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Question about international marriage (self.movingtojapan)

submitted by BerryChristmas2

Not sure if this is the right sub, but here goes. Throwaway because my usual account gives away too many details.

I've got a Japanese partner (24M) and we're in a committed relationship, but we have no idea how an eventual marriage or living-together situation might work. I'm a college junior, and he's working in Aichi -- we met when he was in my city for as an exchange student, and we've been working on a long-distance relationship.

We'd like to live together after I graduate, but with my degree (not a STEM degree) and limited skills (Native English-speaking, Japanese fluent, Chinese fluent) I'm not sure what kind of job opportunities I'm looking at in Aichi (He works outside Nagoya).

I'm from a jurisdiction that has working holiday arrangements, should I get a working holiday visa after I graduate, and go from there? I'm not too comfortable with getting married just so I can get a spousal visa. I'd prefer living together first, and then eventually getting married. My partner supports this idea, but we don't have people in our social circles who've gone through an international marriage, and we don't know where to start, so I'm here.

  1. What kind of jobs would I be looking at in Aichi, as a fresh graduate? (I'm open to the idea of working in Tokyo first and then moving to Aichi, but I'm not sure if that's a feasible way of saving money if the rent/commute is expensive)

  2. For an international marriage, what sort of budget would my partner and I be looking at? (Since my partner doesn't make a lot of money, being a recent graduate and all, money is a major concern)

  3. For a cohabiting arrangement, what sort of visa would be a good idea? Should I first obtain a working holiday visa, and look for a job? Or should I straightaway look for a job with working visa sponsorship? I've checked the job search pages for his area in Aichi, but for fresh graduates, they were mostly Teaching English jobs, or pretty low-paying service industry jobs, so I'm not too keen on those.

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[–]diogyn 3 points4 points  (0 children)

As a fresh grad with no extensive work experience, you'll be pretty much limited to teaching English to get a work visa. You'll have a better chance of getting a job in Aichi than in Tokyo, just because most English teachers want to be in Tokyo. Once you arrived and started teaching English, nothing is stopping you from searching for other work (with English, Japanese, and Chinese fluency and a degree in law, you could possibly be able to leverage that into any number of office drone jobs with international companies).

Do not get married for a spouse visa without having lived together first. If you're not interested in teaching English for a few years, and he's not willing to re-locate to your country, then the relationship is at a dead end.

[–]thatfuckingweeaboo 2 points3 points  (14 children)

Since you said partner I just want to confirm if you are a boy or a girl? Because unfortunately in Japan you cannot get a spouseal visa in a same-sex marriage so your only option would be working holiday or a work visa.

If your Japanese is fluent, your options are the same as the options of any Japanese person in your field. My buddy isn't fluent, but his Japanese is good enough that he doesn't ever study, and he was able to find a job in his field after graduating from college in the US. He applied for jobs online the same way a Japanese student would, then he did Skype interviews, he came here to do an internship or two and then he got hired full time by one of the companies he did an internship with. He has a seishain position in the company and he's been doing that for almost a year now.

One of the best things about Japan is that, to an extent, your degree doesn't actually matter here. If you want to do something specific that requires certifications then it is important, but for a typical job that anyone can do, it doesn't matter if you majored in mathematics or cheese making. So if your Japanese is fluent, you could interview for companies the same way a Japanese college student would and hope to find a company that's willing to sponsor your visa. You would probably have better luck with this if you were actually in Japan while you did it. But there is no doubting that a spousal visa would be the absolute best visa to do this under, as it is essentially semi-permament residence and thus holds a lot of power when looking for a job compared to something like a working holiday or humanities visa.

Don't worry too much about your field unless you absolutely want to work in that field. At my buddy's company, there's people there who majored in history and had literally zero experience with anything related to their line of work until they got hired by the company. The company doesn't care about what you did at college, they're looking for a blank slate that they can teach their methods to.

[–]BerryChristmas2[S] 0 points1 point  (13 children)

I'm a girl. I said partner 'cause "boyfriend" sounds less committed...

Anyway. My degree's in Law (think of it as the equivalent of a Japanese bachelor's in Law) but I don't want to go into that field. Instead, I've been looking at translation and (game) localization -- but there aren't many similar opportunities in Aichi.

I've also had the idea that a spousal visa is the easiest to obtain and keep, but I'd much rather marry for love, rather than convenience. My partner has also expressed this view.

[–]Halo_On_Fire 3 points4 points  (12 children)

I've also had the idea that a spousal visa is the easiest to obtain and keep, but I'd much rather marry for love, rather than convenience. My partner has also expressed this view.

I strongly recommend you live and work in Japan on a non spouse visa before getting married. Visiting is not the same as living here. Working is another thing that is very different.

If you want to eventually get married, come here on a working holiday visa and live with your boyfriend for a bit. You might love it. You might hate it, but at least you'll know before you get hitched.

[–]Its5somewhere 3 points4 points  (11 children)

I second this. This is exactly what I did.

My then fiance suddenly moved to Japan when he got a good job offer so we decided it was best to take it.

But I was very much left in a "wtf" state. Japan was an idea after marriage but not before. Besides I had never been.

Came to Japan with my own visa and then tied the knot officially much later after determining I could live here.

Highly recommend this route. Better to test the waters with an exit strategy or a long term strategy rather than move here with no exit strategy and being stuck and hating Japan and then taking it out on your husband and possibly end up with a divorce. Or blowing all that money to come here long term when you could've figured out earlier on via a short term visit that it wouldn't work out and that you two should perhaps try your own country again instead.

You'd save a lot of money.

[–]BerryChristmas2[S] 0 points1 point  (10 children)

what kind of job did you first get after arriving? was it related to your field? My main concern is that my partner lives in the middle of nowhere (I come from a big, dense city) and I probably won't be able to get a job that isn't teaching English in the same area.

[–]Its5somewhere 3 points4 points  (9 children)

If you're actually fluent in Japanese, Chinese, and English and not just calling yourself fluent when you can barely hold a conversation then you'd actually have a lot of opportunities for you. Especially in the tourism industry. High end hotels and things of that nature always want Japanese, Chinese, and English bi-lingual staff. They prefer at least Japanese + Chinese or English, but if you have all 3 then you'd be golden.

Not sure what you'd like to do but in most cases not being fluent disqualifies most people even if they have the right degree/experience from their home country.

I'd look for what you want, if that doesn't work then opt for teaching English until you get your spousal visa and some idea of Japan life.. If you're fluent as you claim, I doubt the other alternative that is language school would be any good for you. You'd probably be way ahead of them and it just eats your money.

[–]BerryChristmas2[S] -3 points-2 points  (8 children)

I'm in between N2 and N1 level at JLPT, but I speak much better than I write. And for Chinese, I'm a native speaker of a dialect of Chinese, but not a native speaker for Mandarin Chinese, which is why I just said "fluent" for simplicity's sake.

The tourism industry's actualy been my partner's main suggestion, since he works in the tourism industry - but all he does is organise day and overnight onsen trips and nomikai for factory workers and that doesn't sound like something I want to do at all.

[–]trynottogetbannedlol 9 points10 points  (7 children)

so youre not fluent, good to let us know

[–]Arkaad 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Japanese fluent

 

I'm in between N2 and N1 level at JLPT

Even at N1, I wouldn't qualify someone of fluent.

Business level might be more appropriate.

[–]aarfy_aardvarkBusiness owner 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Friend of mine did something remotely similar. She was going out with a Japanese guy living in Kyushu (Fukuoka to be exact.)

She got a teaching job in Kyushu in some remote little town about an hour away and then did the once a weekend thing.

Eventually she got hitched after 3 years of saving money and doing the whole "are we compatible living together?" thing.

Nagoya is a big manufacturing hub. So just head over to some graduate fairs and snoop around Japanese recruiters in your own country. If you go to a reasonably big and/or large university (or even live near one) you will have Japanese companies come to your campus to seek out Japanese natives and/or Japanese speaking graduates.