Getting Married In Japan

[duane 0]

I need some help on this my fiance and I want to get married in Japan she of course is Japanese. I spend 320 days in Iraq working so we dont live together but 16 days every 4 months. What do we need to do and how long would the process take. Also would it be wise to marry now so that we will get the visa by january of 2010? Thank you for any help.

Duane

[forrestpt 0]

I need some help on this my fiance and I want to get married in Japan she of course is Japanese. I spend 320 days in Iraq working so we dont live together but 16 days every 4 months. What do we need to do and how long would the process take. Also would it be wise to marry now so that we will get the visa by january of 2010? Thank you for any help.

Duane

Hi Duane,

Why are you going to get married so fast and not do the K-1 VIAS ? Have you thought of your other options? Did you get enough floor adheasive the other day? Take care, FT

[forrestpt 0]

I need some help on this my fiance and I want to get married in Japan she of course is Japanese. I spend 320 days in Iraq working so we dont live together but 16 days every 4 months. What do we need to do and how long would the process take. Also would it be wise to marry now so that we will get the visa by january of 2010? Thank you for any help.

Duane

[Completely 3]

I need some help on this my fiance and I want to get married in Japan she of course is Japanese. I spend 320 days in Iraq working so we dont live together but 16 days every 4 months. What do we need to do and how long would the process take. Also would it be wise to marry now so that we will get the visa by january of 2010? Thank you for any help.

Duane

Duane,

Read the guidelines on this website on how to Petition Alien Spouse in Japan.. If you have residency in Japan, it will be easier to file Petition through the Consular Service in Japan... Please click the website below.

http://japan.usembassy.gov/e/visa/tvisa-ivpetition.html

http://japan.usembassy.gov/e/visa/tvisa-ivi130check.html

[kaffy 2]

When my husband and I had our paper marriage in Japan it took them a good 4 hours at the ward office to process the paperwork (mostly due to the fact they hadn't married two foreigners before and didn't know what they were doing!). First I suggest your fiance find out the exact requirements at her local ward office - such as whether you will need to present an alien registration card/document to prove residency, how many witnesses you need, etc. One document you will definitely need to obtain is an Affidavit of Competency to Marry from the US Embassy/Consulate. Details are here: http://tokyo.usembassy.gov/e/acs/tacs-7114a.html

Otherwise it's a pretty straight forward process.. bring the required documents (family register for your wife, affidavit for yourself, etc), fill in an application form, and then wait.

[NicEgypt 0]

Hi Duane ... if u millitary u can apply i-129 only Fiance visa i mean and u can expdite her visa and she well be in usa so fast almost 4 months ... good luck

[duane 0]

Hi Duane ... if u millitary u can apply i-129 only Fiance visa i mean and u can expdite her visa and she well be in usa so fast almost 4 months ... good luck

Im not millitatry so i cant do that and we want to get married that so that her family can be there at our wedding then we will get married in the states for my family. Im not a resident in Japan I just go on my vacation to be with my fiance. If I file for residecy in Japan that will be a long wait and, then I dont know how that will work if im only there for a few weeks out of the year.

I want to thank everyone in advance for all the help I get from this.

Duane

[Ling Ling 22]

As Kaffy noted, you will need a certificate of competency to marry, from the US Embassy in Japan.

If I recall, it's about $30 bucks...and all you need is your passport and the form.

When your wife goes to the Ward Office, she'll need a copy of her family register.

Marriage and Immigration are 2 separate things. One should not delay the other.

As for the immigration process, things can go fast, or they can go slow.

It would be a good idea to file your petition (I-130 if you're married), because the petition phase is usually the longest part.

Some people have waited over a year for their petition to be approved, and some have been lucky enough to get an approval in

as little as 23 days (I think that's the current VJ record). We were expecting 6 to 9 months, and very fortunate to get the petition approved

in only 39 days.

After your petition is approved, you have the ability to slow the process by as much as a year.

That is, once your petition is approved, your case goes to the National Visa Center, and that's where you actually apply for the immigrant visa.

Some people have flown through NVC in less than a month, and some people have purposely taken their time to send in the various fees and forms,

in order to have everything come to fruition on their desired schedule.

You've got a lot of choices, and now that you're on VJ you have a world of information.

THAT SAID, we expect you to read through he guides and flowcharts, as well as browse the Wiki.

Once you've done some self-help, don't hesitate to ask anything.

Most importantly, keep your timeline up to date.

Yo ro shi ku

[kaffy 2]

Im not a resident in Japan I just go on my vacation to be with my fiance.

In that case ask your fiance to find out from the ward office whether a non-resident alien will be allowed to marry... because I know in the ward I lived in, as well as several others they will only allow resident aliens to marry.

[Ling Ling 22]

Im not a resident in Japan I just go on my vacation to be with my fiance.

In that case ask your fiance to find out from the ward office whether a non-resident alien will be allowed to marry... because I know in the ward I lived in, as well as several others they will only allow resident aliens to marry.

Kaffy, I'm well confused with your case.

Are either of you Japanese citizens?

I ask this because you show the Aussie flag, and indicate that your visa was adjudicated at the Australian Embassy.

In that the OP indicates the intended spouse is a Japanese citizen, there should be no reason they can not marry if he presents

the certificate of competency to marry, and his intended spouse is of legal age to marry and shows her family register.

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

[kaffy 2]

No, I'm an Australian citizen and my husband is a USC. We were both living there the time we met and hence married there.

I understand that the OP's wife is a Japanese citizen but some ward offices require the non-Japanese spouse to be a legal resident of Japan and present an Alien registration card/certificate in order to marry.

For example in Yokohama:

http://www.city.yokohama.jp/ne/life/en/marriage.html

Other required items

For Non-Japanese : Passport, Birth Certificate, Certificate of alien registration(Gaikokujin Toroku Shomeisho)

Edited October 3, 2008 by kaffy

[Ling Ling 22]

No, I'm an Australian citizen and my husband is a USC. We were both living there the time we met and hence married there.

I understand that the OP's wife is a Japanese citizen but some ward offices require the non-Japanese spouse to be a legal resident of Japan and present an Alien registration card/certificate in order to marry.

For example in Yokohama:

http://www.city.yokohama.jp/ne/life/en/marriage.html

Other required items

For Non-Japanese : Passport, Birth Certificate, Certificate of alien registration(Gaikokujin Toroku Shomeisho)

Ehhhh, I have to disagree. I don't believe the ward office can over-rule national process.

I see the wording in the Yokohama document, but I don't believe it's intended to advise that legal residency is a requirement.

I can see where it would be difficult for them to process two aliens.

In order for a government to marry someone, they really need to have jurisdiction over at least one of the parties of the marriage.

Jurisdiction usually means a citizen or a legal resident.

Per the US Embassy, the requirements for marriage in Japan are outlined in this link.

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

Further, we have at least a dozen friends married in different prefectures of Japan where one of the party was a USC and none were

legal residents.

[kaffy 2]

I understand what you are saying. And in my situation, my husband and I, along with other non-Japanese friends of ours (Canadian, American, etc) who married in Japan were all legal residents at the time and asked to show proof of this.

I'm simply saying that the OP should be aware of this and to find out the specific requirements for his ward office.

[Ling Ling 22]

Kaffy,

you're RIGHT that the country (in this case Japan) needs to have jurisdiction over at least one of the people getting married.

You're WRONG that the OP needs to worry about being a legal resident to marry a Japanese citizen in Japan.

Again, the government has to have jurisdiction in order to effect a marriage. Same thing with a divorce.

Let's say you move to England and want a divorce from your US Citizen husband who you married in Japan,

while you were an Australian Citizen but legal resident of Japan (wow, that's a mouthful).

Well, in order for the British government to grant you a divorce, they would have to have jurisdiction over at least one of you.

The way the jurisdiction of a non-citizen if proved is by legal residency status or in some places a time requirement.

Essentially, most governments consider that wherever you live for 6 months and 1 day or more, is the country that

has jurisdiction over you.

No reason to bog the OP down chasing after information that's not required for his case.

There's enough bogging down to be done by the system as it is.

[duane 0]

Kaffy,

you're RIGHT that the country (in this case Japan) needs to have jurisdiction over at least one of the people getting married.

You're WRONG that the OP needs to worry about being a legal resident to marry a Japanese citizen in Japan.

Again, the government has to have jurisdiction in order to effect a marriage. Same thing with a divorce.

Let's say you move to England and want a divorce from your US Citizen husband who you married in Japan,

while you were an Australian Citizen but legal resident of Japan (wow, that's a mouthful).

Well, in order for the British government to grant you a divorce, they would have to have jurisdiction over at least one of you.

The way the jurisdiction of a non-citizen if proved is by legal residency status or in some places a time requirement.

Essentially, most governments consider that wherever you live for 6 months and 1 day or more, is the country that

has jurisdiction over you.

No reason to bog the OP down chasing after information that's not required for his case.

There's enough bogging down to be done by the system as it is.

Thank you all for your help we are still trying to figure out what we will do. We are thinking that after we get married that she will come to the states for 90 days then leave and then come back for another 90 days do that until she is given her immigration visa.

Thank you

Duane