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double gaijin marriage. marriage certificate 2012/3/17 23:43
ok. my wife is a chinese national. i am a american national. we met and got married in japan. kashiwashi to be exact. when we got marriage i received a certificate that she was able to use at the immigration office to change her visa to a dependant visa.

one week later though when she went to the town office she was told that, that paper was not a marriage certificate and that japan "does not do marriage certificates"

forgive me but i dont have the paper in front of me to be able to say what the name of it was. however my questions are

1. doesnt japan do marriage certificates?
2. what do i need to are for to get a marriage certificate?
3. if japan doesnt do marriage certificates what would i need to get in order for us to immigrate back to the united states together? (obviously would need to be translated either by me or professionally)

thank you for any help anyone can provide.

by musikit  

Re: double gaijin marriage. marriage certificate 2012/3/18 10:00
Without knowing the name of the document (in Japanese) you received, I cannot tell anything, but this old thread might be of some help:
http://www.japan-guide.com/forum/quereadisplay.html?1+24492
by . (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: double gaijin marriage. marriage certificate 2012/3/18 11:58
i appreciate the link. the story does have some interesting points but it is filled with a lot of "i dont knows" and "seems like no problem but" i guess the only real answer is for me to take a day off work and go and sit until i get something that reads kekkon shoumeisho or a positive answer.

thank you. i appreciate it.
by musikit rate this post as useful

Re: double gaijin marriage. marriage certificate 2012/3/18 13:08
musikit,

Again I know it is going to be a post that only says "I believe," but let me see if this helps at all. I am not a lawyer though.

It is true that Japanese city halls do not issue "marriage certificate" (kekkon shoumeisho) per se. This is because for Japanese nationals (or for marriages where one partner is Japanese) the fact of the marriage will be written into the koseki - family register - that an official duplicate copy of koseki suffices as a certificate.

However, they do issue "Certificate of acceptance of report of marriage" (kon'in todoke juri shoumeisho) saying that the city hall has accepted the report of marriage you've submitted. This is issued sometimes to Japanese couples as it takes a day or two to record the marriages into the koseki, so in the meantime this serves as proof of marriage.

But anyway, all that the Japanese authorities issue is this "certificate of acceptance of report of marriage."


This is a blog by a Japanese who got married to an American, and they seemed to have had some issues with the Immigration authorities in Japan over whether their Japan law-based marriage needed to be reported to the US authorities AGAIN in order for the US national to be granted some kind of resident status in Japan.

In this case, she got this letter from the US embassy (addressed to the Japanese Immigration office):
http://www.geocities.co.jp/SweetHome-Green/3497/letter.htm

and she got a notarized translation (into English) of the "certificate of acceptance of report of marriage," a format of which is mentioned on this page:
http://www.geocities.co.jp/SweetHome-Green/3497/romarriage.htm

The format was at the US Embassy/Consulate, this blog says.

I know that this is not addressed TO the US authorities, so it might not really help directly, but this might help to establish to the US authorities that this is the only certificate that Japan issues, and that once it is a valid marriage in Japan, it should be accepted as valid in the US as well.
Good luck sorting things out.
by AK rate this post as useful

Re: double gaijin marriage. marriage certificate 2012/3/18 16:47
AK,

you are the man! i really appreciate the help. what i think i'll do is take the document we received that states that our marriage was accepted by the city hall to the american embassy and get "remarried" per se in america so our marriage is legally binding in both countries. even though it should already be legally binding.
by musikit rate this post as useful

Re: double gaijin marriage. marriage certificate 2012/3/18 18:36
musikit,

Just to add, I believe that:

- So if your wife needs some document to prove the marriage to the Japanese authorities (for her Dependent status), this "certificate of acceptance of report of marriage" issued by the city hall of Kashiwa-shi itself will do.

- In the future when you consider moving to the US together, you will need to get the same report translated into English, and have it made "official" using the translation/English format mentioned in that lady's blog, with the help of the US Embassy/Consulate service, and go from there.

They will not "remarry" you, by the way. Your one and only marriage will be the one in Japan. US Embassy/COnsulate will only be able to help you: (1) get you that letter so that Immigration of Japan will give your wife Dependent status based on that marriage, and (2) get an official translation that you might need when you go to the US.
by AK rate this post as useful

Re: double gaijin marriage. marriage certificate 2012/3/18 18:40
AK, roger that! you've been an awesome help. i really appreciate it.
by musikit rate this post as useful

Re: double gaijin marriage. marriage certificate 2012/3/18 23:52
Since your wife is not Japanese, this may not apply. When I married a Japanese in Tokyo, then we moved to the U.S. she needed a Permanent Resident Card (Green Card). It was a complicated process. She had to have a health check at a hospital, a criminal check at police HQ, etc.
You had better go to the U.S. Embassy to be sure about exactly what she needs to do to emigrate to the U.S.
To avoid all that, just go to Mexico and sneak across the border like millions of others have done. :)
by Dick H rate this post as useful

Re: double gaijin marriage. marriage certificate 2012/3/19 06:26
My question is, how the heck can the op get a "Certificate of acceptance of report of marriage" (kon'in todoke juri shoumeisho)?

He's American and she's Chinese. They don't have the kosiki, therefore can't report marriage, no?
by Tokyonet (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: double gaijin marriage. marriage certificate 2012/3/19 06:36
Tokyonet,

I thought that since the original poster said they got married in Japan, they reported the marriage to the city hall of the city where they were residents? The fact of marriage is there, though it doesn't get written into anyone's koseki as they don't have one. But the city hall retains the report of the marriage.
by AK rate this post as useful

Re: double gaijin marriage. marriage certificate 2012/3/20 07:50
yeah. getting married in this country is easy. its the getting it transfered to your country that seems to be a pain.

after all is said and done when we go back to america we might just remarry to have an record in america so we dont need to worry about the japanese form.
by musikit (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: double gaijin marriage. marriage certificate 2012/3/20 11:15
"after all is said and done when we go back to america we might just remarry to have an record in america so we dont need to worry about the japanese form."

That's the best idea yet.!!!
by Dick H rate this post as useful

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