Marriage registration?!!?

[JJJJamie]

Hey,

I was hoping that I could find some answers here....

I have been dating a Japanese girl for the last couple of years, and we want to take things to the next level, and get married!

At the moment I live in England (I'm English), and she's in Fukuoka, I'll be going to visit in September

She's been doing most of the 'research' about this, and tells me I need to get an International Registration of Marriage or something like that, from the embassy in London.

But for all the searching I've done, I can't seem to find what this Registration is...

So can anybody answer... what documentation I would need to take to Japan?
Anybody who can give me some advice about the 'wedding culture' over there??
Any stories/anecdotes would be great!

Many Thanks.

[Nyororin]

The document she is talking about is something you will need only if you are already married, but have registered the marriage outside of Japan. It sounds like what she is looking at is not what you need to actually register a marriage, but instead what you need to get a spouse visa after marrying abroad.
I take it you need the more basic things for the first step, correct?

If you are getting married in Japan, it may actually be easier to get the documentation you need while in the country. You will need proof that you are eligible to marry in your home country. I would have no clue what that would be called if you were trying to get it before coming to Japan, but the embassies in Japan deal with it all the time and can get you the document you need in no time.

A quick question - are you planning to just get married in Japan? Or are there plans to live in Japan after getting married? Registering a marriage in Japan is quite simple - register yourself at the local public office with your passport and an ID photo, then file your marriage form with the proof of eligibility form. That is all there is to actually getting married officially...
However, getting a spouse visa to stay in Japan afterward is something quite different, of which filing your marriage papers is only the very first step.

[yuriyuri]

I will be leaving England to get married to a Japanese citizen in Japan from this Friday.

The most important documents I have (which I can remember) are:

Certificate of no impediment
You need to apply for this at your local registry office (Just call them and ask for an appointment)
To apply you need to know your own details and the address of your fiancee.
There is a small fee (About £30 I think it was) and you have to wait 21 days before they will give it to you, so make sure you apply far enough in advance.
You will need this to show that you are in fact single and are able to get married.
It has a time limit of 3 months before expiration, which starts from the time you receive the certificate.
You can get this in Japan, but it is much easier to get it while you are in England.

Passport
Well... That's obvious
But you will need to translate it or get someone to translate it for you.
They said that it is fine if my fiancee translates it, but you might want to check that.

Birth certificate
This must also be translated

Signatures
And finally, as far as I know, the marriage registration must have the signatures of 2 other people who can be friends or family.
I guess this is kind of like providing witnesses.

Then, inform the correct people that you are now married

Those are the most important things for marriage that I can think of off the top of my head.
I do have some other stuff like photos of us at different times, email logs, passport sized photos of myself etc, for a spouse visa application, but again I can't remember all of that stuff off the top of my head.

[JJJJamie]

Thanks for the advice.

and congratulations yuriyuri