purplebug

My wife (US) is sponsoring me (UK) for a spousal visa. We both have lived together in Japan for seven years. We're looking at the proof of relationship section, and getting quite worried. Here's the breakdown:
You need:

• "Documentation showing joint ownership of property" / "A lease showing joint tenancy of a common residence, meaning you both live at the same address together" Until recently, Osaka did not recognise same-sex marriages. Our home for the last four years is under my wife's name only. Our previous residences were under mine or hers only. We do have individual bills, contracts, tax and residency records from the city office saying that we have resided at these at the same time, but they are separate records.
• "Documentation showing that you and your spouse have combined your financial resources" Japan does not do joint bank accounts. Attempts to set up joint bank accounts during trips to the US or the UK have failed due to one of us not being a citizen.
• "Birth certificates of children born to you and your spouse together" We have no children.
• "Affidavits sworn to or affirmed by third parties having personal knowledge of the bona fides of the marital relationship. Each affidavit must contain the full name and address of the person making the affidavit; date and place of birth of the person making the affidavit; and complete information and details explaining how the person acquired his or her knowledge of your marriage" / "Any other relevant documentation to establish that there is an ongoing marital union" We have many people who can attest to our relationship, ten years of photos online, a few plane tickets, individual bills and passport stamps showing we were travelling to the same places at the same time, newspaper articles/obituaries listing me as spouse to my bereaved wife, at least one wedding invitation addressed to us jointly... Will these be enough?? We were planning on going to the Osaka city office to get registered as 'married in Japan' before everything started going wonky with the virus, so if we managed to do that, would that help to a measurable degree?

Also, changing my surname to match hers is not an option while we are living in Japan, because I have to change my UK passport and all my Japanese paperwork for it to be recognised, and the logistics are too complicated. I have changed it on Facebook, but that doesn't do much in the real world.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!! Thank you.

Rete

Try:

Pictures from your wedding
Cards addressed to each of you from family/friends
Mail received at the same address
Who is listed as emergency contact with each of your employers
Copies of hotel bills, etc. for trips you have taken together, along with photos

Your imagination.

purplebug

Thank you!
Does official mail addressed to us individually at the same address count, or does it have to be jointly addressed?

Noorah101

Individual mail counts.

Rene

zzrmark

We went heavy on the photos and had a few friends write affidavits - with so many stuck at home now I'd have thought you might have a mate or two that would welcome the challenge of putting together a support letter with photos to help them with the cabin fever.