plans to marry boyfriend in japan

i am a us citizen and my japanese boyfriend proposed to me. he wants me to live in japan. i have been there on tourist visa a few times and i guess i will have to go again that way. he says he would rather marry in japan then in the us but i don't know how this process goes. what kind of papers should i bring with me? apart from a passport, do i need a birth certificate or others ? i understand that the tourist visa is 90 days, will i have to exit and re-enter in order to legalize or obtain the marraige and spouse visa? -thank you

Hi

First thing you must do is "get married" with your fiance in Japan. To get married in Japan you need to sign a notification of marriage and both of you must go to city hall to register. You will also need two adult guarantors (parents are ok).

Japanese husband need Koseki family register and you need all papers that you must have to marry in your own country.(ie,birth certificate).

Inkan stamp for two of you. You can make english name Inkan in Japan.

You will also need an affidavit (translate it to Japanese,need to notify who translated)

Then your husband will put your name,country name and date in his family register (koseki).

After all these are done you need to go to the U.S.embassy to notify that you are married to Japanese national.

Finally,you will need to change your visa status from visitor to spouse visa.

To do all these in 90 days is very unrealistic. Especially if you are planning to have a wedding celemony and family invites. So take it slow and have your husband help you process necessary paper works. You might need to make few trips back and forth between the U.S. and Japan.

Good luck!

my boyfriend was born in osaka but he lives in japan. do we have to marry in osaka? i am not sure if he can prove that he can support both of us, is this necessary?

You get married in whatever part of Japan you live in. Doesn't matter if he was born in Osaka, if you live in Tokyo, you get married in the local ward he lives in Tokyo.

Here is more information on documentation you might need from the US Embassy.

The Embassy can sign an affidavit for you if you need one.

http://tokyo.usembassy.gov/e/acs/tacs-7114.html

do i need a CoE in order to obtain a spouse visa ? i tried to apply for a CoE before but i was denied because i do not have a degree.

You were probably rejected because you were applying for a COE for a Work Visa. A work visa requires at least a bachelors degree.

A Coe for a spouse visa requires you to obviously be married, not that you have a degree or not. If you are married to a Japanese national then thats the requirement.

You also need to go to the US Embassy to obtain a "Certificate of Non-Impediment to Marriage" which basically states you are not married to anyone else- I wonder if this is the affadavit that hodad mentions.

All this information is listed in detail on various sites on the internet- also check www.being-a-broad.com- I think they have this info or links to it.

can i get this while i am in the states? or should i wait until i am in japan and then go to the US embassy? and do i need the actual birth certificate if i have a passport? does it complicate matters if i was once questioned at the airport and denied entry into japan, unjustly, i might add, on the basis that they suspected me of working or intending to work while on tourist status?

Check out the State Department's website and the website for the American Consulate in Japan. both sites should have information helpful to you.