Your Japanese spouse already lives in Japan and you are still abroad
The textbook case, and the one the Certificate of Eligibility was designed for. Your spouse is settled in Japan with an address, a job and a tax record; you are abroad waiting to join them.
Everything the application needs already exists. Your spouse can file as your representative, their 住民票 (certificate of residence) and 課税証明書 (taxable income certificate) are obtainable immediately, and they are the natural guarantor.
Your job in this scenario is evidence of the relationship rather than logistics. You are two people who have mostly lived in different countries, so the questionnaire and the records behind it carry more weight than usual: dates of visits that match passport stamps, communication spread across the whole period rather than one dense week, and photographs from more than one occasion.
The order things happen in
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Confirm the marriage is on the family register
Obtain the 戸籍謄本 (family register) after the marriage was registered — a copy issued beforehand shows nothing relevant. Allow one to two weeks for the entry to appear if the register is held in a different municipality from where you filed. -
Gather the relationship evidence while your spouse gathers the paperwork
Message and call records covering the whole relationship, photographs from several occasions, and any travel records. These support the questionnaire. -
Your spouse files in Japan
At the bureau covering their address. They can also file online if they hold a My Number Card. -
Certificate is issued and sent to you; you apply for the visa
Standard processing at the mission is around five working days when the certificate is presented. You cannot start the visa application while the certificate application is still pending.
Starts on the coe route, so you are only asked the questions that apply to this situation.