Monday, October 21, 2013

Your Visa Status After Divorce in Japan

"What happens to your visa status after you get a divorce?" I've heard a variety of opinions on this subject from forums like Gaijinpot. Some people claim that divorce, for those staying and/or working in Japan on a spousal visa, means renunciation of your status of residence (在留資格). Others assert that you are still eligible to stay in the country until the printed date (在留期間) on which that last-issued spousal status of residence expires.

To complicate the issue, until recently there was no clear legal impetus for a divorced foreign national to report the divorce to immigration. Some people seemed to just fly under the radar for as long as possible.

Recent updates to the immigration laws have made this issue much clearer:

In short, if you get a divorce, you'll need to apply for a change in status of residence as soon as possible if you intend to remain in Japan.

The procedure at immigration follows a few steps:


Your status of residence will not be immediately revoked upon notification. A grace period is allowed for divorced individuals to get their affairs in order and arrange an application for a change in status of residence. If you intend to pursue a status of residence change, some possibilities include:

1) Working Visa
If you are working in Japan, you can change to a working visa. This will require demonstrating to the bureau that you have a specialized skillset and will also require the cooperation of your employer. For example, if you have been teaching at a high school as a full-time teacher for a number of years, you can make a strong case for being granted a 教育 status of residence.

2) General Resident Status for Childcare
If you are the primary caregiver of a child following your divorce, you can apply for a 定住者 visa. This is loosely translated as a "resident" visa, and makes no restriction on your type or place of employment, but it is not permanent. The 定住者 visa generally needs to be renewed at one year intervals, and if your primary reason for being in Japan is to raise a child, you will need to continue to demonstrate that you are caring for and raising that child at renewal periods.

3) General Resident Status
If you were married for an extended period (at least three years), and you can demonstrate a continued, stable livelihood in Japan following the divorce, it is still possible to acquire a 定住者 status of residence. Having a child and citing proximity to that child will bear consideration in this case but is not strictly necessary for approval.

If you fail to apply for a change in status of residence, and 6 months elapses from the date of your divorce, the Immigration Bureau may choose to revoke your status of residence at its discretion. Presumably in this case you will be notified of the change (such as a letter sent to your last registered address or a phone call to your last registered number) and asked to leave the country by a certain date.*

*[If any readers have personal experience or further knowledge to share on how such a notification is made, please share in the comments section below.]

7 comments:

  1. What if i got divorced without my acknowledgement?is it possible for me to win in court if ever?,.

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  2. What if i got divorced without my acknowledgement?is it possible for me to win in court if ever?,.

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  3. you cant win in Japanese court if you arent... Japanese! lol

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  4. Yeah sure you can win, why not? If you never signed (inkon) or filled divorce paper in your writing, you also can clam, but as you know lawyer etc are too much expansive so you must have to clear lawyer if he can handle this case. Basically it's fraud case

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  5. Another interesting tidbit here: There is an official document available at your city/town/ward office which you can sign, stamp and put on file expressly the purpose of notifying them that you do not agree to a divorce. It acts as a stopper against processing of divorce filing papers and has to be revoked before any divorce application can go through. M Ilyas above mentions that you can theoretically win in court if you never stamped the divorce paper yourself, but that's a long and difficult battle to fight. Better to put a 離婚届不受理申出書 on file than have a nasty spouse stamp both his and your inkan on a 離婚届 and catch you unaware.

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  6. hello hello.. anybody had experience this e notification? my friend left her husband and she have 1yr visa . .she signed divorced paper before she left..she didn't know if her husband already file a divorce. immigration will know about the divorce. even she dont report it? please she need help. .thank you

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  7. I'm a full time university student and would like to know if I divorce my Japanese husband whether I can chnage my status to a student visa. Anybody has any odea?

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