We are pleased to announce that a Chinese client, who we introduced and applied for a change of status to “‘Dependent’”, has been granted permission! Our firm maintains a 100% approval rate for status of residence applications to date!
In this case,
two people with the status of “Student” got married, and we applied to change the wife’s status to “‘Dependent’”. We signed a contract on July 17th after an initial meeting, collected the documents, and applied to the Immigration Bureau on July 31st. On August 17th, we received a request for additional documents from the Immigration Bureau, and we sent the additional documents on August 25th. About two weeks later, we received a notification card (a postcard requesting a new residence card from the Immigration Bureau). The total time from the initial application to approval was about a month and a half.
When you receive a notification from the Immigration Bureau that says “Please come by this date” and “Revenue stamp… yen”, it usually means that you are likely to be approved. You prepare the specified revenue stamp and go to the Immigration Bureau on a convenient day before the deadline. At Kobe Immigration Bureau, they do not sell revenue stamps on site, so you need to prepare them in advance. You can purchase revenue stamps at post offices. At Osaka Immigration Bureau, you can purchase revenue stamps at a store on the second floor. However, since it is only sold in one place, it can get crowded, so it’s better to purchase it in advance if possible.
If the notification says “Please come at this time on this date”, it is likely that you will not be approved. If you are not approved, depending on the reason for disapproval, you may be able to get approval by reapplying, so please feel free to consult us.
According to documents published on the Immigration Services Agency’s website, the average processing time for residence examinations (days until disposition) is as follows (for approvals from April to June in Reiwa 5):
Application for recognition of “‘Dependent’” status (new acquisition)… 53.1 days
Application for change of “‘Dependent’” status… 34.9 days
For other statuses of residence, change applications often take about 30-40 days.
In cases like this application where you are applying for “‘Dependent’” as a spouse with “Student” residence status, income is particularly important as a judgment material. Since you can only work part-time up to 28 hours per week with student status, it is important to prove that you have enough living expenses for both husband and wife in Japan by showing passbooks with savings amounts or records of remittances from family members.
Our firm offers free consultations on statuses of residence, employment of foreigners, and labor management.
