Specialist in humanities to spouse visa (with an insurance twist question)

[niceguyjin76]

so my Japanese GF of 7ish years and I got married last year, and my humanities visa is up in August this year.

I am currently filling out the PDFs from the Immigration website in order to get a spouse visa, while trawling a few sites for additional info on the process. sometime in the last week I found some reference to someone having trouble with insurance, in regards to who is who's dependent. I can't find the website again, but I would love to know if anyone here knows of what my wife and I would need to know on this topic before I officially get the ball rolling.

I have been in Japan going on 9 years, and apart from a brief stint on the national insurance system many years ago, am currently with Interglobal. I need to stay with Interglobal because I have recently been diagnosed with a nasty illness (well, not so nasty, but quite the long term deal), and if I ever travel or live outside Japan, I'd need coverage and would have major trouble/additional costs with pre-existing conditions. So long story short, I don't want to be on the Japanese national system, as I'd need to pay that AND the Interglobal premiums. Yada.

My wife is a seishain at a Japanese company and has the regular kenkou hokken national coverage.

Ideally I'd love someone who knows what they are talking about to tell me that I don't know what I'm talking about, and I'm making something out of nothing...

Thanks!

[Glenski]

Congratulations on the marriage.

As for insurance, since she is securely covered, you don't have to worry about that. Just have your own. (I won't lecture you much on the fact that legally you are supposed to have some form of national health insurance, but heads up in case you ever go off Interglobal. Who knows?)

As for being covered abroad, national health insurance does that. You get the receipts translated and then file them in Japan and get reimbursed for whatever amount would normally be covered, assuming your illness is covered by NHI. Have you confirmed whether your pre-existing conditions are not covered by NHI?

[hennagaijin]

Regarding the spouse visa...
If you have been here 9 years.. have you though about PR?

The first spouse visa might only be one year.. and you will need to keep extending it every 3 or so after that..

Do the PR paperwork just once and that might be your last trip to the zoo that is the immigration office!