Bring Your Family to Japan: a Plan You Share with Them (2026)

Each of them (Spouse) has a chest X-ray at a clinic chosen by the Japanese government, which issues a certificate that they do not have tuberculosis (結核非発病証明書). It is valid for 180 days from the X-ray, so not before 11 June 2026, and a scan of it goes with your application. The rules name no age limit: ask the clinic what a young child needs.

A copy of the marriage certificate for your spouse and of the birth certificate for each child, from the civil registry at home, each with a Japanese translation. Every paper in another language needs one. Send them to you by 30 November 2026.

A scan of the photo page. The agency asks for it when the name may be spelled one way on the COE and another in the passport: a difference slows every step until entry.

One photo per person for the application form. They can send you a phone picture, and you print the photos at a convenience store with the ID photo maker (residence card size).

From your employer, to show your job. A business manager brings a copy of the business licence or a similar paper instead. Issued from 8 September 2026, at most 3 months before you file.

One of each, from the city where you lived on 1 January: your income for a year and whether the tax was paid. One certificate that shows both is enough. Issued from 8 September 2026. If you came recently or moved and that city cannot issue them, ask the immigration office what to bring instead.

Both sides of your own card.

The COE application form (在留資格認定証明書交付申請書) for each of them, with the photo, and a standard envelope with your address and stamps for simplified registered mail (簡易書留). To get the COE by e-mail instead, register in the agency's online system first and add the request form for an e-mail COE.

At the regional immigration office for your area, on a weekday from 9:00 to 12:00 or 13:00 to 16:00, or online. You file as the person who will support them in Japan. There is no fee.

The standard time is 1 to 3 months. When the COE comes, enter its day above: the rest of the plan dates itself.

Forward the e-mail COE as it is, or post the paper one. They show the e-mail on a phone at the embassy and at the airport.

With the COE, the passports and the embassy's own forms. Look at the embassy's page for where to apply: some take visa applications only through accredited agencies. A TB certificate that went with your application is not asked for again.

The COE stops working 3 months after it was issued, so they land by . At the airport the officer gives each of them a residence card, or marks the passport that the card will follow.

Within 14 days of moving in, with each residence card or marked passport. For a child under 16, a relative aged 16 or over who lives with them files it. With it they are on the resident record (住民票) of the city.

Tell your employer as soon as they move in: the dependants form (被扶養者異動届) is due within 5 days. A dependant must live in Japan and earn under 1.3 million yen a year, and less than half of what you earn. The same form puts a spouse aged 20 to 59 into the national pension without premiums.

On a dependent visa your spouse may take paid work only with this permission, up to 28 hours a week. Apply at the immigration office before any job starts.