Visa for your family

Visa for your family
Child Birth

Child Birth
Medical subsidy for children, Child allowance

Medical subsidy for children, Child allowance
Child Education

Child Education

family Visa for your family -Bringing your family to Japan (dependent spouse & children)

The Immigration Bureau accepts your application for extension of period of stay from three months before the expiration of your current Status of Residence (Zairyu　shikaku 在留資格). It is highly recommended to apply at least one month before the expiration date (For an applicant with status of residence of three months, extended application will be accepted approx. 1.5 month before the date of expiration).

In order to bring your family to Japan, they are required to undertake necessary legal procedures before entering Japan depending on the length of their stay and their nationalities.

1. Short term stay (up to 90 days)

Please refer to the webpages of Immigration Bureau of Japan.

  • If your family has nationality in a visa-waiver country, a visa to enter Japan is not required within the stipulated period of stay. Please refer to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' website:

    Exemption of Visas  

  • If your family’s nationality is one of the following, they must obtain visa.

2. Long term stay (over 90 days)

It is possible for your family live in Japan on a dependent family visa
Procedure chart(MOFA) 

[Notes]

  • Only spouses and children can apply for dependent family visas; parents, brothers, sisters or relatives are not allowed to live in Japan as your dependent family.
  • If your spouse and children are financially independent, they are not able to obtain a dependent family visa.
  • They will be able to live in Japan until the day your visa expires.
  • Your family other than dependent spouse and children may visit you for the period they are permitted by a short-term visa.

Required procedures

To enable your family to enter and live in Japan for over 90 days as your dependent family, you should apply for a “Certificate of Eligibility for Status of Residence (CESR)” at the Osaka Immigration Bureau on their behalf. A CESR is a document which helps the applicant with their visa application process upon arriving in Japan.
After the CESR(s) has been issued, you need to send the CESR(s) to your family by post. Your family then needs to apply for a “Dependent family” visa at the Japanese embassy/consulate-general in their own country with the CESR(s).
Please refer to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website:
Application for Certificate of Eligibility (CESR)

 

CESR application steps

  • Prepare all the items required below:
    For any documents issued in Japan, they must be submitted within three months of the date of issue.
    • CESR application form (for dependent families)
    • ID Photo of your family (4cm×3cm, one photo for each person)
      • *A photo that shows the applicant pictured alone.
      • *The applicant should face squarely to the front and should remove any hats, caps or head coverings.
      • *There should be a plain background with no shadows.
      • *The photo must be sharp and clear.
      • *The photo must have been taken within three months prior to submission.
      • Write the applicant’s name on the back of the photograph and stick it to the box for the photo on the application form.
    • copies of your family’s passports
      • *To enter Japan, your family needs to carry valid passports. If they do not have one, they are required to prepare or renew their passports at the local authority in their country.
    • a copy of the marriage certificate and/or birth certificate of children
      • *If these documents are written in a language other than Japanese or English, a translation should be attached.
    • A copy of your passport　or your Residence Card (or Alien Registration Card)
    • Documents certifying that you have the means to financially support your family during their stay in Japan (e.g., employment certificate, grant/scholarship acceptance letter, bank balance certificate)
      • f-1 [For employees] student registration certificate

        * Visit city hall (send application form to city hall by post) to make an application.
        * Tax certificate is issued at the city where you lived as of January 1st of the year.
        * If you have stayed in Japan less than one year, this certificate will not be issued.

      • f-2 [For students] student registration certificate
    • A self-addressed envelope (size: up to 12cm x 23.5cm x 1cm) affixed with 392 yen worth of stamps. (For the registered delivery)

  • Visit the Osaka Immigration Bureau to apply for a CESR with the above documents.
  • Osaka Immigration Bureau will send your CESR(s) to your address using the self-addressed envelope (1-g). A CESR will be issued in approximately three to four weeks after you apply.
  • As soon as you obtain the CESR(s), please send them to your family by registered mail, such as EMS because the CESR(s) are very important documents and re-issue is not easy even if it was lost during delivery.
  • Your family needs to visit their Japanese embassy/consulate-general to apply for the visa with the CESR(s). It may take from one week to several weeks to receive the visa after submission of the application (the time till its issuance differs depending on nationality).

[Notes]

  • Your family must acquire a visa right after they receive the CESR, and enter Japan within three months after the date that CESR is issued. When they enter Japan, both the CESR and visa must be valid.
  • If your family plans to live in Japan for over 90 days, they are not allowed to enter Japan with a “short term visa” (Extension of their stay or status change from a short term visa to dependent family visa is not usually permitted).

family Child Birth

When changing the activities you are engaged in based on your resident status, you must make application at local immigration office.

[Required Documents]

Application for change of status of residence
Passport, Residence Card
Certificate of Employment, Certificate of enrollment, etc.

family Medical subsidy for children, Child Allowance

Under a new residency management system which has started on July 9, 2012, a special re-entry system has been introduced. Under the system, foreign nationals in possession of a valid passport and residence card who will be reentering Japan within 1 year of your departure to continue their activities in Japan will not be required to apply for a re-entry permit. This system is called a special re-entry permit.

Medical subsidy for children

In Japan, there are systems to support parent in order to maintain child health and reduce medical expenses. If you are a member of health insurance system in Japan, you can receive medical subsidy for your child of mainly 0-6yrs old. When you submit notification of child birth/new address at your local city hall, please do not forget to make application for “medical card for child”, too. Medical expenses for children will be refunded when you show the card at hospital/clinic, etc. as well aa health insurance card. *Please note that ages of children and the amount covered will depend on the local government where you live.

Child Allowance

Also, parent who has a child before finishing Junior high school, is able to receive monthly child allowance from local authority.

Amount of allowance
Age0 - before 3 years old ¥15,000 (for all children)
Age3 - before finishing primary school ¥10,000 (first/second child)
¥15,000 (third child and above)
Junior high school students ¥10,000 (first/second child)
¥10,000 (for all children)
When income limit is exceeded ¥5,000 (for all children)

[Required Documents]

  • Application form (available at city hall)
  • Health insurance card
  • Personal seal
  • Income certification
    *Other documents may be required if deemed necessary

family Child Education

Educational system

In Japanese Educational system, compulsory education consists of 6 years in elementary school, 3 years in junior high school. Then, 3 years in high school and 4 years in university follow. It normally requires 2 years for master’s degree and 3 years for doctor’s degree in graduate school at university. Academic year starts in April and ends in March. Students have summer holiday, winter holiday and spring holiday.

Nursery school and day care center for children

There are private and public nursery schools and day care centers for children. Public institute normally asks you strict condition for enrollment, however, private institute requires relatively easy condition. It can be said that expenses for private school are usually more expensive compared with public school, however, private one has more various characteristics than public one.
“Takenoko nursery school” and “Makiba nursery school" are located in Suita Campus, Osaka University. They accept 0 to 5 year-old children. Staff of Osaka University is eligible to apply for these schools. However, as they are very popular among staff and convenient for the staff, you may not able to get a place for your child. There also are Fujishiro-dai Day Care Center (public school) ,Fujishiro Nursery School (private school) and Osaka International School (private school) in 25 minutes walk from IFReC.

Nursery schools at Suita Campus

Contact
Career Design Laboratory for Women, Osaka Universtiy
TEL 06-6879-4405

 

Other Nursery Schools and Day Care Centers

Contact

For children in Suita city[Suita City Hall, Nuesery Division]
For children in Toyonaka city[Toyonaka City Hall, child future part nursery kindergarten room admission team]
For children in MINOH city[Minoh City Hall, Early Childhood Education Division]
  • TEL: 072-724-6737 FAX: 072-721-9907
  • Email: infancymaple.city.minoh.lg.jp
  • Enrollment Section: TEL 06-6384-1592l
  • Minoh City Hall's web page
For children in Ibaraki city[Ibaraki City Hall, Ibaraki city Children's Affairs Department The childcare kindergarten department]
 

Nursery schools at Suita Campus

There are public and private elementary schools and junior high schools in Japan. If your child goes to public school, he/she must go to a certain school based on the area you live. Children aged at 6 to 12 must go to elementary school and 12 to 15 must go to junior high school. Elementary school and junior high school are compulsory education for Japanese children. In order to enroll your child in the school, you need to submit a certain document at the local city hall to put your child on the name list as a new student. If your child goes to private school, "Osaka International School(OIS)" would be one of your choices. The school provides education in English with children and students from overseas. There also is "Senri International School" next to OIS, providing education in Japanese. They are located in a 25 minutes walk from IFReC.

 

*The information on this site is subject to change without notice. IFReC accepts no responsibility for any inconvenience resulting from use of the information contained on this site.