The moment I received the agent’s text, telling me my passport is ready for pickup and that I was granted a 30-day tourist visa, my mind was echoing “yey!!” over and over again. I was in the bus at that time so of course I can’t scream my happiness so I just emailed H2B Atsushi about the good news and informed Kat & Rey that I need to go pick up my passport hence we need to change our meeting venue (we planned to watch Despicable Me which was really funny!). Aside from “yey” though, “thank you” was also prevalent in my mind and I so sent my thanks to the heavens above.
It seemed like a pretty long three weeks for us. Atsushi and I are quite new with processing government documents, and with no assistance (immigration lawyer and the like) we solely relied on the internet for guidance. Also, it was the first time for Reli Tours Southmall (the agency who assisted us in our application – all Japan visa applications, except for those government related ones, are now coursed through select agencies) to handle an application for tourist visa for the purpose of marriage. Hence, when we submitted our papers, we just based it on what was posted on the Embassy website and based on Reli Tour’s checklist which includes the following:
- Passport (of course! haha)
- Birth Certificate (for this I am exempted already because I have used Japan visas)
- Itinerary of Japan visit (for this, since purpose is marriage, our marriage itinerary should be indicated)
- Documents to prove relationship with the guarantor (this includes our photos, emails)
- Invitation letter from Atsushi
- my bank certificate
- my Income Tax Return
- Atsushi’s Residence Certificate Juminhyo
- Guarantee letter by Atsushi
- Atsushi’s Income Certificate (Shotoku Shomeisho), Tax Return Certificate (Nouzei Shomeisho) KAKUTEISHINKOKUSHO HIKAE or Bank Certificate (YOKIN ZANDAKA SHOMEISHO).
Of course, prior to application, I had to inquire in the embassy if it was legal to use tourist visa for the purpose of getting married. We received a positive reply that it was indeed legal – a happy thing.
After submitting to the Embassy though, the Embassy required for additional documents which included:
11. my CENOMAR (Certificate of No Marriage or Certificate of Singleness)
12. Atsushi’s Koseki Tohon (Family Register)
13. Further proof of our relationship (I printed more emails, hotel vouchers in Vietnam, flight itineraries, more pictures. I even printed out our Skype conversations)
14. Invitation letter from Atsushi’s dad including his Certificate of Seal (Inkan Shomei)
15. a letter recounting our love story which had to include when, where and how Atsushi and I met; our love story from the time we met up to now; when, where and time of proposal.
16. a copy of Atsushi’s passport including pages showing his departure and arrival stamp here in Philippines (as additional document, we showed the stamps in Vietnam as well).
Obtaining the documents required a lot of effort and time. Plus, Atsushi has to send the documents to me from Japan. There was also a time when we had to wait for the documents from Oto-san to arrive. Hence, waiting was quite a challenge. But truly, seeing my sakura-themed visa and thinking of imminent reunion with Atsushi, all the work and effort are all worth it.
This is just the first step as we still have a number of steps to comply before being legible to a spouse visa. But, one step at a time, and with prayers and God’s grace, we can make it through.