外国人暮らしのQ＆A「外国人同士の婚姻」

Q:

I'm from country A, and I want to get married to my fiancée who is from country B. We want to register our marriage in Japan, so what kind of process is involved, and what documents will we need? And, for documents that need a Japanese translation, who should they be translated by? I have the status of residence of long-term resident while my fiancée is a permanent resident.

A:

When a foreign couple wishes to get married in Japan, they submit a marriage registration (kon'in todoke / 婚姻届) at the counter of the section responsible for family registration at the office of the city, ward, town or village in which they reside. If both parties are recognized as having met the necessary conditions, the registration will be accepted, and the marriage will be recognized as valid.

If, however, both parties submit a marriage registration to an embassy or consulate of their home countries in Japan according to the procedure recognized by those countries, and the registration is accepted and the marriage recognized as valid by those countries, there is no need to register the marriage at a municipal office in Japan.

Marriage is established in accordance with the laws of both parties' respective countries, so when submitting the marriage registration to a municipal office in Japan, certification is required from the authorities of each party's respective country that each person is eligible to marry. This will usually take the form of a Certificate of No Impediment to Marriage (kon'in yōken gubi shōmeisho / 婚姻要件具備証明書) issued by an embassy or consulate of your home country in Japan.

Some countries do not issue a Certificate of No Impediment to Marriage, in which case you will need to provide some alternative documentation. One example might be a written oath (senseisho / 宣誓書), which would entail making a declaration before a consular official that there is no legal obstacle to your proposed marriage, and having the consular official sign a written document to that effect.

Depending on your circumstances, you may be required to provide other documents. Please confirm the details of what you need to provide with your municipal office.

If any of the required documents are in a language other than Japanese, you will need to attach a Japanese translation. While there are no specific conditions as to who translates the documents, it seems that the name of the translator must be included on the translation. Please consult your municipal office for further details.

The marriage registration also requires two witnesses (shōnin / 証人). You will also need to provide proof (e.g. residence card, passport) that each witness actually exists.

Finally, once you submit your marriage registration and it is accepted, be sure confirm whether you need to notify the authorities of your home country that you have submitted a marriage registration in Japan, and what documentation is required for such a procedure.

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