Recently my wife and I renewed our non-resident O retirement visas. While I had no problem getting mine renewed based on my pension, my wife did not have enough pension income to get hers renewed, and since our local account is joint they wouldn't accept that as part of her eligibility.

The immigration officer then said "your wife can renew her visa as your spouse. Just get your marriage certificate certified at your consulate." We did that, and my wife got her visa.

My question is this: why had I never heard of this way to get a visa? I never read of it or heard of it before. Was this a fluke? Or have I missed this way of getting a visa for all these years?