japanese girlfriend moving over to join me.

[exjennyaddict]

So I met my girlfriend, Nanao, when we were both living in Beijing. She's japanese and was over there studying chinese. I was teaching english. We both had lots of fun and I don't think we really expected to stay together after she went back home to finish her degree but we did and we still are nearly two years later. It hasn't been easy being so far apart but we've managed. She's been over to visit a couple of times (three) I haven't been there cos her house is very small and, being a student, her schedule is more flexible than mine.

She's about to graduate and we'd both be happy if she could come over here and get a job. Now as far as I understand there are four different options available to us:

1) She can try to find a company that will sponsor a work permit while she's in Japan.
Very, very hard.

2) She can come over here on a Japanese Youth Exchange Visa and try to find a company who will sponsor her application here.
Very hard.

3) She can apply funder the HSMP.
She's not elligible.

4) We can get married.
Is this our only choice?

Having spoken to a number of recruitment agencies in London who specialise in jobs for japanese over here they seemed to think the chances of finding someone to sponsor her work permit are practically nil because it's she has no valid work experience. Having taken two years out of her degree to learn chinese she is about to graduate now at 24 but has no "proper" work experience. Whether it is impossible to get a work permit without experience or not is almost a mute point as companies and agencies all seem to think it is and aren't going to listen to me (we've already tried with one company) however i'd be interested to hear the answer if anyone can give me one.

So anyway, our plan at the moment is for her to come over on the Youth Exchange Visa and then if she can't find someone to sponsor a work permit we'll get married.

I'm not going to bitch about how ridiculous it is that the only option available in our situation seems to be marriage. Well, alright I just did. Sorry.

Can anyone tell me whether it will cause us problems when we get married if she comes over on a youth exchange visa/permit/whatever the thing is called? Should she come over on a fiance visa? Is there such a thing? Would she be able to look for work straight away with one of those? Do we have any other options?

Many thanks for anyone who can help in any way and i'd like to wish the best of luck to all the other people out there dealing with this system.

Richard

[John]

our plan at the moment is for her to come over on the Youth Exchange Visa

Do you appreciate that according to the British Embassy Tokyo website the 2006 programme has closed. the 2007 programme will be announced early in the new year. Click here for details.

Can anyone tell me whether it will cause us problems when we get married if she comes over on a youth exchange visa/permit/whatever the thing is called?

If the visa exceeds six months in length, and it appears that the visa would be 12 months in length, then yes, a Certificate of Approval to Marry could be applied for, as long as at least 3 months left on the visa when the application is made.

Should she come over on a fiance visa? Is there such a thing?

There certainly is! It is of 6 months duration, and is issued so that the person can get married in the UK within those 6 months.

A fiancée visa holder is not permitted to work. Following the marriage your wife (as she will then be) will apply in the UK for her spouse visa. Once that is in her passport she will have full ability to work in the UK without needing a Work Permit.

[exjennyaddict]

Thanks very much John, no I hadn't realised the Youth exchange scheme was so limited. I thought the government woudl want to encourage lots of tourists to come and spend their money here but apparently we only want a few.

Am I to understand then that the only way for her to come and get a job over here is for us to get married? Any other ideas would be most welcome but I'm going to assume that this is the case for the time being.

So my next questions are: are there any restrictions on who gets a fiance visa or how they are awarded or anything like that? For example if she can't work until she gets a spouse visa then do i have to have a certain amount of money or a certain income to show that i can support her before they'll let her come over? Also once we're married and we apply for the spouse visa, how long does it take for the thing to arrive? Do we get interviewed? Does she have to leave the country and then come back in again or soemthing stupid like that? I've heard all sorts of stories about this kind of thing and I don't really know what to expect.

Does she then get all the rights of a British citizen? British passport? NI number? Right to vote? NHS treatment? Does her getting married in anyway affect her status in Japan? When we spoke about this she said that when you get married in Japan your name is taken off some kind of register of familes or somthing and put onto her husband's... you know what, maybe I should aks her to clarify that before asking you guys.

Anyway, thanks again to anyone who can help with any of this and good luck as always to everyone else in their struggle.

Richard

[John]

Richard, I think you would be well advised to go to this UKVisas webpage and then download the VAF2 application form and the INF4 Guidance Notes.

Most of your questions are answered in those documents and not only that, you will have a far better idea of the procedure.

once we're married and we apply for the spouse visa, how long does it take for the thing to arrive? Do we get interviewed? Does she have to leave the country and then come back in again or soemthing stupid like that?

That application can be made in the UK. You can apply in person at a PEO ... application cost = £500 ... as long as all the required evidence taken with you it is a same-day, while-you-wait, process. Or alternatively the application can be made by post .... cost £335 ... and it might take say 4 weeks.

Get interviewed? Not really, if applying by post, not at all, in going in person to a Public Enquiry Office then you hand over the supporting evidence. There might be a couple of quick questions about that evidence but interview is really not the right expression to use.

Getting the fiancée visa in Japan might well involve an interview.

Does she then get all the rights of a British citizen? British passport? NI number? Right to vote? NHS treatment?

NHS treatment? From as soon as she arrives on her fiancée visa. NINO? From when she has her spouse visa. British Citizenship? After she has been in the UK for 3 years she will be entitled to apply for Naturalisation as British, and as soon as she has her Certificate of Naturalisation, applying for a British Passport is an easy matter.

Does her getting married in anyway affect her status in Japan? When we spoke about this she said that when you get married in Japan your name is taken off some kind of register of familes or somthing and put onto her husband's... you know what, maybe I should aks her to clarify that before asking you guys.

I think that is right. Personally I haven't got a clue. She is more likely to be able to answer that.

[JAJ]

Does she then get all the rights of a British citizen? British passport? NI number? Right to vote? NHS treatment?

NHS treatment? From as soon as she arrives on her fiancée visa. NINO? From when she has her spouse visa. British Citizenship? After she has been in the UK for 3 years she will be entitled to apply for Naturalisation as British, and as soon as she has her Certificate of Naturalisation, applying for a British Passport is an easy matter.

And to add to what John says, after two years on a spouse visa she qualifies for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR), which is the main form of permanent resident status in the UK.

As a Japanese citizen she risks losing her citizenship if she becomes naturalised British. Japanese law appears from the outside to be a grey area compared to equivalent laws in other western countries, but she will need to investigate it thoroughly and think seriously about what option she wants to take.

ILR gives most of the rights of British citizenship - but not all of them.

You should also investigate whether Japan will revoke the (Japanese) citizenship of any of your future children at age 21 or so if they do not renounce their British citizenship. Of course, if your wife loses her Japanese citizenship this may be a moot point, but if she decides to keep it, it may be an issue for your children in the longer term.

[exjennyaddict]

You are both lovely, wonderful helpful men. i just have one or two more questions and then i'll be off to try to dig out my birth certificate.

There is a section asking about my financial situation and her job situation and skills and my saving and so on. I've been led to understand that I need to prove that I have a certain amount of money or a certain level of salary to show that I can support her without her claiming any benefits. I'm sure that there are some magic numbers and i'd appreciate it if you could give me an idea of what they are so that I can make sure the application doesn't fail. I'm working in TV at the moment you see, notorious for paying people at the top lots and people at the bottom nothing. I'm at the bottom. I earn £10,500 a year (don't ask me how I live in london on that. Not easily, is the answer) which I suspect will not be enough. I rent accomodation here but own a flat in perth (scotland). So while I don't have much in the way of income or savings, I could do if I were to sell my flat. It doesn't really provide me with any extra income (£100 pcm) but the growth i'm getting is ok.

Nanao (girlfriend) has a degree in international relations, speaks English, Japanese and Chinese, has already spoken to a translation company about graduate positions and they've expressed an interest (once she has a visa). She has bugger all money too though. I think she'll proabbly come over here with a couple of grand, and I ought to have about the same in the bank when we apply.

I'm not sure if it's the done thing to discuss all these details here but it doesn't really bother me and I'd much rather talk to you guys about it now than have our application for her fiancee visa rejected and have to re-apply.

If you can give me any idea of what sort of financial situation I'm supposed to be in so that I can try re-arranging things or getting temporary money from parents or speaking to my boss and all that jazz, then i'd really, really appreciate it.

Many thanks again for all your help. This really is an invaluable resource. Keep it up and know that every quesiton you answer is providing huge help for someone and that we all appreciate it.

cheers
Richard

[exjennyaddict]

so i'll answer my own question in case anyone else i wondering the same thing.

No on seems to know the answer. I spent ages on hold to speak to all sorts of different government helper types and no one could even give me a clue or gudelines or anything like that. All i could glean was that we had to show that Nanao wouldn't have to apply to state benefits of any kind when she got over here. I think it's going to take about a month after we get married for her to get a spouse visa enabling her to work and i don't know how long it will take after that for her to find a job.

What I could gather is that they want proof of anything you have to show that she's not going to go straight on the dole. How much money she has, how much i have, do i own or rent, any outstanding credit card bills, loans, what my salary is, what kind of job she's looking for, am i currently receiving any benefits, money from family and friends. etc.

They also tell you to include any documentation you can to support your case.

This may not have helped anyone and i certainly haven't managed to learn anything concrete but it'll stop anyone else from spending hours looking.

good luck all.

richard

[busubi]

Does her getting married in anyway affect her status in Japan? When we spoke about this she said that when you get married in Japan your name is taken off some kind of register of familes or somthing and put onto her husband's... you know what, maybe I should aks her to clarify that before asking you guys.

When You get married in Japan you leave your Parents Family register and start your own. This is similar to a birth certificate but it's for the whole family not just an individual. As a male they are the top of this family register but as you are not Japanese you will not be. Your wife will be top and you will just merely get a mention as her husband. This will not effect her status or rights in Japan, Even if she move to the UK.
However Japan does not recognise dual nationality to over 21's So careful on how far you go with applications down the years.