British/Japanese marriage

Hi, I have been reading through your forum and cannot seem to find the advice I am looking for, which is a process of how I would go about to marry my Japanese girlfriend.
We have been together for a year now and I asked her to marry me last week when I visited Japn and happily she said yes.
We would like to get married in december if possible, but are getting very confused with lots of information from diffrent places.
So if anybody out there who has already done this or knows how to, please let me know.
Many thanks.
Koinu & my future wife Koneko

Koinu,

I presume you wish to get married in Japan? Are you living in Japan, or just visiting? It could be tricky if you haven't yet registered as a resident alien, although people have posted here in the past that even that is possible.

To get married in Japan as a foreigner, you first need to go to the British embassy in Tokyo to get a certificate of no impediment, which is proof that you are single and eligible to marry. This takes a week or so to process. In the meantime, you need to go to the city office (or ward office) where you or your fiancee lives to obtain a marriage registration form. Take this to the city hall with the certificate of no impediment, and you're now married.

On the other hand, if you want to get married under UK law, you can go to the marriage registrar's office in the city you live in the UK with her, and apply for a marriage ceremony to be held there (I did so under the marriage superintendent, not at a church). Your Japanese fiancee needs to present only her passport/visa paper I believe.

Afterwards, you can report the UK law-based marriage (take an extra copy of the marriage certificate, together with a Japanese translation of it) either to Embassy of Japan in the UK, or to the city hall where you (will?) live in Japan, so that the marriage is recorded in her family register.

Hi Dave, thank you for your response. I am currently residing in the U.K and plan to go there as a tourist to get married, will this be possible?
Many thanks.
Koinu

Koinu,

Yes, I think it is possible, but it makes a lot more sense to get married in the country in which you both plan to live.
If you mean to have just a wedding ceremony (not a legal marriage), then that is certainly possible, and is a frequently discussed topic here if you look back through the archives.

Be aware that for UK marriage there is a requirement to be in the country 21 (I think it's 21) days before the ceremony. I can't remember if this applies to the UK citizen, the visitor or both.

From what I remember, you cannot come to the UK and marry on a tourist visa. You need a fiancee visa. My British husband and I (American) got married in the US because it's very easy and doesn't require any visas (well not for us anyway).

I think you should look at:

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/ukresidency/eligibility/partnersandc...

I was assuming that the original poster was living in the UK, with the fiancee with some living experience there as well. Yes, I do recall that they checked that we had an address and a longer term visa than just tourists :) There is also that notice period, so you cannot just come for a few days/week and get married in the UK, that is true. Sorry to have missed those important details.

While the OP's wording is slightly ambiguous, I am reading it as meaning that he wishes to travel to Japan on a tourist visa to marry his Japanese girlfriend. There is no problem with marrying on a tourist visa in Japan, and I am not aware of any minimum stay requirement either, although it could take a couple of weeks to get the required paperwork from the embassy.

I also read it as the OP wishes to marry in Japan. In that case you probably don't need and alien registration card, as covered in this thread:

http://www.japan-guide.com/forum/quereadisplay.html?2+24492

What you will need to bring in addition to the certificate of no impediment (plus a Japanese translation) that dave mentioned, is a copy of your birth certificate, a translation of your birth certificate (all translations can be done by your fiance), your passport, and 2 witnesses.

The two witnesses do not need to come with you to the city office, they just have to put their hanko on your marriage application form (kon'in todoke), and provide their contact details. Some city offices do not require your birth certificate, just a copy of your passport info page translated into Japanese. It pays to check with the actual office before as requirements can vary.

While Sira is correct, I'd recommend bringing the birth certificate anyway. It beats having to wait 1-2 weeks for one to come in the mail in the case that your city does require one. For example, when asked my city told me that we didn't need the birth certificate to get married, but it turned out we did. Luckily I had one anyway after reading some threads like these.

Hi and many thanks to all the help so far.
Just to make clear I currently live in the U.K and my fiancée lives in Japan, we have decided to get married in Japan and I will go there on a tourist visa.
We have been in touch with the local city office and they have also been helpful, so far we need to do the following:
I need to visit my local registry office to get issued a certificate of no impediment (CNI or in Japanese "yoken gubi shomeisho"), once I have this I can go to the British embassy in Tokyo to get issued the certificate I will need in Japan for the marriage.
The documents I have been told that I will require will be my passport, full birth certificate and also divorce papers, Which all have to be translated into Japanese, but this can be done by my fiancée.
My fiancée needs to fill in a marriage notification form (kon'in todoke) she will also require a certified copy of her family register (koseki-tohon).
The only part were unsure about now is the time it will take for the British embassy to issue the CNI once they receive the one from the U.K?
Again many thanks to those who have helped us so far.
Koinu & Koneko

Koinu,

If you are getting the certificate of no impediment in the UK, my guess is that the British embassy in Tokyo will just have to translate it into Japanese for you, which could take a matter of days rather than the weeks I mentioned earlier (which would be the case if you did everything at the embassy in Japan).

Also, you might want to double-check that it is OK for your fiancee to translate the documents, as it may be necessary for them to be "officially translated" - whatever that means.

Also, you might want to double-check that it is OK for your fiancee to translate the documents, as it may be necessary for them to be "officially translated" - whatever that means.

Indeed double check, but from my experience they can be done by anyone. It depends on the particular city hall will accept so its best to check with them.

Usually for marriage purposes it doesn't have to be a notarised translation of the certificate of no impediment- my husband and I translated mine and it was accepted by the ward office no problems.

That's interesting.
When I got married for the second time in 2007 I had to produce 'Officially Translated' divorce papers. It was not acceptable for my new wife to translate them. We had this already prepared though as I was also advised of this requirement before our marriage.

Have some people actually gotten away with just doing the translation themselves?

I'm afraid I can't comment, not having divorce papers to translate. Perhaps those have more legal weight and must be handled more officially? Just another reason to check with your specific city/ward beforehand.

I should add that no official translation of the Birth certificate was required, it was only for the Divorce.

Hi and again thanks to all that have helped us so far.
Koneko was informed from the local city office that it would be fine for her to do all the nessacary translations.
We received an email from the British embassy in Tokyo today with advice for our marriage:

As you are currently living in the United Kingdom. Please give a notice of marriage at the Superintendent Registrar's Office in your county in the United Kingdom. And please send the copies of the following documents by fax so that we can prepare the certificate of no impediment in advance. You will be able to collect it on production of the original documents and payment of the fee of 9,450 yen (at today's consular rate of exchange - payable in Japanese yen cash only).

1. the Certificate of no impediment(CNI) issued at Superintendent Registrar's Office in the UK;

2. your passport (pages with personal information);

3. your Japanese fiancee's family register (koseki tohon);

4. your fiancee's contact address and telephone number in Japan.

We also need your full name in Katakana since we issue a CNI in Japanese language. Please ask your fiancee to write down your name in katakana on a piece of paper and send it by fax together with the copies of the above documents.

We also suggest you ask your Japanese fiancee to contact the Ward/City office in Japan where you intend to notify the marriage, if you need to produce the UK birth certificate. Some ward/city office require the birth certificate.

We thought we would post it to help others in the future.
Many thanks,
Koinu & Koneko