Divorce Decree for Beneficiary from Japan

[Karse101 0]

My fiancé and I plan on filing the I129F soon and are trying to make sure he has all of the paperwork he needs on his side. He has been divorced and is having trouble understanding what Japan's version of a divorce decree is. He has a family registry that shows he is divorced and includes the date he was divorced and who he was divorced from. Is this enough or does he need a specific paper just for the divorce?

 

Thank you!

[geowrian 22,338]

I would refer to the DOS reciprocity chart:

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Visa-Reciprocity-and-Civil-Documents-by-Country/Japan.html

Quote

Divorce Certificates

Available

Fees: Depends on Municipal (city, ward, town, village and etc.) Office.

Document Name: Full version of family register (Koseki Tohon/Zenbu jiko shomeisho); Short version of family register (Koseki Shohon/Kojin jiko shomeisho) or Certificate of Acceptance of Notification of Divorce (Rikon juri shomeisho).

Issuing Authority: The Municipal (city, ward, town, village and etc.) Office of the applicant's legal domicile (honseki-chi). Family register (both full and short versions) can normally be obtained from a government office in the registered domicile (Honsekichi). However, some cities and ward offices have expanded their administrative capabilities and may offer access to family registers from other cities or wards. Some Japanese city and ward offices have also started offering family register issuance through convenience stores. Applicants may learn which municipal offices provide this service by using the search function at the following Government of Japan website: lg-waps.go.jp. It is expected that this system will be further expanded in the future following the full implementation of “My Number” system/cards, which is similar to a Social Security Number (SSN). (For updated information regarding the My Number system, please refer to the Government of Japan Cabinet Office website: kojinbango-card.go.jp/en/ko;jinbango/index.html or cas.go.jp

Special Seal(s) / Color / Format: Varies depending on Municipal Office. Civil actions in Japan become legally effective only when notification is accepted by the municipal office where the action was performed. Each office uses its own security background paper, but the issuing Mayor’s name, title and seal of the municipal office can usually be found at the very end of the document. The security features include, but are not limited to, regular watermarks, hidden watermark words, and thermochromic ink.

Issuing Authority Personnel Title: Mayor / Principal of Municipal Office

Registration Criteria: There are no registration criteria

Procedure for Obtaining: Varies depending on Municipal Office

Certified Copies Available: Yes

Alternate Documents: There are no alternate documents

Exceptions: None

Comments: The Japanese family register generally covers all current information regarding birth, adoption, marriage, divorce, or death records. Therefore, a married person's family register can serve as evidence of both birth and present marriage, for example.

The full version of the family register (Koseki Tohon / Zenbujiko Shomeisho) covers all household members, while the extract version (Koseki Shohon/Kojinjiko Shomeisho) covers events related only to one individual of the household. Please also note that once someone changes his/her domicile (honsekichi), as a head of family register, the past records will not be transferred to the new domicile municipal office. Therefore, the past records may not be shown on his/her family register obtained from the new domicile municipal office. In addition, past records may not be transferred when the municipal office changes its record system from the Koseki Tohon or Koseki Shohon (older format that is hand-written or typed vertically) to Zenbujiko Shomeisho or Ichibujiko Shomeisho (digitized format typed horizontally).

Also, in cases where an individual was removed from one family register and placed into another family record by adoption or marriage, the current family register sometimes does not indicate the person's place of birth. If the omitted portion is required, an extract from the canceled koseki (joseki shohon) must be obtained from the Municipal Office holding the applicant's previous family register.

Note: Records of civil actions pertaining to non-Japanese citizens, such as marriage, adoption, divorce or death are available from the municipal office where the action was registered, in the same manner as the birth record of a Japanese citizen. However, they can only be registered on a Japanese family register when one party is Japanese (e.g. non-Japanese citizen married to a Japanese, non-Japanese citizen adopted by a Japanese). Therefore, records for non-Japanese citizens are normally issued in the form of a certificate of acceptance of report. This document is not considered valid without the seal from the Municipal Office. Please note this document is sometimes issued on non-security paper.

Records of divorce pertaining to non-Japanese citizens who are not registered with any other party’s family register are kept 50 years for divorce by agreement and 10 years for divorce by judgment of a district court.

The following documents are not acceptable in lieu of family register or Certificate of Acceptance of Notification of Divorce:

• Certificate of residence

 

[Karse101 0]

56 minutes ago, geowrian said:

I would refer to the DOS reciprocity chart:

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Visa-Reciprocity-and-Civil-Documents-by-Country/Japan.html

 

This is very helpful, thank you! 

[Takami 30]

On 5/11/2020 at 3:46 AM, Karse101 said:

My fiancé and I plan on filing the I129F soon and are trying to make sure he has all of the paperwork he needs on his side. He has been divorced and is having trouble understanding what Japan's version of a divorce decree is. He has a family registry that shows he is divorced and includes the date he was divorced and who he was divorced from. Is this enough or does he need a specific paper just for the divorce?

 

Thank you!

Hi, I am Beneficially of k-1 visa and originally from Japan, currently waiting for NOA2.

I got copy of original Certificate of Acceptance of Divorce report from city hall and I transrated in English.

https://certification.jp/how_to_translate/certificate_of_acceptance_of_divorce_report

 

[Karse101 0]

4 hours ago, Takami said:

Hi, I am Beneficially of k-1 visa and originally from Japan, currently waiting for NOA2.

I got copy of original Certificate of Acceptance of Divorce report from city hall and I transrated in English.

https://certification.jp/how_to_translate/certificate_of_acceptance_of_divorce_report

 

Okay awesome! This helps a lot, thank you!