# Taking senior citizen parents to Kadena?



## ezgator

I'm a civilian working for military and may be getting a job in Okinawa. I am military retiree, so my wife and I will have base access for medical and shopping. My parents live with me and are currently NOT military dependents. Would it be difficult to bring my senior citizen parents with me to Okinawa if they do not have military sponsorship? What would they do for medical care? (They are on Medicare here, but couldn't use that in Japan.) Any advice/input would be helpful! 

Thank you!


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## Xelchan

If you look online you can find some good references.

“If you want to bring your parents from your home country to Japan to live with you, you need to apply for a Specific Activities visa. A first step is to call your parents to Japan with a Temporary visa. You will then need to apply for a Change of Status of Residence. The criteria for bringing in your parents to live with you are stringent, but if you are approved as a Highly Skilled Foreign Professional by the Immigration Bureau of Japan, you are more likely to succeed.

The criteria to obtain this Specific Activities visa, are as follows: your parent(s) are financially dependent on you, your parent(s) do not have any close relatives in your home country, and are aged 70 or more. There are some exceptions for the age criteria such as health problems, for example, cancer, that would require treatment in Japan.”

Not sure what happens with health insurance though. But this might give you a place to start looking.


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