stay?

Each status of residence has its own period of stay. Like a driver’s license, this period of stay is the “validity period” of the visa granted. Therefore, once the period of stay has expired, the permission is no longer valid and must be “renewed”.

In the case of a spouse visa, the period of stay granted after the first application is generally six months or one year. From the immigration office’s standpoint, the intention is to examine the authenticity and continuity of the marriage and the stability of the couple’s income again after six months or one year.

Then, if the renewal procedure is completed and there are no problems with the authenticity of the marriage, etc., a longer period of stay than 6 months or 1 year will be granted. In the case of a spouse visa, this means 3 or 5 years, but the reality is that there are quite a few hurdles to overcome in order to be granted a 5-year period of stay on the first renewal.

How can I get a 5-year period of stay?

Having said that, a 5-year period of stay is much less burdensome for the individual than a 3-year period.

So, what should one do to be granted a five-year period of stay? According to the Immigration Bureau’s examination guidelines, all of the following five requirements must be met.

The first is that the applicant must fulfill the notification obligations under the Immigration Law. For those who have status of residence, there is an obligation to notify, for example, when there is a change of address. The applicant must not be negligent in fulfilling these obligations and must be performing them properly.

Second, they must be fulfilling their public obligations. Public obligations include the payment of social insurance and pension premiums.

The third is to allow children of elementary and junior high school age to attend school. This means making sure that children receive a proper compulsory education.

Fourth, the primary breadwinner must fulfill his or her tax obligations. This means that the person who makes a living in the household pays income tax, inhabitant tax, and other taxes without delinquency.

Fifth, the marriage is expected to continue in the future. In addition, the couple must have lived together after the marriage for at least three years. In other words, it is not a sham marriage, but an actual marriage.

Summary

There are five requirements for a spouse visa to be valid for five years. However, four of them must be in compliance with the law. The remaining one is that the couple must be married and have lived together for at least three years.