What Is the Guarantor for a Japan Spouse Visa? Who It Is, What Is Guaranteed, and How It Differs from a Guarantor under the Civil Code

Note: This article is based on Japanese laws and materials published by the Immigration Services Agency of Japan (ISA) as of October 9, 2026.

The guarantor (身元保証人) for a spouse visa (status of residence "Spouse or Child of Japanese National", 日本人の配偶者等) is the person who promises the Minister of Justice to guarantee the foreign spouse's living expenses while in Japan, the transportation fee for repatriation, and that the foreign spouse will abide by Japanese law. The guarantor is the Japanese spouse who lives in Japan.

The Immigration Services Agency of Japan (ISA) explains that this promise has no legally binding force on the guarantor. This article explains who becomes the guarantor, what is guaranteed, how the guarantor for a spouse visa differs from a guarantor under the Civil Code (民法), the documents on income, and how the guarantee is handled at the time of an extension.

What does the guarantor do?

The guarantor is the person who promises the Minister of Justice to provide a financial guarantee for the foreign national and guidance on daily life so that the foreign national observes laws and regulations. In its Q&A, the ISA explains as follows.

The promise is made on a single sheet called the Letter of Guarantee (身元保証書). It is addressed to the Minister of Justice, and three matters are listed under the sentence "In connection with the above-mentioned person's stay in Japan, I hereby guarantee the following matters" (上記の者の本邦在留に関し、下記の事項について保証いたします).

The guarantor fills in his or her name (in the guarantor's own handwriting), address in Japan, occupation (place of employment), the telephone number for each, nationality/region (status of residence and period of stay), and relationship with the person guaranteed. The form has no space for a seal.

Source: Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "Immigration and Residence Examination Q&A" (in Japanese), Q53, "Letter of Guarantee" (in Japanese; for common applications, excluding applications for permission for permanent residence)

Who becomes the guarantor?

The guarantor for a spouse visa is the Japanese spouse who lives in Japan. The ISA's page on the documents to be submitted names the document "Letter of Guarantee by the spouse (Japanese national)" (配偶者（日本人）の身元保証書) and states as follows.

The Ministry of Justice Order (法務省令), namely the Regulation for Enforcement of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act (出入国管理及び難民認定法施行規則), says the same. As a document to be submitted when the applicant is the spouse of a Japanese national, it lists "a letter of guarantee by that Japanese national residing in Japan" (本邦に居住する当該日本人の身元保証書) (Appended Table III and Appended Table III-7).

The Letter of Guarantee is among the documents to be submitted regardless of the type of application.

Source: Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "Status of Residence 'Spouse or Child of Japanese National' (when the foreign national (applicant) is the spouse (husband or wife) of a Japanese national)" (in Japanese), Regulation for Enforcement of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act, Appended Table III and Appended Table III-7

Who becomes the guarantor when the Japanese spouse lives abroad is not stated on the ISA's pages (as of October 2026). How to proceed in that case is covered in the article Applying for a Spouse Visa When Both Spouses Live Abroad.

The flow for each type of application is summarized in What Is a Spouse Visa?.

When the applicant is a biological child of a Japanese national or a child adopted through special adoption

Even under the same status of residence "Spouse or Child of Japanese National", the guarantor is different when the applicant is a biological child of a Japanese national or a child adopted through special adoption (特別養子). For applications for change of status and for extension, the ISA's page states that "the guarantor is to be a Japanese national residing in Japan (the applicant's parent or adoptive parent), etc." (身元保証人には、日本に居住する日本人の方（申請人の親又は養親）等になっていただきます).

Source: Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "Status of Residence 'Spouse or Child of Japanese National' (when the foreign national (applicant) is a biological child of a Japanese national or a child adopted through special adoption)" (in Japanese)

If the promise is not kept, will the guarantor be asked to pay money?

The ISA explains that the matters guaranteed in the Letter of Guarantee have no legally binding force on the guarantor. The wording of the Q&A is as follows.

Restated, this comes down to the following three points.

• The guaranteed matters have no legally binding force on the guarantor
• Even if the guaranteed matters are not fulfilled, the immigration office goes no further than instructing the guarantor to fulfill the promise
• However, in later applications for entry or residence, the person may be regarded as lacking the eligibility to be a guarantor

The ISA describes this as "what may be called a moral responsibility" (いわば道義的責任). It does not say that there is no responsibility at all.

The Letter of Guarantee is a document addressed to the Minister of Justice. Whether to become a guarantor for the foreign spouse's debts or rent is a separate matter: it is a question of whether to enter into a guarantee contract with a lender, landlord or the like. This paragraph is our office's understanding, based on the form and on the provisions cited in the next section.

Source: Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "Immigration and Residence Examination Q&A" (in Japanese), Q53

How is it different from a guarantor under the Civil Code?

A guarantor under the Civil Code is liable to pay in place of the borrower when the borrower does not pay. This is different in nature from the responsibility of the guarantor for a spouse visa as explained by the ISA.

Source: Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "Immigration and Residence Examination Q&A" (in Japanese), Q53, "Letter of Guarantee" (in Japanese), Civil Code, Articles 446 and 465-2, Act on Fidelity Guarantees (身元保証ニ関スル法律), Articles 1, 2 and 5

A guarantee contract under the Civil Code is not effective unless it is made in writing or by electronic or magnetic record (Civil Code, Article 446, paragraphs 2 and 3). A revolving guarantee contract by an individual is a contract that guarantees, collectively, unspecified obligations within a certain scope, and in which the guarantor is not a corporation.

The responsibility borne by the Japanese spouse who signs the Letter of Guarantee is the one in the "Guarantor for the spouse visa" column of the table.

When income is low or the Japanese spouse is unemployed

Neither the Ministry of Justice Order, nor the ISA's page on the documents to be submitted, nor the Letter of Guarantee form contains any statement limiting who can be a guarantor by amount of income or by occupation (as of October 9, 2026).

What relates to income is a document separate from the Letter of Guarantee: the "documents certifying the expenses for the stay in Japan" (日本での滞在費用を証明する資料). Whose documents are submitted is as follows.

Source: Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "Status of Residence 'Spouse or Child of Japanese National' (when the foreign national (applicant) is the spouse (husband or wife) of a Japanese national)" (in Japanese)

"Bears the expenses" (支弁する) means paying the costs. The taxation certificate and the tax payment certificate to be submitted are those that show the total income for the year and the status of tax payment. If a single certificate shows both, either one is sufficient.

Even when the Japanese spouse living in Japan has a low income or is unemployed, it is the Japanese spouse who submits the Letter of Guarantee. On that basis, you show the immigration office how the expenses of the stay will be covered, using the documents in the table above.

Which documents to use depends on the household's income, its savings, and whether there is a job offer. If you are unsure how to put the documents together, we will go over your situation with you in our spouse visa consultation.

At the time of extension, and when applying for permanent residence

The Letter of Guarantee is submitted anew each time the period of stay is extended. The documents to be submitted for an Application for Extension of Period of Stay also include "Letter of Guarantee by the spouse (Japanese national): 1 copy", and the note about the guarantor is the same as for the COE application and the change of status.

The Letter of Guarantee submitted with an application for permanent residence (永住許可申請) is a different form (for applications for permission for permanent residence). What is guaranteed is "to provide the necessary support so that the person complies with laws and regulations and properly fulfills public obligations" (法令を遵守し、公的義務を適正に履行するため、必要な支援を行うこと), and the wording differs from the three matters on the form for the spouse visa.

Source: Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "Status of Residence 'Spouse or Child of Japanese National' (when the foreign national (applicant) is the spouse (husband or wife) of a Japanese national)" (in Japanese), Letter of Guarantee (for applications for permission for permanent residence) posted on "Application for Permanent Residence 1" (in Japanese)

Frequently Asked Questions

What should I do if I want to stop being a guarantor?

The ISA's page on the documents to be submitted, its Q&A, and the Letter of Guarantee form do not describe any procedure for ceasing to be a guarantor (as of October 9, 2026). The Letter of Guarantee is a document submitted with each application, and for an extension as well, a Letter of Guarantee by the Japanese spouse living in Japan is required.

In the event of divorce or the death of the spouse, it is the foreign national who files a notification. He or she submits the "Notification of relationship with spouse" (配偶者に関する届出) within 14 days from that date (Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act, Article 19-16, item 3).

Can a parent or a friend be the guarantor?

What is listed among the documents to be submitted for a spouse visa is the "Letter of Guarantee by the spouse (Japanese national)"; a letter of guarantee by anyone other than the spouse is not on the list. When the Japanese spouse lives in Japan, even if a letter of guarantee by a parent or another relative is submitted, a Letter of Guarantee by the Japanese spouse is still required. In our office's understanding, a relative's letter of guarantee is treated as an additional document that is not on the list.

The case where the Japanese spouse lives abroad is covered in Applying for a Spouse Visa When Both Spouses Live Abroad.

Are the guarantor and the representative for the application the same person?

They are separate roles. For an Application for Certificate of Eligibility, in the case of a Spouse or Child of Japanese National, the person who can act as the representative is "a relative of the person concerned who resides in Japan" (本邦に居住する本人の親族) (Regulation for Enforcement of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act, Appended Table IV). A Japanese spouse living in Japan can be both the guarantor and the representative.

Summary

The guarantor for a spouse visa is the Japanese spouse who lives in Japan. In the Letter of Guarantee, the guarantor promises the Minister of Justice three matters: living expenses while in Japan, the transportation fee for repatriation, and abiding by Japanese law. The ISA explains that these guaranteed matters have no legally binding force on the guarantor and are what may be called a moral responsibility.

The Letter of Guarantee is submitted with every type of application: the COE application, the change of status, and the extension. Neither the Ministry of Justice Order nor the ISA's page on the documents to be submitted contains any statement setting an amount of income for the guarantor (as of October 9, 2026). As a first step, obtain the taxation certificate and the tax payment certificate of the person who bears the expenses of the stay, and check their contents.

References

• Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "Status of Residence 'Spouse or Child of Japanese National' (when the foreign national (applicant) is the spouse (husband or wife) of a Japanese national)" (in Japanese; checked on October 9, 2026)
• Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "Status of Residence 'Spouse or Child of Japanese National' (when the foreign national (applicant) is a biological child of a Japanese national or a child adopted through special adoption)" (in Japanese; checked on October 9, 2026)
• Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "Letter of Guarantee" (in Japanese; for common applications, excluding applications for permission for permanent residence)
• Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "Immigration and Residence Examination Q&A" (in Japanese), Q53
• Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "Application for Permanent Residence 1 (when the applicant is the spouse of a Japanese national, the spouse of a permanent resident, the spouse of a special permanent resident, or a biological child, etc. of such a person)" (in Japanese)
• Immigration Services Agency of Japan, "Notification of relationship with spouse" (in Japanese)
• Regulation for Enforcement of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act (Ministry of Justice Order No. 54 of 1981), Appended Table III, Appended Table III-7 and Appended Table IV
• Civil Code (Act No. 89 of 1896), Articles 446 and 465-2
• Act on Fidelity Guarantees (身元保証ニ関スル法律; Act No. 42 of 1933), Articles 1, 2 and 5