Foreigners marrying in Japan

[SarahJ 0]

I am a Filipina and my fiance is an American. We plan to get married in Japan, being both foreigners, what should we do? We are in our own countries now but have plans to take a vacation in Japan and will hopefully marry there. We are wondering as to what are the things we need to prepare before our trip. Is it possible to get married in Japan even on a tourist visa? What if one has a working visa? Once married in Japan and will apply for CR-1 visa later, how long does it take?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

[KrystelKyle 16]

I am a Filipina and my fiance is an American. We plan to get married in Japan, being both foreigners, what should we do? We are in our own countries now but have plans to take a vacation in Japan and will hopefully marry there. We are wondering as to what are the things we need to prepare before our trip. Is it possible to get married in Japan even on a tourist visa? What if one has a working visa? Once married in Japan and will apply for CR-1 visa later, how long does it take?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

You might want to visit Japanese embassy in Phils since you are still there and Japanese embassy in the U.S for your American fiance. This is how the process before if I remember it correctly:

How to get married in Japan

Take your Family Register (koseki tohon) or its extract (koseki shohon) to your local City or Ward office (shiyakusho/kuyakusho). That document shows you are eligible to marry – basically that you are not already married, and that you are a male 18 years old or over, or a female 16 or older. Those under the age of 20 must have their parents' signed permission to marry (douisho). Blood relatives may not marry, and if you are recently divorced, you cannot remarry until you have your Divorce Decree Absolute (rikon shomeisho). To avoid confusion as to the identification of a child's father if a birth occurs near the end of a marriage, a woman cannot remarry within six months of the dissolution of her previous marriage.

Articles 731 to 737 of the Japanese Civil Code give the complete details of requirements and some City or Ward Offices may have additional procedures or may require additional documents to be shown.

You then lodge a Registration of Marriage Form (kon-in-todoke), counter-signed by two witnesses who may need to provide their registered seal (inkan). Then a Receipt of Registration of Marriage (kon-in-todoke-juri-shomeisho) is issued by the Marriage Officer. It is not strictly necessary to have one of these documents but they make a nice parchment souvenir. It is the amended Family Register (koseki tohon) that shows the new, married status.

There are separate rules for foreigners wishing to marry in Japan and they differ according to the nationality. If you are a foreigner in Japan, your first and obvious visit will be to your embassy. If you are not Japanese and living outside of Japan, then visit the Japanese embassy in your country.

***You will have to fill up that big yellow paper in City Hall of where in Japan Prefecture you are getting married, since that you both are foreign you might need to get all the papers translated by a certified translator. You will need these documents such as passport with valid visa,birth certificate(translated in Japanese),affidavit of competency to marry (from Phil. Embassy and American Embassy)***

[SarahJ 0]

You might want to visit Japanese embassy in Phils since you are still there and Japanese embassy in the U.S for your American fiance. This is how the process before if I remember it correctly:

How to get married in Japan

Take your Family Register (koseki tohon) or its extract (koseki shohon) to your local City or Ward office (shiyakusho/kuyakusho). That document shows you are eligible to marry – basically that you are not already married, and that you are a male 18 years old or over, or a female 16 or older. Those under the age of 20 must have their parents' signed permission to marry (douisho). Blood relatives may not marry, and if you are recently divorced, you cannot remarry until you have your Divorce Decree Absolute (rikon shomeisho). To avoid confusion as to the identification of a child's father if a birth occurs near the end of a marriage, a woman cannot remarry within six months of the dissolution of her previous marriage.

Articles 731 to 737 of the Japanese Civil Code give the complete details of requirements and some City or Ward Offices may have additional procedures or may require additional documents to be shown.

You then lodge a Registration of Marriage Form (kon-in-todoke), counter-signed by two witnesses who may need to provide their registered seal (inkan). Then a Receipt of Registration of Marriage (kon-in-todoke-juri-shomeisho) is issued by the Marriage Officer. It is not strictly necessary to have one of these documents but they make a nice parchment souvenir. It is the amended Family Register (koseki tohon) that shows the new, married status.

There are separate rules for foreigners wishing to marry in Japan and they differ according to the nationality. If you are a foreigner in Japan, your first and obvious visit will be to your embassy. If you are not Japanese and living outside of Japan, then visit the Japanese embassy in your country.

***You will have to fill up that big yellow paper in City Hall of where in Japan Prefecture you are getting married, since that you both are foreign you might need to get all the papers translated by a certified translator. You will need these documents such as passport with valid visa,birth certificate(translated in Japanese),affidavit of competency to marry (from Phil. Embassy and American Embassy)***

Thank you very much for your helpful information. I should just contact the Japanese embassy. Thank you very much!

[cookiesandcream 7]

Thank you very much for your helpful information. I should just contact the Japanese embassy. Thank you very much!

If neither of you live in Japan it will be basically impossible to get married there on vacation. 1) You need two people (with legal residence) to hanko your application, 2) it needs to be taken to the town office of your residence (which you don't have) 3) You will need a "Notice of No Impediment to Marry" from both of your countries' respective embassies in Japan.

If one of you has resident's status it will work, but one of you needs to live there.