how to get marriage certificate if married outside of the country

[ryoaska1 0]

Hello, I'm sorry if this was not the right place to post this topic- but this was the closest I could figure base don the description...

A friend of mine who is from Japan but recently obtained his US Citizenship got married with his Fiance in Japan, and now they have come back to the U.S. They are wondering how they would go about obtaining/applying for a marriage certificate now, since obviously their marriage is not recorded in their state/county of residence.

The process I took was the k1 visa and getting married here in my home state, so we never had this problem and I haven't been able to find the answer for him. Could anyone here shed some light on this for us?

Thank you

[kaffy 2]

Go to the ward office in Japan where they registered their marriage at and request a copy of their konin todoke.

Marriages abroad are recognized as legal in the States and do not need to be recorded with US authorities.

Edited December 19, 2008 by kaffy

[ryoaska1 0]

Go to the ward office in Japan where they registered their marriage at and request a copy of their konin todoke.

Marriages abroad are recognized as legal in the States and do not need to be recorded with US authorities.

Thanks for the response. I think the reason they want the marriage certificate is for use for certain processes that ask for a marriage certificate, not because they thought they needed to be 'official' here. Can that document be used in place of a marrage certificate when one is requested?

Thanks

[kaffy 2]

konin todoke IS the marriage certificate

submit it with a translation for immigration purposes

[Mint518 0]

If your friend has not renounced Japanese nationality after obtaining US citizenship (thus, can obtain a copy of Family Registry (Koseki Shohon or Koseki Tohon) dated within last 3 months) and have Japanese passport, he can get the English-written marriage certificate from Japanese embassy in the US. For my application (I am applying for AOS), I submitted the marriage certificate and birth certificate issued by Japanese embassy in addition to the copy of Family Registry and translation of the Family Registry. Japanese embassy will not issue the marriage certificate if the date of the copy of Family Registry is older than 3 months.

If he cannot obtain the newer copy or does not have Japanese passport, but has a copy of Family Registry which is a bit old, maybe he can submit such old copy of Family Registry anyway along with translation, in lieu of marriage certificate.

Other option is to obtain "Konin Todoke Juri Shomeisho" from the ward office where the marriage was registered --- probably, the best way in case of your friend. However, it seems availability of such certificate varies in each ward office (i.e., in some ward office, one can obtain such certificate, say, within 3 years after marriage, and other ward office, the availability is limited within one year, etc.), it would be better if he call or have his family in Japan call the ward office first.

Edited December 22, 2008 by Mint518

[kaffy 2]

Other option is to obtain "Konin Todoke Juri Shomeisho" from the ward office where the marriage was registered --- probably, the best way in case of your friend.

When we were living in Japan and doing DCF for my husband's Australian spousal visa we submitted the jurishomeisho to the Embassy but they would not accept it and we still had to send them the actual konin todoke

Marriage certificate (The "jurishomeisho" you have provided is literally a "receipt" of documents. It is not sufficient for evidence of your marriage - you will need to provide the "konin todoke", which is the document you submitted when you married. This will have been stamped by the ward office.)

Obviously this is for the Australian embassy and not the US embassy but they may have the same requirement so it's best to get/use the Konin Todoke if possible

[Mint518 0]

Other option is to obtain "Konin Todoke Juri Shomeisho" from the ward office where the marriage was registered --- probably, the best way in case of your friend.

When we were living in Japan and doing DCF for my husband's Australian spousal visa we submitted the jurishomeisho to the Embassy but they would not accept it and we still had to send them the actual konin todoke

Marriage certificate (The "jurishomeisho" you have provided is literally a "receipt" of documents. It is not sufficient for evidence of your marriage - you will need to provide the "konin todoke", which is the document you submitted when you married. This will have been stamped by the ward office.)

Obviously this is for the Australian embassy and not the US embassy but they may have the same requirement so it's best to get/use the Konin Todoke if possible

"Konin Todeke" is a document a couple will submit to the ward office to register a marriage. So, I guess, you meant "Konin Todokedesho Kisai Jiko Shomeisho", which is a certificate issued by the ward office and contains all the information written in the Konin Todoke submited. And I agree "Konin Todokedesho Kisai Jiko Shomeisho" would be better than "Konin Todoke Juri Shomeisho", if available.

Edited December 23, 2008 by Mint518

[Mint518 0]

Other option is to obtain "Konin Todoke Juri Shomeisho" from the ward office where the marriage was registered --- probably, the best way in case of your friend. However, it seems availability of such certificate varies in each ward office (i.e., in some ward office, one can obtain such certificate, say, within 3 years after marriage, and other ward office, the availability is limited within one year, etc.), it would be better if he call or have his family in Japan call the ward office first.

I found the following information from US embassy's website, "Marriage and Divorce in Japan" page (http://japan.usembassy.gov/e/acs/tacs-marriagedoc.html).

"The only official record of your marriage is the one issued to you by the Japanese ward or city office at the time of your marriage, and copies can only be obtained from that issuing office....

If both partners are non-Japanese, these records are maintained at the city or ward office for 50 years.

If one of the partners is a Japanese citizen, marriage documents will only be kept at the city or ward office for one month or one year. They are kept one month if the Japanese partner registers his/her marriage at his/her office of permanent domicile, and one year for other cases. After that, marriage records are forwarded to the nearest Legal Affairs Bureau, where they are kept for 27 years."

[Mint518 0]

A friend of mine who is from Japan but recently obtained his US Citizenship got married with his Fiance in Japan...

I re-read your question, and I noticed that I had misunderstood that your friend married with a girl from France living in Japan (Obviously, I confused with Fiance and France ).

If his wife is a Japanese citizen, I think filing the copy of the Family Registry is the best, because the Family Registry proves not only they got married, but such marriage is still continuing. And filing the marriage certificate issued by Japanese embassy would be a plus as it is an official English-written document (prepared based on the Family Registry).

I got mine from Consulate-General of Japan in New York, but I am sure Japanese embassy in other areas offers this service.

Edited December 23, 2008 by Mint518