Overseas Legal Registration in Japan

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Overseas Legal Registration in Japan
Japanese legal marriage registration process and procedures
Let us consider the case of Hong Kong residents.
Advance preparation
Legal marriage registration at city hall in Japan
2-3 days after marriage registration
Apply to Hong Kong as a legal couple after returning to Hong Kong
What is an Apostille?
How will YOKOYAMA LEGAL SERVICE OFFICE support me?
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Overseas Legal Registration in Japan

Holding a marriage ceremony overseas and registering the marriage in accordance with the laws of that country is called “overseas legal registration”.

Can foreign couple make an “overseas legal registration” in Japan? First, let’s look at Japanese law.

Japanese law provides that the law governing the manner of marriage is the law of the home country of each party or the law of the place where the marriage took place.

Therefore, if you are both foreigners in Japan, you can also submit a marriage registration to the family registration department of the local municipality (city hall) in Japan, in accordance with Japanese law, where the marriage takes place. Once the registration is accepted by the family registration office, the marriage between you two foreign nationals is valid under Japanese law.

Article 25(2) of the Japanese Family Regiser Act stipulates that notifications concerning foreigners in Japan must be made at the location of the notifier.

戸籍法（昭和二十二年法律第二百二十四号）
Family Register Act（Act No. 224 of 1947）
第二十五条　届出は、届出事件の本人の本籍地又は届出人の所在地でこれをしなければならない。
２　外国人に関する届出は、届出人の所在地でこれをしなければならない。
Article 25 (1) A notification shall be submitted in the locality of the registered domicile of any of the parties to the event under notification or in the locality of any of the notifiers’ addresses.
(2) A notification involving a foreign national shall be submitted in the locality of any of the notifiers’ addresses

Therefore, the marriage registration must also be notified to the family registration section of the local authority in the location of the foreigner. However, the location of the notifier here is intended to include not only the person’s address or residence, but also the place where the person is temporarily staying. This means that a foreigner who is temporarily staying in Japan on a trip can still submit a marriage registration in Japan.

While the foreign couple is holding a wedding ceremony or wedding photography in Japan, they can apply for marriage registration to the competent authority in accordance with Japanese law. As long as the marriage records are registered under Japanese legal procedures, it means that their marriage is also legally valid in Hong Kong.

Japanese legal marriage registration process and procedures

The same form is used for the notification of marriage as that used by Japanese nationals, but there are a number of differences.

Note that in Japan, two witnesses are required when registering a marriage. The witnesses may be non-Japanese adults as long as they are of legal age.

In addition, while Japanese people have a strong culture of affixing their seals (called as “Hanko” in Japanese), foreigners do not have the custom of affixing their seals. For this reason, the law stipulates that in cases where a signature and seal should be affixed in accordance with the law, it is sufficient for the foreigner to sign the document. For this reason, foreigners do not need to prepare a seal.

When two foreign nationals register their marriage in Japan, they must attach a certificate of legal capacity to marry and a certificate of nationality, according to the laws of their home country. According to Article 63-2 of the Ordinance for Enforcement of the Family Register Act, if the certificate is usually written in a foreign language, it must be accompanied by a translation of the certificate with the translator’s name clearly indicated.

戸籍法施行規則
Ordinance for Enforcement of the Family Register Act
第六十三条の二　届書に添付する書類その他市町村長に提出する書類で外国語によつて作成されたものについては、翻訳者を明らかにした訳文を添付しなければならない。
Article 63-2 With regard to any document attached to a written notification or any other document to be submitted to the municipal mayor which is prepared in a foreign language, its Japanese translation with the name of the translator clearly stated shall be attached thereto.

The above explanation is the procedure for validly establishing a marriage in Japan. Is a marriage established in Japan valid under foreign law (your country’s law)? This needs to be checked separately. Whether a marriage validly consummated in Japan is also recognised as valid in the home country of each foreign party depends on the provisions of the private international law of the home country.

Let us consider the case of Hong Kong residents.

Some people choose to marry outside of Hong Kong, not only in China but also in other countries such as Okinawa, Hokkaido, Tokyo and USA. Marriages registered overseas are usually legally recognised in Hong Kong. Legally, Hong Kong only recognises monogamous or monogamous marriages. Therefore, same-sex partnerships and same-sex marriages, or polygamous marriages, are not recognised under Hong Kong law, even if they are registered overseas and are supported by a local legal certificate.

If the marriage takes place overseas and either party has a physical connection in Hong Kong, the parties can still divorce in Hong Kong and apply for a divorce through the Hong Kong courts, even if they are not registered in Hong Kong.

In Japan, if couples want to go through the legal marriage registration procedures recognized by Hong Kong, they need to submit the documents and procedures to our firm for at least 3 months for the pre-document inspection.

Advance preparation

Collecting Certificates at the Marriage Registry Office in Hong Kong.

No marriage certificate record (single certificate) for Hong Kong residents (Please add your passport number to apply for the certificate)
(If any) Divorce certificate (Please add your passport number to apply for the certificate)
HKSAR passports of both parties
Copy of ID card of both parties
Birth certificates of both parties

As we need to make translation documents, please submit materials with scanned PDF files. We carry out the translation of all documents upon receipt of the copies of the documents.

Translated documents and copies are provided to the municipality, which checks them.

Legal marriage registration at city hall in Japan

Go through the formalities at the Japanese city hall.

Please note: the Japanese city hall is only open on weekdays, and it is closed on weekends and Japanese national holidays (including the Golden Week Holiday/year-end and New Year holidays).

On the day of marriage registration, the applicants must bring all genuine documents (all documents submitted during the pre-check). The municipal government will check the authenticity of all documents, submit a Japanese marriage application, and complete the legal registration. On that day, the city government received the original paper of no marriage record certificate (single certificate).

2-3 days after marriage registration

The municipal government will issue a marriage acceptance certificate, and the applicants should pick it up by themselves.

Apply to Hong Kong as a legal couple after returning to Hong Kong

On the day of marriage in Japan, the couple submits a marriage application form to the Japanese municipal government and completes the inspection of the original document, and then officially becomes a legal couple recognized by Japanese law.

Before returning to Hong Kong, the applicants need to submit the Japanese marriage certificate to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan and apply for the “Apostille” which can be recognized by the Hong Kong government.

At the same time as submitting the Japanese marriage certificate, you need the English translation of the marriage certificate.

Then go to the Hong Kong Immigration Department to fill in the “Notification of Change of Registration Items”, change the marital status to “married”, and submit a copy of the Japanese marriage certificate to the Immigration Department, and finally the Immigration Department will issue a notification card, and the couple will officially become legal in Hong Kong couple.

What is an Apostille?

An apostille is a certification by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the form of an allonge (= apostille) under the Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents (or the Apostille Convention) (Hague Convention of October 5, 1961). An apostille will be accepted only by signatory countries of the Hague Convention. In the destination country, it can be used as a certification equivalent to legalisation by the Embassy / Consulate (-General) of the destination country in Japan.

Even if the destination country is a signatory to the Hague Convention (Apostille Convention), legalisation may be required in some cases. In such cases, an authentication should be necessary. Please check with the destination agency or the Embassy / Consulate (-General) of the destination country in Japan prior to submission. On the other hand, all certifications submitted to non-signatory countries of the Hague Convention, such as P.R. China, should be an authentication. However, Hong Kong is a signatory countries/regions of the Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents (Hague Convention)

How will YOKOYAMA LEGAL SERVICE OFFICE support me?

If you wish to register your marriage in Japan, please tell us at which city or ward office you wish to register.

If it is within the 23 wards of Tokyo, we can assist you.

We will need to know your information in advance. Please tell us your nationality, personal status, marital history, etc. Based on this information, we will give you an estimate.

We will then provide you what documents that you will need for the marriage registration procedure. Please make sure you have all the documents from your country. You will be asked to send us copies of your documents in PDF format. We will check them in advance.

Once we are satisfied that there are no problems, you and your partner can come to Japan. We must have finished checking your documents before you come to Japan. Otherwise, even if you come all the way to Japan, your marriage registration in Japan will not be accepted and you will have to return home.

Therefore, please prepare your documents as soon as possible.

We provide translation services for documents in English or Chinese into Japanese. We will then accompany you to the city or ward office in Japan for preliminary consultations and for the actual marriage registration procedure once you have arrived in Japan.

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