Documents needed for Marriage to take place in Japan.

[Kevin and Chieko 0]

Hello,

My fiance and I will be getting married in Japan. She is a Japanese citizen and living in Nagoya. Our plan is for me to go over to Japan and get married in January of 2014. We're expecting a child to be born in May and since there is no way for her to get to the U.S before the birth, we are getting married in Japan. This way she can wait for the immigration visa to get processed and hopefully arrived into the U.S with our baby A.S.A.P.

I was curious if any of you had any input on the process, steps, items needed, time frame, ect about getting married in Japan. We have both researched the process and are familiar with the steps. I'm curious if anyone out there has gone through this and might have some input that can't be found on the government’s website.

I plan to take a week long trip in January, but want to make sure I have everything squared away before I go. That way once I return I can submit all the paperwork and start the waiting game.

Here is the list I have so far. Please let me know if I am missing anything or might want to do something extra to speed things up.

Step 1. Sworn Affidavit of Competency to Marry (English and Japanese Versions). - I will get this notarized on the first working day I’m in Japan.

Step 2. Kon-in-todoke – My fiancé will handle this part.

Step 3. Go to government office and present paperwork for marriage. We should receive the certificate of acceptance of notification of marriage.

Step 4. Get the certificate translated and notarized at the embassy for proof of marriage, which will be needed for the visa applications.

My questions to anyone who is willing to answer are:

Is it possible to get all of these steps in one day?

Is there anything else we should do while we are both in Japan to speed up the visa process?

[Ryan H 3,812]

Moved from IR-1/CR-1 Process & Procedures to Asia: East & Pacific regional forum; topic is about marriage procedures in Japan and not about the US Spousal Visa process.

[Yurika & Jim 77]

I did K-1, so I can't answer your question... But did you know there is a "All Japan Filers" thread under this forum?

Maybe you should ask it over there? http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/53842-all-japan-filers/page-71

[Sheepwalk 12]

Hi Kevin and Chieko,

First of all, congrats to your coming baby!!!

This might not be exactly the information you are looking for, but anyway...

We asked an administrative lawyer (行政書士) about marriage procedure in Japan before choosing K-1.

According to him, your fiancee can handle all the procedure by herself. Your presence is not a requisite.

The steps he explained are as follows:

1. Get a marriage paper（Konin-Todoke, 婚姻届）from a local city hall and fill in. She needs to snail-mail it to you to let you sign the husband's signature space. All other items are OK in Japanese. Your seal （はんこ）isn't required. City hall staff are ready to answer your questions.

2. You need to send it back to her together with these documents:

a. document to prove you can marry （婚姻具備証明）, notarized-- this should be what you wrote "Sworn Affidavit of Competency to Marry"

b. document to prove your birth （国籍証明）-- birth certificate in the US, right?

If a document includes the requirements above, one will do.

3. Your fiancee needs to get a Koseki-Tohon from the registered office to submit it with the marriage paper.

The location she's submitting them will be the local office of her present residence.

You seem familiar with steps after Kon-in todoke.

Good luck !!!

Edited October 22, 2013 by Sheepwalk