Not registering overseas marriage

Hello!

My girlfriend is Japanese and I'm swedish. She has been living here in Sweden since she was a child, and has no plans of ever move back to Japan. Doesn't really visit Japan that often either, maybe once in 5 years or so. She speaks Japanese quite well, but can't read or write in Japanese. If we get married in Sweden, and don't register the marriage in Japan. What will happen?

Also what do you need to do to switch to another citizenship from Japanese, more than applying for citizenship in the new country?

If anyone has the answers to these questions I would appreciate it a lot! I have searched the internet and here about it but can't find anything.

Thank you in advance!

If we get married in Sweden, and don't register the marriage in Japan. What will happen?

Nothing, as long as you stay in Sweden and just visit once in a while.
But officially Japanese nationals are required by law to report important changes in their status (such as marriage, divorce, childbirth, etc.) within a few months (I forgot exactly how many) to the Japanese authorities, either to the city hall in Japan or through Embassy of Japan in Sweden (in her case).
Your Swedish marriage can be reported “after-the-fact” with the Japanese authorities (you don’t have to get married again according to the Japanese law). What I mean by “after-the-fact” is that my marriage in the UK is mentioned in my family register as:
“Ms. AK got married to Mr. So-and-so from (country name) according to the UK law on (date).”

Only in case the two of you ever, ever decide to come live in Japan as a married couple, it’s just easier if the marriage has been reported to the Japanese authorities too (but she can report later anyways). Also if you have a child and if you want the baby to have Japanese nationality…

By the way, if she reports late, there will be a fine of something like 2,000 yen (no criminal record, no worries – I did this myself – myself Japanese, my husband continental European, we got married in the UK where we used to live, did not report the marriage to the Japanese city hall until a few years later, when we decided to move back to Japan.)


Also what do you need to do to switch to another citizenship from Japanese, more than applying for citizenship in the new country?

I don’t know the procedure for her to obtain Swedish nationality, but given that happens, officially she has to “renounce” her Japanese nationality, as Japan does not allow dual nationalities.
Q13 on this page:
http://www.moj.go.jp/EN/MINJI/minji78.html#a13
She might want to check with the Embassy of Japan in Sweden.

If we get married in Sweden, and don't register the marriage in Japan. What will happen?

Nothing, as long as you stay in Sweden and just visit Japan once in a while.
But officially Japanese nationals are required by law to report important changes in their status (such as marriage, divorce, childbirth, etc.) within a few months (I forgot exactly how many) to the Japanese authorities, either to the city hall in Japan or through Embassy of Japan in Sweden (in her case).
Your Swedish marriage can be reported “after-the-fact” with the Japanese authorities (you don’t have to get married again according to the Japanese law). What I mean by “after-the-fact” is that my marriage in the UK is mentioned in my family register as:
“Ms. AK got married to Mr. So-and-so from (country name) according to the UK law on (date).”

Only in case the two of you ever, ever decide to come live in Japan as a married couple, it’s just easier if the marriage has been reported to the Japanese authorities too (but she can report later anyways). Also if you have a child and if you want the baby to have Japanese nationality…

By the way, if she reports late, there will be a fine of something like 2,000 yen (no criminal record, no worries – I did this myself – myself Japanese, my husband continental European, we got married in the UK where we used to live, did not report the marriage to the Japanese city hall until a few years later, when we decided to move back to Japan.)


Also what do you need to do to switch to another citizenship from Japanese, more than applying for citizenship in the new country?

I don’t know the procedure for her to obtain Swedish nationality, but given that happens, officially she has to “renounce” her Japanese nationality, as Japan does not allow dual nationalities.
Q13 on this page:
http://www.moj.go.jp/EN/MINJI/minji78.html#a13
She might want to check with the Embassy of Japan in Sweden.

Thank you so much AK this was really helpful! Now I don't have to worry about these things anymore, thank you again!

She is supposed to notify her getting married (to you)
to (the mayor of) the municipality
which manages her family register [koseki],
by submitting necessary documents to the municipal office.

AK:
through Embassy of Japan in Sweden (in her case)

Unfortunately she cannot choose the embassy for this purpose.
(Only when two Japanese nationals get married,
embassies of Japan handle the notification.)

Liridon:

Doesn't really visit Japan that often either, maybe once in 5 years or so.

Is there her family member or (near) relative in Japan
who can help her to complete the procedures?

As a countermeasure against the novel coronavirus,
entry to Japan | Sweden is currently severely restricted.

She can send by mail
the marriage notification form and other necessary documents
to the municipal office,
but from a viewpoint of protection of personal information,
it sounds better to have a cooperator in Japan.

can't read or write in Japanese.

She needs someone
to fill in the notification form in Japanese,
except for your and her personal signatures.

When you and she get married in the Swedish way,
she attaches to the marriage notification form
her marriage certificate with its translation into Japanese.
(Her friend who reads and writes Japanese is enough.)

Also,
you and she find two adult witnesses
who sign and seal on the notification form.

If she as a Japanese person hopes to use your Swedish surname,
she can make the notifications
of getting married and of changing her surname together at once.
(The municipal staff accepts them in this order.)
In this case,
she later has to modify her name on her Japanese passport.

She has been living here in Sweden since she was a child

Maybe she does not know the municipality managing her family register.

What will happen?

When her child is born,
whether or not she is legally married under the Japanese law
may affect legal rights and public welfare services for that child.

Note
: In a case where her baby acquire a non-Japanese nationality by birth,
unless his/her Japanese nationality is reserved when his/her birth is notified,
he/she retroactively to the birth time loses the Japanese nationality.

Unfortunately she cannot choose the embassy for this purpose.
(Only when two Japanese nationals get married,
embassies of Japan handle the notification.)

I'm quite sure this is not true. She should be able to report it through the embassy even with a foreign spouse.

I'm quite sure this is not true. She should be able to report it through the embassy even with a foreign spouse.

I repeat: She cannot do so through the embassy of Japan.

Source in Japanese
法務省民事局 [Ministry of Justice - Civil Affairs Bureau] :
「国際結婚，海外での出生等に関する戸籍Ｑ＆Ａ」
http://www.moj.go.jp/MINJI/minji15.html
From Answer 4 - Paragraph 4:
“なお，Ｑ５のように，日本人同士の婚姻の場合は，その国の日本の在外公館に，婚姻の届出をすることができますが，日本人と外国人の婚姻の場合は，日本の在外公館に婚姻の届出をすることはできません。”

I will first say that I'm not a native speaker of Japanese but from what I understand from your link:

1. Two Japanese nationals can get married at a Japanese embassy; however, a Japanese and a non-Japanese cannot.

2. A Japanese and a non-Japanese who got married overseas can report that marriage at a Japanese embassy as long as the marriage is recognized as legally valid.

I believe what you quoted refers to couples whose marriage is not recognized as legal. They cannot make their marriage legal by marrying at the embassy if one of them is not Japanese.

Please do correct me if I'm wrong.

Omotenashi, that was a really helpful post too but now I'm panicking.. Yes she has some relatives in Japan but doesn't really talk to them (her mother's fault since she was a child). And she doesn't have any Japanese friends either because there's really limited with Japanese people here in South of Sweden. Non around her age.
Asking her mother to help us is not an option either since my girlfriend is half Filipina, and her mother is the Filipina one. Her father has been out of the picture since she was 5 years old. No contact there.

AK, do have any children since before the marriage registration? If so, how did that go?

Thank you everyone for detailed answers! We'll try to make this work and right somehow, and I will call the embassy to see how it can be done from here. I really don't think that we're the first interracial couple to get married in Sweden.

Thank you again!

I am from Peru and i married my in that time GF 2 years ago , we got married in Peru and then we went to the embassy .

Yes it is possible to submit marriage documents to the Japanese embassy , they will just mail them to the city hall in charge . But since we were a little bit unsure whether it would reach the right department or not we decided to do it the regular way. My wife went back to Japan , she submitted all the documents in the city hall but she needed 2 guarantors i guess? 2 people that can say YES these 2 people got married , in my case my father and mother in law .

You can do the procedure in the embassy but it will take a long time from what i heard.

Thank you! Now it all sounds pretty good, I will contact the embassy to see how the process goes since it is not possible to travel right now. We were thinking on getting married this summer, I guess I still have months left to gather informations. I will call the embassy on Monday. Thank you all!

https://www.us.emb-japan.go.jp/j/koseki/konin_kinyu.htm
外国（米国各州）の方式で婚姻した場合は、証人欄の記入は不要です

日本人同士が日本の方式により婚姻する場合は、証人として成人（満２０歳以上）二人の署名・押印、生年月日（日本人は元号で表記）、現住所（日本語で日本式に国名から番地までを記入）及び本籍（外国人の場合は国籍）の記入が必要です。証人は、親族（両親）でも外国人でも可。外国人が証人となる場合は、日本語で所要事項を記入する必要があるため､署名以外の個所は届出人が記入しても構いませんが、署名は外国人本人に必ず行ってもらい、その署名上部余白に届出人がその外国人証人の氏名をカタカナで姓、名の順に記入して下さい。

"can't read or write in Japanese."
it does mean that the nationality is not useful for her.
moreover, probably, she does not know her permanent address and can't prepare the document which she needs to fill.

legal information which is necessary for Japanese people is provided mostly in Japanese, on the basis that the nationality holders can understand the language.