August 29th, 2007Japan Approves of Me!
Today Reiko and I made the trek down to the Nagoya Immigration Office to pick up my Certificate of Eligibility (a document from the government saying that I was legally permitted to live and work in Japan) only to find that instead of another piece of paper, my passport was updated with an approved spousal visa!
w00t!
According to quite a bit of documentation and a number of sites about international marriage (in Japan, and Canada), we would have had to apply for a spousal visa after obtaining this certificate. It might have been necessary to fly out of the country for a few days, too! But luckily, this was not the case, and I can cancel my trip to South Korea as it’s no longer required.
It would have been fun to go, though … I’ve wanted to visit Seoul and Jeju Island for a few years, now.
Oh well. Now that I can legally work in this country, it’s time to really start canvassing for a job 
Congrats Jason! Now you’re as official as me, and you’ve only just got here!
It took me 8 years to get that seal of “approval”, i.e. the spousal visa, which meant my life was controlled by various employers for a long time. Marriage certainly has its perks!
And now that you’re married, your life is completely controlled by your family
Yeah, it’s nice not to feel owned by an employer. I’ve read some pretty scary stories where some companies treat people on Work Visas like personal servants, and I don’t think that I could handle that situation for very long before responding in a very Canadian fashion….
Way to go Jason…sounds like things are working out nicely!
yay! you got it! i love getting my passport updated. like a very official scrapbook
lol congratulations!
@Rob - Thanks, Rob. Things have worked out better than expected. The costs have been even less than reported on both the Japanese and Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs sites reported.
Two weeks and less than $200 in fees
@Danielle - A very official scrapbook, indeed. Have you ever run out of pages before the passport expired?
lucky you!
Thanks, Jamaipanese. Any plans on coming to Japan yourself?
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