How to live in Japan with your sponsor on unaccompanied orders. IT IS POSSIBLE!

[QueenzSerenity]

My story:

I married my husband between boot camp and A school so he had already been given orders to Yokosuka, Japan as unaccompanied once he left boot camp. He could not change them and long story short I spent 6 weeks scouring the web and asking lots of questions from every source I could get in contact with. He is an E1 so he was denied command sponsorship and everyone on his base told him he would not be able to get me over there.

I am currently in the states still waiting for my passport. I will update this discussion on my situation once my passport arrives and I arrive in Japan. My husband is already scouting apartments for us, and has found very affordable places to live.

(UPDATE!)

I was very worried when I headed to the airport because I thought I needed a lot of paperwork that I didn't have. I flew Japan Airlines and they made me sign a paper saying that they explained to me that I could only stay 90 days with a tourist visa (because I had a one-way ticket). However, once I arrived in Japan, I showed them my military ID and they told me which forms to fill out and I received a SOFA stamp. Easy as pie. So don't sweat the legal stuff, you're covered. Make sure you have a place to stay and go to Fleet and Family asap to talk about employment, AOB (a short course that introduces you to Japanese culture), and other great resources. I love it here!

Why I'm sharing:

I really wanted to create a post on this site, because it has been so helpful for me through this whole process, and I'm sure there are other new wives in a similar situation who could benefit from this information.

What I found out:

You will basically be in Japan on SOFA. SOFA is granted to all US armed forces AND their dependents. SOFA status waives all Japanese Visa requirements.

What you need to get SOFA:

• Military Dependent ID (Yup, that's it.)

What you need to know about being on SOFA (not being command sponsored):

• US armed forces members and their dependents are exempt from the Japanese passport and visa laws and regulations, regulations on registration and control of aliens, but are not considered to have any right to permanent residence.
• You should carry your military ID and passport at all times.
  • You need to be able to show this to any Japanese authority who asks to see it at any time. (I have not personally been asked by anyone for this, but it's better to be prepared and have it in case you would need it.)
• You will not get separation pay
• You need to find your own place off base
• Sponsor will need to apply to live off base (which may not be granted depending on their rank, but they can get liberty for the night/weekend and come home.)
• Benefits may be limited due to you not being sponsored (I will post more on that when I get over there, because I honestly do not know yet.)
• You will need to go through additional steps to work off-base (I will post more on that once I get over there, because I have not found out exactly what hoops you need to jump through for that yet either.)

Sources:
http://www.japanbases.com/forums/aft/8957.aspx
http://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/area/usa/sfa/pdfs/fulltext.pdf