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"Marriages of foreigners in Japan C|Marriages of those who had illegally overstayed in Japan" Oct 6, 2003 |
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Good evening. We have been talking about immigration related issues of international marriages in Japan for the past few months. And today, we will look into issues of marriages of those who had illegally overstayed in Japan. Many had asked whether it is possible to get married with their fiance who had illegally overstayed. This issue goes along with the questions as to how to go through the marriage procedures and how to obtain a visa after the marriage. Certainly, the matter should be very complicated especially when you think about the effort the government is doing to control immigration related marriage with fraud. Even the concerned foreign national had illegally overstayed in Japan, the conditions and the way of marriage stays the same. As long as the concerned can provide all the requirements and follow the standard procedure, a marriage will be effective. In short, whether you have a visa or not has nothing to do with a condition and standard procedure to marry in Japan. So, if he can satisfy the primary conditions for marriage, such as legal age to marry and be in single and follows the standard procedures like declaration of the marriage to the municipal office, then, there is no reason why they cannot get married in Japan. Also, as a standard procedure, any foreign national who got married with a Japanese national must declare their marriage to any of the city register office in Japan. How does overstay effect marriage procedures? One of the requirements for marriage is "Konin youkenn gubi shoumei-sho" or certificate of the legal capacity to marry which is issued by each respective embassy or consulate situated in Japan. Depending on the regulation of the resident country regarding marriages, there may be a delay for its issue ones. An additional delay is also expected if the concerned is holding an expired passport or with an expired visa. Because the law governing marriage varies from one country to another, it is advise then to consult your respective embassy or consulate. With a certificate of legal capacity to marry or "Konin youkenn gubi shoumei-sho" and valid passport, go to the municipal office governing your residence and process your alien registration. You can then have your marriage registered consecutively. Be sure to remember that the address to be declared during the alien registration must be the same as that of your Japanese spouse because cohabitation with your spouse is one critical requirement for obtaining the spouse visa. It must be noted also that even you are overstaying meaning you don't have a valid visa, you are still required to register as a foreign resident in the municipal office governing the residence of your Japanese spouse because it is the prerequisite for marriage registration. In short, alien registration comes first before marriage registration. Then, with your marriage certificate issued by the municipal office, go to your respective embassy to have it registered in your home country. The next thing to do is to legalize your stay in Japan. This means going to the Immigration Bureau to process the application for a spouse visa. Obviously, it will not be easy as under the immigration law of Japan the spouse visa is not to be automatically granted by marriage alone. And of course, anybody who overstayed do not simply apply for a status by the standard procedures even you are married to a Japanese national. The only way for an overstayed foreigner who is married to a Japanese national, permanent resident, or long-term resident, to obtain the spouse visa is to apply for the "Zairyuu Tokubetsu Kyoka" or a special permission for residency for the reason of wishing to live together with their spouse. Whether or not, the concerned will be granted the special permission for residency is totally under the discretion of the Minister of Justice. So, what are the requirements for the special permission for residency? The documents that the concerned must prepare for are passport, certificate of alien registration, and marriage certificate while the documents that the Japanese spouse needs to prepare are a guarantee letter with personally signed and sealed, residence certificate, employment certificate, certificate of income tax return and withholding tax. Also if the couples residing in a rental apartment, it is advisable to provide the immigration a copy of the lease contract. Petition from the family members of the Japanese spouse is also supportive. In addition, it is also preferable to include pictures of the couple in their daily life activities and pictures of couples with their families. When the documents are ready, go to the immigration office. Be sure to be accompanied by your Japanese spouse. It is very important that the couple must always appear together at the Immigration Bureau while processing the application for the special permission. As that is one way to prove the couple is not involved in immigration related marriage with fraud.@Under first appearance, the overstaying spouse will be subjected to severe interrogations once he is proven as an illegal residence of Japan. Second, the validity of the marriage will be scrutinized. So, the process will take quite some time. Included in the process is the inspection of the submitted documents whether they are fault or not. The couple will be the one set consequences when the submitted documents will be found false. And of course, the overstaying spouse will be photographed and his fingerprint taken. Also, it will not be a one they process, the immigration officer will set the next reappearance date and ask for additional documents when required. Now, if the concerned was found trustworthy, in the sense that he was found not the type to escape while processing the papers, he will be on probation, and will be asked to see a probation officer regularly until his application for the special permission for residency got approved. Also, before the probationary period, the concerned will be asked to pay a bill of not more than three million yen. However, he will be exempted from paying the bill if his marriage to the Japanese national is found to be a legitimate one. During the probationary period, all activities will be limited. The concerned is expected to reside at the address declared as his residence. His activity is basically restricted within the prefecture governing his residence. If in any case, the concerned has to travel outside the designated prefecture, he must first notify his probation officer, and ask permission. And if during the probationary period the concerned did not appear at the Immigration Bureau on the designated date, or if he was found to violate any rules governing his probation, he will be facing detention and will stay under the custody of the Immigration Bureau until they heard from the Minister of Justice. Lastly, when we ask if they will be allowed to work while waiting for the decision of the Minister of Justice, basically it's "No." for an answer. However, if you a child and your Japanese spouse is not in a position to work, consult your probation officer and ask for a permit. Request to work under such circumstances is hardly turned down by the immigration officer for humanitarian purposes. |
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