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by ioltas 2584 days ago
> This is true. In fact, by far the fastest route to permanent residence in Japan is marriage. You can get PR in 3 years if you are married to a Japanese national vs 10 years if you aren't.

More details on that. Getting a wedding visa the first time gives 1 year. At the second application one year later, one gets once again 1 year. At the third application one year later, you get 3 three. At this point, you could ask for permanent residency. So the first three years after the wedding are a hell of paperwork, but after that there is no need to go to the immigration office (入国管理局) which is close to Shinagawa in Tokyo.
2 comments
kalleboo 2584 days ago
> Getting a wedding visa the first time gives 1 year. At the second application one year later, one gets once again 1 year. At the third application one year later, you get 3 three

This is case-by-case. I went 1y-3y-5y. I've met people who got 3y on their first.

> but after that there is no need to go to the immigration office

You still need to renew your physical card every 7 years (new photo etc), but at least you no longer need to prepare all the paperwork.

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marak830 2584 days ago
Indeed preparing mine now for the 5 year and once that's done I'll be turning around and starting the permanent visa paperwork. Finally! Lol
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kalleboo 2584 days ago
Since some of the paperwork was the same, I applied for PR alongside my second renewal (the one that got me 5 years) to avoid multiple trips to city hall. The 5 year spouse visa renewal took a week to be approved, the PR took 3 months. So in the end I only had the 5 year visa for 3 months :p
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laurieg 2584 days ago
Another interesting part of getting PR by marriage: you only have to live in Japan one year. You could get married in another country, live there 2 years minimum and then move to Japan and get PR after only one year of residency.
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Tor3 2584 days ago
So getting married in another country (though notified and registered in Japan the same year), and moving (permanently) to Japan several years later will count? Have I understood this correctly? (yes I've got a personal interest in this)
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