This article is a translation of the Japanese original. Where the two differ, the Japanese version prevails. Read the Japanese original（日本語版を読む）
Leaving Japan alone for a long period, with your Japanese spouse remaining here, is a factor that leads to the substance of the marriage being looked at strictly at your next renewal.The practical guide is an absence of 3 months or more in a row, or 180 days or more in total over a year. Please gather a reasonable ground, and material that backs it up, while you are away.
An enquiry about the effect of a foreign spouse leaving Japan alone for a long period, with the Japanese spouse remaining in Japan.
Because 日本人の配偶者等 is a status of residence whose essence is a married couple living together in Japan.
Under the 入管法 (Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act), 「日本人の配偶者等」 is essentially about being in a marital relationship with a Japanese national and living together in Japan (living in the same home and supporting each other).
So if you leave Japan alone for a long period while your Japanese spouse remains here, the following doubts may arise.
As a practical guide, where you are absent from Japan for 3 months or more in a row on a single trip, or for 180 days or more in total over a year, the substance of the marriage is said to be examined strictly at your next 在留期間更新許可申請.
It affects 3 things: the length of your period of stay, the count of continuous residence for a permanent residence application, and the grounds for revoking a status of residence.
Even if you have been given a long period of stay such as 3 years or 5 years, where you have been out of Japan for 3 months or more without a reasonable ground, your period of stay may be shortened to 1 year at the next renewal. The same applies where a period of living apart has become long. The thinking is to check once a year whether you will go on living as a married couple. Where the reason for leaving is not accepted as legitimate, the renewal itself may also be denied.
Where the spouse of a Japanese national applies for permanent residence, there is a special rule: the marriage has continued for at least 3 years, and the person has resided in Japan continuously for at least 1 year. If you have been away alone for a long period, the count for this "continuously" has to be built up again.
入管法第22条の4第1項第7号 provides that where a person has not carried out the activities of a spouse continuously for 6 months or more, the status of residence may be revoked. Where a couple has not lived together for 6 months or more without a justifiable reason, or where the marriage is regarded as having broken down, the status of residence itself may be revoked.
There is a procedure for revocation, and where there is a justifiable reason the status is not revoked straight away.
The effect can be kept down only where there is an objective and legitimate reason, and you can prove it in writing.
An unavoidable long absence is not ruled out across the board. The following are given as examples of a reasonable ground.
On the other hand, going home for a long stay to refresh yourself, or spending a few months in your home country without any particular reason, are not accepted as a reasonable ground.
3 things: the re-entry permit procedure, supporting documents for the reason you left, and a record that the couple's life together continued.
In practice, however long you have been away, the key is to show with documents and official papers that the base of your life was consistently in Japan and that the couple's relationship was never broken off.
Read also: Can I renew my spouse visa if I spend half the year abroad?
As a practical guide, where you are absent from Japan for 3 months or more in a row on a single trip, or for 180 days or more in total over a year, the substance of the marriage is said to be examined strictly at your next renewal.
No. If it looks as though you may be away for more than 1 year, obtain an ordinary 再入国許可 at the 地方出入国在留管理局 in advance before you leave. If you go over 1 year on a みなし再入国許可, you lose your status of residence at that point.
Serious illness, nursing, care or a funeral of a relative in your home country, continuing your studies there, work reasons such as an overseas posting, and childbirth or your own treatment and recovery in your home country are among those given. A long stay at home for no particular reason is not accepted.
Yes. The special rule for the spouse of a Japanese national is that the marriage has continued for at least 3 years and the person has resided in Japan continuously for at least 1 year, so if there has been a long absence the count of continuous residence has to be built up again.
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This page is a translation of the Japanese original. Where the two differ, the Japanese version prevails.