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Anyone ever have Spousal Visa revoked?

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I’m super curious since I can’t find any cases online. After someone on a Spousal Visa is divorced they have up to 6 months to get on another visa or leave. Anyone know anyone who actually got called into immigration after reporting they got divorced but still had a year or two on their visa?
I am not in this situation at all but thought it might help someone out in the future.
On Reddit I read only one guy who was called into immigration that was on a Spousal Visa & reported the divorce to them. Is this common or do they generally not bother people & let you live & work until your visa run outs or you apply for something else?
 
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Yes I’m asking about personal real experiences or people you heard about.
So far I’ve only read about one guy who was asked to go to immigration.
 
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Desktop said:
After someone on a Spousal Visa is divorced they have up to 6 months to get on another visa or leave. Anyone know anyone who actually got called into immigration after reporting they got divorced but still had a year or two on their visa?
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Have had several from client companies that needed a rapid transition to a working visa because of this. Had they not qualified, they would have been told to pack up and get out.

Prior to the changes in immigration law in 2012, if you divorced, you still had the remainder of your spouse visa to live in Japan doing what you did. The change in law limited this to 6 months after the divorce was finalised.

This law change also introduced the ability to revoke a spouse visa if the married coouple were found to not be acting as a normal married couple for 6 months or more.

Both changes were made primarily to deal with serial marriage fraud in which illegal immigrants would parry a Japanese national on paper, and either stay married on paper for a monthly stipend, or divorce a few months after the spouse visa was issued, and then the fraudster would cut another deal a few months before the next visa renewal, rinse and repeat.

Unfortunately, these changes were made after many of the foreign touts working Kabukicho and Roppongi had already managed to obtain PR. If they had enacted it sooner, most of them would have gotten the boot.
 
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yeah and that happened to two friends of a friend...
wife got bored of them pretty fast, got divorced, since both didnt have qualifications for a working visa, off to canada it was...
i would bet that happens more often than anyone thinks...
 
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Sudsy said:
This law change also introduced the ability to revoke a spouse visa if the married coouple were found to not be acting as a normal married couple for 6 months or more.
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You mean like if they still have sex after getting married?
 
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Thanks these stories are better than the generic info since it means they do call you in after the divorce is over, 6 months passed, & they know about it.
 
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Desktop said:
Thanks these stories are better than the generic info since it means they do call you in after the divorce is over, 6 months passed, & they know about it.
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If you know anyone thinking they can coast by not reporting, it's also worth mentioning that failure to report the divorce on time can incur a fine of up to 200,000 yen.

Go too long, and they fall under the same situation as failure to report a change in address - after 90 days, immigration can revoke their visa immediately and deport them.

Balance that against the spouse or in-laws pre-emptively notifying immigration....
 
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in case of my friend, the women reported that... also think thats not that uncommon, best way to get rid of people...
though im not sure, if they reported that themselves, or if the immigration was informed by whoever took in the divorce papers, ward office, or whoever does that...
 
and even if noone is informed, then it takes until the next extension is due and people will noticw...
 
I’m asking mainly about those with 2 years remaining after divorce that can’t qualify for any other visa.
 
vondoom said:
New in case of my friend, the women reported that... also think thats not that uncommon, best way to get rid of people...
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This is entirely too common - Japanese spouses using their partner's inkan and filing the divorce petition behind their partner's back, and not saying anything until a few days before visa renewal time to make sure the foreign spouse has no choice but to leave Japan.
 
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I got PR but if I do get married one day there’s a form you can sign that prevents you from being divorced unless you revoke that paper.
It’s amazing that’s that is needed.
 
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never heard of that one^^
but im not getting married and if, ill never go on spouse visa...

though honestly, i always hear about that from people who were just too lazy to get the qualifications... just get the next broad, hop over and wonder when the wife is tired of them... sure that way isnt very nice, but im sure they got their reasons for the divorce...
and the male part is always surprised^^

anyway its partly their fault that they loose the visa, if not entirely because they are irresponsible...
 
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Sudsy said:
If you know anyone thinking they can coast by not reporting, it's also worth mentioning that failure to report the divorce on time can incur a fine of up to 200,000 yen.

Go too long, and they fall under the same situation as failure to report a change in address - after 90 days, immigration can revoke their visa immediately and deport them.

Balance that against the spouse or in-laws pre-emptively notifying immigration....
Click to expand...

My divorce was actually finalized today (letter arrived in the mail at my wife's apartment). So I definitely plan to report a change of address within 90 days. I know that since I'm divorced now and have PR status, it will be totally fine if I report my new address here with this other woman (roommate not a gf). I will actually have an interview for this agriculture job tomorrow that is in a completely different town and if I do get this job, the company will offer me my own apartment.

Although this job is offering seasonal and more long-term options, it is my first time trying to do this type of work, so I'm not sure if I will even like it (I probably will). So the plan is to work for 3 or 4 months and see how I like working there. Would immigration find it strange if I report that I'm living with my roommate if I'm actually living at this other place that the job offers me?

I ask because my roommate is cool with me leaving some of my heavy belongings here at her apartment and my plan was to work from October until the end of January and then take a break from this work because of my severe hay fever and the asthma that comes with it. I won't be able to do agriculture work nearby all the forests, so the plan was to return to this apartment with my roommate during the entire spring season.

Would immigration also find it strange if I report the apartment that the company offers me for a few months only to see me returning a few months later to report yet another change of address in such a short time?

My Japanese roommate mentioned that immigration will most likely find it suspicious if I report a change of address so often.
 
TokyoJoeblow said:
My Japanese roommate mentioned that immigration will most likely find it suspicious if I report a change of address so often.
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There is no law against moving a lot. There is a law saying you have to report your change of address and if you do not then one possible penalty is revocation of your resident status.
 
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Sudsy said:
This is entirely too common - Japanese spouses using their partner's inkan and filing the divorce petition behind their partner's back, and not saying anything until a few days before visa renewal time to make sure the foreign spouse has no choice but to leave Japan.
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I think you can submit a document to the ward office to get notified in case your spouse pulls a Brutus on you.
 
Simonka said:
I think you can submit a document to the ward office to get notified in case your spouse pulls a Brutus on you.
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Yes, a fujuri todoke - once this is submitted divorce documents cannot be submitted without you being there in person with ID.
 
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TokyoJoeblow said:
My Japanese roommate mentioned that immigration will most likely find it suspicious if I report a change of address so often.
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When are you going to get it through your head that Japanese people generally don’t know the first thing about immigration? It’s the one government agency they likely will never need to deal with even once in their lives.

Also - she’s clearly into you and trying to keep her hooks in.
 
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This is an old story but ...

When my buddy got divorced, he got together all of the paperwork for a change of visa status and visited the Tokyo immigration office. He had several years of residency and a good job, so there was no question that he could get a working visa.
When his turn came, he explained his request to one of the staff who sucked his teeth for a couple of minutes before calling a supervisor. The supervisor looked at all the paperwork and told my buddy that it was a pointless waste of time to change the visa and he should just stick with his spouse visa for another year and then apply for permanent residency.

This cracked us all up. It’s the first and last time I’ve ever heard of a Japanese bureautwat wanting to avoid pointless and time wasting bureaucracy.
 
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Sudsy said:
When are you going to get it through your head that Japanese people generally don’t know the first thing about immigration? It’s the one government agency they likely will never need to deal with even once in their lives.

Also - she’s clearly into you and trying to keep her hooks in.
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lol yeah, the usual my japanese (!!) wife/gf/friend thing.... just shows how much you dont know^^
 
chaztagster said:
It’s the first and last time I’ve ever heard of a Japanese bureautwat wanting to avoid pointless and time wasting bureaucracy.
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they actually do it a lot more than one would think. The problem is they will only do it if 1) they have some stake in getting you sorted (and this can be positive or negative, they might feel sympathy or you might be so obnoxious that they just want to get rid of you) 2) they can do it as a ‘favor’ that you then have to pay back. (And this is a rare situation for a foreigner, it’s not often that we have enough juice for that sort of stuff)

Another thing, they aren’t going to get screwed if they help you out. Don’t think for a second that you can get them to do it logically, it’s basically a village mentality. The bureaucracy is just an overlay.
 
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