Marriage paperwork explained for international and foreign couples in Japan.
Click here for these instructions in Japanese
If one of the partners in your marriage is a Japanese national, permanent resident, or mid-to-long term resident (in possession of a residence card), then you are eligible to get married in Japan. Legalizing your marriage in Japan will make it easier to get a spouse visa for Japan or to change to a spouse residence status in Japan, simplifying your visa and renewal procedures, make more employment opportunities available, and make it easier to apply for permanent residency later.
Paperwork, Not Ceremony, Not Marriage Counseling
This guide is about submitting the paperwork to legalize your marriage, not about celebrating a wedding. If you’re an international couple, or a couple living internationally, there are advantages to going ahead with the legal paperwork first, even if you cannot have your ceremony, yet. That was what we did- we got married in Japan (though we weren’t there at the time) before I started applying for my visa to move there. There is no such thing as a fiance visa for Japan.
I do not support marriages of convenience, visa marriages or getting married prematurely. I am not going to write a guide about getting divorced in Japan. Make sure this is really what you want to do before reading on.
Get Married in Japan, No Matter Where You Are
First, a quick note: I will use “you” to refer to the foreign spouse or the spouse without a mid-to-long term residence status in Japan. “Your spouse” will refer to the one who is the resident of Japan. If you are both legal residents of Japan, choose your roles yourself. I recommend that the better Japanese speaker play the role of “your spouse” below.
If Your Spouse is in Japan
This becomes a very quick and easy process. You mail your passport copy and notarized affidavit of competence to marry (download from the US Embassy in Japan marriage information page) to your spouse, he or she fills in the paperwork at the city hall, and you’re done.
If you’re from a country that has a family registration system, then you can submit a Japanese translation of your family register in place of the affidavit of competence to marry.
For the affidavit of competence to marry, you are allowed to translate it yourself if you are getting it notarized at a US Embassy in Japan, since they have Japanese-speaking staff that can check your work (the same goes for the forms related to the Consular Report of Birth Abroad, but that comes later). However, if you are getting it notarized in another country, then you may need to hire a professional translator to do it, even though the Embassy is only going to notarize the English version anyway. Consult with your local embassy (if abroad) or notary for their policy on this.
Get Married in Japan, Even if Neither of You Are There!
It is possible to get legally married in Japan, even if neither you or your spouse are present in the country. However, you will need some help from your spouse’s parents to visit the city hall on your behalf. If you continue to the next steps of this process, getting the Certificate of Eligibility, you’ll need a lot more help from the parents, so it’s best to get used to asking – and to get on their good side – now. We got legally married in Japan despite the fact that we were both living and working in Thailand at the time.
Why register your marriage in Japan?
There are many advantages to registering your marriage in Japan, even if you don’t intend to live there:
- Save on duplicate paperwork: Japan requires its nationals/residents to legally register their marriage in Japan, even if it’s already been registered under another country’s laws. The United States (and many other countries) has no such requirement. So, if you get your legal marriage in Japan, you only have to do the paperwork once.
- Easy access to extra records: Chances are, you’ll need to get a duplicate of your marriage certificate at some point. It’s easy to do this from a Japanese city hall, especially if you have parents-in-law in the area.
- No requirement for physical presence: Neither spouse actually has to be present to get legally married. You can file all the paperwork by mail.
It’s not terribly romantic, but it will save significant hassle to get your legal marriage done in Japan before you start thinking about planning a ceremony. Trust me, planning a wedding is plenty stressful even when you have all the legal paperwork out of the way beforehand.
Married by Mail
This method is only going to be available if one of you (“your spouse” for the purpose of these instructions) is a Japanese national. Registering your marriage is the easiest part of the entire process of moving to Japan as a spouse, as long as you have a little help in Japan. All you have to do is collect the following documents and submit them by post.
Parental Assistance Required
The first two documents you need come from your spouse’s hometown city hall. Hopefully, your spouse still has family there, as you are going to need their help to get the first two items.
- Kon’in Todoke-sho (婚姻届書):
This is your marriage registration form. Your spouse’ parents will need to pick it up from the the city hall, complete the “witness” blocks, and mail it to you to complete the rest, along with, - Koseki Tohon (戸籍謄本):
Your spouse’s family register. If your spouse has not been married before then he or she will still be listed on his/her parents’ family register. This is not a problem.
Documents You Need to Prepare Yourself
These are the same as the documents mentioned in the “If Your Spouse is In Japan” section above.
- Affidavit of competence to marry, or kon’in yoken gubi shomeisho (婚姻要件具備証明書):
If you’re from a country that has a family registration system, then you can submit a Japanese translation of your family register.
Otherwise, you will need to get an affidavit of competence to marry, or whatever the equivalent is for your country. The American version of the Affidavit of Competence to Marry form can be downloaded from the US Embassy in Tokyo’s website (opens in new window). There’s one page each in English and Japanese, and you can fill in both pages yourself. In Japan, it’s not necessary to have it officially translated, but if you’re trying to get it notarized while living abroad, then consult your local embassy or notary for their policy, first. The English page needs to be notarized by your embassy, but the Japanese does not.
Note: If you are not from America, you should still be able to use the form from the US Embassy site, but you should also check your own country’s embassy in Japan website to see if they have a preferred version of the form. - Copy of the your government ID:
If you’re in Japan, then you’ll submit a Residence Registration or Juminhyo (住民票). If you’re outside Japan, a copy of the information pages of your passport will do.
Mail all of the documents to your spouse’s city hall and within a few days, you’ll be legally married!
Confirming the Marriage Registration
There is a chance that the City Hall will not contact you to confirm that they received your paperwork or to let you know what day it was approved. In Japan, no reply typically means “no problems encountered,” but it’s always best to double-check. After all, you’ll want to know what day to call your anniversary in the future. We decided that we would base our anniversary on the mailing day, but I do not recommend this since you’ll have to use the official approval day when you fill out official paperwork, and keeping the two dates straight can be a bother.
At a more practical level, you will need proof of your marriage to move forward with your visa application paperwork, which means you’ll need your parents-in-law’s help again. In our case, our marriage was approved within four days of our mailing it (not bad, considering international postage time). I recommend sending your marriage paperwork by traceable mail (EMS, DHL, etc.) and waiting five working days after it arrives, then asking your parents-in-law to go to the city hall and pick up your marriage certificate (婚姻届受理証明書・婚姻証明書, Kon’in todoke juri shomeisho or Kon’in shomeisho) as well as your spouse’s new family register or koseki tohon (戸籍謄本). I recommend getting several copies, then having one copy formally translated into English (with multiple copies of the translation printed) for use in paperwork in your home country. If you plan to change your name to match your spouse, or to apply for your spouse to get a visa for your country, then you’re going to need original and translated marriage certificates for each of those procedures, so plan ahead!
The next step: Applying for your Certificate of Eligibility (CoE)
If you plan to change your name to match your spouse, or anything like that, I recommend doing that before you move forward to apply for your CoE. You’ll also have to register your name change at your spouse’s city hall once you’re in Japan, but that isn’t as urgent.
The Certificate of Eligibility is the first, biggest, and most difficult step in acquiring your visa for Japan, but fortunately, we have a guide for that, as well. About four months before you plan to come to Japan, please read our guide on how to a apply for a Certificate of Eligibility and spouse visa for Japan (Japanese version.
Please leave a comment!
Did this guide help you? Was there anything we should have explained in more detail? Let us know below!
hi trav,
Been reading your guides for a while now; really informative and helpful stuff, I appreciate the effort you’ve put in all of them.
Me and my Japanese girlfriend have been together now for 3 years (LDR) and both have decided we ant to spend our lives with eachother.
I just have a question about the affidavit. So for me the U.S Citizen living in Hawaii, since im not in Japan, where exactly would it be acceptable to get the affidavit notarized? Would I be able to get it electrically notarized through someone. My apologies, I’m not to well informed about notarization processes.
Thank you
Hi Michael Martinez,
If you are living in the US, any notary public should be able to notarize the affidavit. You should be able to find one at the local city hall. (In Japan, there is no such system, so the only place to get a notarization is the embassy/consulate, that is why the form is written that way).
Notarization has to be done in person. The purpose of a notarized signature is that the notary is swearing that they confirmed the identity of the person who signed and that it was done in front of them.
Of course, the notary should cross out the part where it says that they are a member of the embassy and write in their own credentials instead.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello,
Me and my boyfriend are both Americans. He is finishing his military contract in the states over the next few months. I was offered a job as an English Teacher in Tokyo, Japan. The company is going to help me start my visa process to legally work in Japan. I will be moving there by the end of summer time. I would like to know if it is possible for my boyfriend to marry me before I leave for Japan so he can join me? (We will authorize our marriage at a Japanese City Hall or Empassy etc.) How difficult is that process? Would he be on a dependent visa? Or could my boyfriend apply for a student visa and attend a Japanese University?
Please help us out! Thanks
Stefanie Lopardo
Hi Stefanie,
If you are both in the US now, my recommendation to you would to get married there, under US law. If you do that, then you would not have to formalize anything at the Japanese Embassy, city hall, etc. Those instructions in this article were just for couples where one partner was a Japanese citizen.
If you get married in the US before you depart, then once you arrive in Japan, complete your residence registration and start your job, you would then be able to apply for a Dependent CoE for him to come join you. You would need a Japanese translation of your wedding certificate for that process, in addition to your employment and salary information, but it is relatively simple to complete!
Of course, your boyfriend could also apply to a university in Japan and come over on a student visa. If he plans to study, then that would be a better option, since some scholarships for international students are only available if they have a “Student” residence status.
Either way would work and should not be too difficult!
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Good day! I just want to ask for your humble assistance regarding this document which Bureau of Immigration ask me to submit Advisory on Marriage. We submitted our papers via Samurai Agency in Japan and they email us to submit this additional document. I would like to ask the probability of chance to get a Certificate of Eligibility? What is your expert opinion about this. I am sorry to bother you it is because I am so worried because this is the second time we applied for COE for Spouse Visa and this time we decided to consult a law firm which is the Samurai Agency. Thank you.
Hi Fiachra Gil Pancho,
Unfortunately, I have never heard of a document called an “Advisory on Marriage”, so I cannot comment on that. Did they give you any other information, or perhaps the Japanese name of the document? Is it perhaps your marriage certificate from your home country?
In general, if the Immigration Bureau asks you to submit additional documents and you do not do so, it would certainly decrease your chances of getting the CoE, so I would recommend that you make every effort to find out what that document is and to submit it.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Trav,
Your replies are just as informative as the article so appreciate that. I do have a question, which i dont think was asked, and wondering if you could help me out please?
My fiance and I are having a wedding in Japan in January this year (well actually it really is only a party with 100 of our closest family and friends). We are from Australia and having a reception for our guest in the Japanese Alps. At this stage it really only is a massive celebration, there’s nothing official about it – despite us having a ceremony of sorts in a chapel.
The article above is mainly about a situation where one of the partners is a Japanese National.
1. Are you able to guide me on how we can get married legally in Japan if both my fiance and I are Australians?
Thanks Trav
Regards,
Jonas
Hi Jonas,
Thank you for your kind words!
Are either of you legal residents of Japan? At least one of you would have to be a legally registered resident to get married under Japanese law.
If one or both of you are residents, then to the best of my knowledge, the process above should work for you as well, with a few modifications to the documents: You would both provide the set of documents for the foreign spouse.
Otherwise, if your plan is for a destination wedding and neither of you are residents here, you would not be able to get married under Japanese law.
You might also want to consider in either case that it could be inconvenient to you in the long run to have your marriage legally conducted in Japan. If you need proof of your marriage later, you would have to obtain it from the city hall in Japan where you were married, even after you have left the country (if you do) and that proof would only be available in Japanese. That could cause headaches for later legal paperwork.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
I literally just read this and thought it would be helpful for you:
http://www.kittyandbuck.com/blog-lifestyle/2014/08/foreign-wedding-getting-married-in-japan-as-australian
Hi Darryl,
Thank you for sharing that.
I had never heard of anyone being able to get legally married in Japan if they didn’t have a legal residence here, but there you have it. I guess it is possible, even if it is a bit more work.
Thanks again
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi! Me and my fiancé are trying to get married in japan and we want to know where i should change my last name incase if i get married here. im a filipiino citizen, resident of japan. And my fiancé is US military. Do we have to go Philippines to change it? Or we can do it here in Philippine Embassy? Thank you!
Hi Trisha,
If your fiance is a US military member in Japan on a Status of Forces agreement, that is a whole different situation from what I have written about here. As far as I know, US military members are not registered as residents of Japan, so you would not go through the Japanese city hall for your marriage. You would have to go through the base and their regulations.
Your name change would fall under Philippines law, and I am afraid I am not familiar with the process. I would recommend that you contact the embassy and see if you can do it there. Perhaps someone else with direct experience can add a comment here, as well.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Travis
I hope you can help me with a question about my name.
I’m recently married to a Japanese national (thanks to your guide :)) I’m living in the UK still and waiting for my COE. Shouldn’t be any issues with it.
I’m wondering about name change procedures in Japan.
So, I’m a UK citizen and like the US, if you’re married under Japanese law its automatically valid in the UK and you dont register anything. I changed my name here by getting my marriage cert translated and updating my important documents such as my passport and driving licence and notifying everyone who had my name to update it.
I’m not a resident in Japan yet, but should be soon 🙂 When I arrive in Japan, will my residence card be issued in the same name as my passport?
Do I need to notify the city hall in Japan where me and my husband got married, to update his koseki? We are questioning them but they are not so helpful. They won’t accept my passport as proof i have updated my name under my home country’s law – is this just them being awkward? As this is pretty much all we get in the UK. They are asking for things that don’t exist in my country but I think it’s because they dont understand, but they dont listen either. Do you know if the embassy can give me something, if so would that be the British embassy in Japan or the Japanese embassy in the UK?
thanks for so much help – we have managed to get through so much thanks to your blog. I hope you can give me some guidance on this matter too.
Hi Shiny,
Your Residence Card should be issued in the same name as your passport, especially if you changed your name before applying for the CoE. I don’t actually know anyone who changed their name while their CoE application was processing, so if you changed it then, you might want to have your husband contact the immigration bureau where he applied to follow up with them. It should not be a problem either way.
You do not necessarily need to update your name in your husband’s koseki – I still haven’t done that in my case and it has never been a problem. In Japan, you have to go through the courts to change your name, even if it is when you get married, and Japanese city halls are notoriously bad at understanding that other countries are less bureaucratic.
Unfortunately, I don’t have any experience in that area yet, so I don’t know what to tell you. I suppose I would attempt to bring the marriage certificate from Japan, the two passports, and a Japanese translation of the law that says that a marriage certificate is sufficient to change your name and see if that works.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Thank you so much Travis, thats a bit of a relief that it hasnt caused you any issues 🙂 so maybe I’ll just turn up one day with what you said and see if it works, at the end of the day I cannot give them what doesn’t exist.
Yes I updated my name on everything before applying for my COE, I took your advice on your blog about that one 🙂
Thanks again for your help Travis, hopefully I’ll be in Japan by the end of the year.
Hi Shiny,
It sounds like you shouldn’t have any trouble with your passport, CoE, and Residence Card. You should indeed be here soon!
Once I update my last name in my wife’s koseki, I’ll be sure to write about that process, as well.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello, I am of Filipino nationality with a permanent resident status in Japan. I am currently on a long distance relationship with my American boyfriend who is currently in the US. We are planning to get married in the future, preferably in Japan as I am living here now.
Just want to clarify a few things:
1. Can you give a summary/ timeline of how the marriage procedure goes? Is my understanding correct that my boyfriend needs to get an affidavit of competence to marry first, then we can register marriage (konintodoke) at the city hall? Can it be where I live?
2. Does that mean I have to change my last name? Do you have a guide regarding this?
3. I am planning to move to the US after marriage. Do you have a guide for this too? Like changing visa or passport?
4. In general, how long does all procedure take? We are trying to consider what day we can have a ceremony and when I can leave for the US.
Thank you.
Hi Catherine,
Congratulations on your upcoming marriage.
1. You would both need affidavits of competence to marry and would need to get those translated into Japanese. You should also check with your city hall to make sure they do not have any other requirements for you. You will also both need copies of your government IDs (passports) when you go to file the marriage, in addition to the originals. Once you have all of that and complete the konintodoke, you should have everything you need to submit it. Once your marriage is registered, you will also have to report that to the Embassy of the Philippines.
2. There is no requirement that you change your last name and it is not automatic. If you do want to change your name, you would do that at your embassy, following Philippines law, not Japanese law or procedures. Unfortunately, I do not know about the legal process to change your name in your country. If you choose to change your name, then after you complete that process, you would have to report it to the Japanese government, as well.
3. I do not have a guide for US immigration, I’m afraid. But unlike Japanese immigration, all of the official information should be available in English!
4. The time required for registering your marriage is almost entirely up to you and how long it takes you to collect all of the documents. Once you have all of those and submit the konintodoke, it can take anywhere from a few days to a week or so, depending on how large and busy your city hall is. Since you are not a Japanese citizen, it should be on the shorter side, since you do not have other records, such as a koseki, that would need updating. I would estimate less than a week.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi
i am shakeel ahmed from Sindh Pakistan I want to get marriage from japan, how can i get marriage from japn? i am student 22 years old
Hi Shakeel Ahmed,
As long as either you or your spouse is a resident of Japan, you can get legally married here by following the instructions in this article. The city hall where you or your spouse is registered as a resident may have additional requirements, as well, so I would recommend consulting with them first.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
I have a quick question. How do you get the Affidavit of Competence to Marry notarized if you are currently in the US and not near an embassy?
Hi Charlie,
Any notary public should be able to do it – if there is one associated with the town hall, etc., where you reside, that would be better.
You will have to cross out the references to the embassy and replace it with the proper details for the notary, but I have heard from past applicants that they used that approach and had no problems.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hellow, im Suresh from sri lanka, my gir friend stydying in japan since 6 month, we are married,
can i know, how apply dependent visa in japan for me.
Thanks
Suresh
Hi Suresh,
I’ve written an article about applying for the dependent visa here. I hope that helps!
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
I’m from Pakistan and working in Malaysia i want to marry with my Japanese girlfriend in Japan but now I’m here in Malaysia i don’t know how can i go to Japan and my girlfriend also don’t know. My gf don’t have any job in Japan and she’s get a house from Japanese government and she’s get aid from Japanese government in every month so tell me please my girlfriend can send me a sponsor visa and she can be my guarantor and which documents need to my girlfriend for send me a sponsor visa please help me
Hi Usman,
I saw that you left the same question on the article about applying for a Spouse Certificate of Eligibility and I answered it there.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi I’m usman from Pakistan and now living in Malaysia I want to marry with my Japanese girlfriend in Malaysia she’s coming in Malaysia in june I’m Muslim and my girlfriend is non Muslim can I marry with a non Muslim girl and she’s coming in Malaysia for 7 days we can marry in Malaysia in 7 days please tell me how we do that
Hi Usman,
Unfortunately, I only have experience with marriages under Japanese law. You’d need to find someone with expertise in Malaysian marriage law to answer your question. In Japan, your religion does not matter for marriage.
All I can tell you is that your Japanese girlfriend would have to report the marriage to the Japanese embassy in Malaysia after it was official in order to get it registered as legally valid in Japan.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Thank you
If I married in Malaysia with my Japanese girlfriend so how can I come in Japan you can tell me about this
Hi Usman,
Once your girlfriend reports your marriage to the Japanese Embassy, she would be able to return to Japan and apply for a Certificate of Eligibility for you to be able to apply for a spouse visa to come to Japan.
I have written a long article and even a book about applying for the Certificate of Eligibility for a Spouse Visa. You can find the blog post here.
Good Luck!
– Travis