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"Guarantors for a resident status" March 4, 2003 |
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In today's addition of frequently asked questions, we are going to talk about guarantors for a resident status. In general, to determine whether a foreign national can enter or extend their stay in Japan, the immigration officer will screen the personality of the applicant, his financial status we regard to his livelihood and whether there is someone who can support the applicant mentally and financially in time that means during his stay in Japan. And the person that can give assurance to such mother is the guarantor, in Japanese "Hoshonin". Guarantor is not required for the wedding visa but becomes very important for non-working visa and for those resident status issue on humanitarian purposes. The guarantor is required to write a letter of a guarantee or "Mimotohosyousyo" to certify his willingness to assume the responsibility of a guarantor. But, the aware that the credibility of guarantor is very critical. If the person serving as a guarantor is proven to be a good citizen or resident, it will relatively be easier for the visa applicant to obtain a status. But, if the immigration officer finds the guarantor inappropriate or lack of qualification, it will be difficult to obtain the visa applied for. So, aside from the letter of guarantee from the guarantor, you will need to submit also documents that can prove the credibility of your guarantor, like the resident certificate, employment certificate and tax payment record of the guarantor. Given this facts, you may think that a guarantor must have some special qualifications or certain level of income and assets. This is not true. Basically, a resident of Japan can be a guarantor regardless of nationality. Neither special capacity nor certain income is needed. However, if a foreign national is to be a guarantor, it will depend on the resident status and validity of the visa. For the immigration officer to consider a foreign national as the guarantor, he must be a holder of the status with the longest validity which is the 3 year visa. Now, which type of resident status requires a guarantor? An application for an extension or change of resident status to that of the spouse or child of Japanese national, spouse or child of permanent resident, long-term resident or the permanent resident will require a guarantor. Several years ago, foreign nationals who are holders of cultural activities, college students, pre-college students, dependent and designee activity status are required to have a guarantor. However, in 1996, the immigration law was revised revoking such requirement for the said status. What then are the duties of a guarantor? The responsibilities of guarantor are printed in detail on the form of letter of guarantee that is available at the immigration office. Guarantors are to take responsibility on the financial incapacity of the concerned foreigner. So they have to show that the living expenses of foreigner in Japan who became financially incapable so as the fees that will be incurred when they need to go back to their home country. It is also a duty of a guarantor to advise the concerned foreign national to observe Japan's law and not to engage in activities beyond the scope of his status of resident. According to Mr. Nakano, guarantors are expected more likely to take their moral obligations rather than being saddle with actual financial liability. The written discloser of the responsibility of the guarantor is a sort of warning from the immigration office that one must be careful when agreeing to serve as a guarantor. As I mentioned earlier, the types of resident status that require guarantor are the spouse and child of Japanese national status, the spouse or child of permanent resident status, the long -term resident status and the permanent resident status. But be aware that conditions for the immigration office to admit a person as a guarantor varies according to the type of status the foreign national holds. For the spouse or child of Japanese national or permanent resident status, the guarantor should be the spouse of the applicant. The letter of guarantee executed by the spouse of Japanese national or permanent resident is most effective specially in proving cohabitation and devotion of the couple which are very important for the spouse visa. Make sure that your spouse signature or seal must appear on the letter of the guarantee. One might ask what happens if you cannot get your spouse to sign the letter of the guarantee because you are living separately or is in bad terms with your spouse. The best thing to do is to try to make up with your spouse. But it seems impossible to do so, you can ask close friends or your supervisor at work to be the guarantor. In such case, it is recommended that an explanation asked why they should stay to take this land of the guarantor instead of your spouse be included in the letter of guarantee. For the long-term resident status, there are several cases in relation to the guarantor. If you are a foreigner of Japanese descent living in Japan, a friend or your employer is most suitable to be your guarantor. If you are a spouse or child of Japanese descent foreigner living in Japan and your suppose a resident status is the long-term resident, your spouse or parent of Japanese descent must be your guarantor. There are several cases with respect to the guarantor for a foreign national applying for the permanent resident status. If you are a spouse of Japanese national and are applying for the permanent resident status, your spouse must be your guarantor. This applies also to that the spouse of permanent resident. But if you are applying for a change of status from working to permanent resident status, a friend or employer could be your guarantor. |
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