r20031103e

"Marriages of foreigners in Japan ⑤－Certificate of legal capacity to
marry" Nov 3, 2003

RealAudio

Good evening. We are now on our fifth series of immigration related issues
concerning interracial marriage or more commonly known as International marriage
in Japan. And today, we will be talking about the most important documents
required for an International marriage to push through in Japan that is no other
than the "Kon-in Youken Gubi Shoumei-sho" or certificate of legal capacity to
marry.

Before going into the topic, let's refresh our memory of their requirements for an
International marriage in Japan briefly. The first theme to do is to meet the
requirements specified by the law of your homeland governing marriage. Next is to
satisfy the requirements specified by the law of Japan if you wish your marriage to
be effective also in Japan. And one of these requirements is to have your marriage
registered in the municipal office governing your residence. About anything else,
you must first prove that you are single, next is to prove that you are of legal age
to marry as defined by the law of your homeland. Also, you must prove that you
are not bound to any GPs that may restrict you from getting married.

Talking about legal age to marry thus varies from one country to another. For
example in Japan, the legal age to marry is 18 for men and 16 for women. However,
as those under 20 years old are considered minor in Japan, they would need the
consent of both parents. On the other hand, there are countries where the legal
age to marry is 14 for men and for women 12. In the Philippines, the legal age to
marry is 18 years old for both men and women. And those under the age of 21
must secure the consent of their parents. Concerning the marriage of minors,
there are countries that only require the consent of the parents, but there are
some that even require the permission from their local governments.

Because of the differences in the law of each country governing marriage, it
becomes necessary for a foreigner who is getting married in Japan to prove that
he has legal capacity to marry as defined by the law of his home country. To prove
these is to have the certificate of legal capacity to marry or "Kon-in Youken Gubi
Shoumei-sho". Bear in mind that only authorities or "Kanken" a credited by the
Japanese government can issue this document. And they are the counselor
representatives, judges, attorney at law, ambassadors, notary publics, priests and
police officers in some cases depending on the law of the home country of the
concerned. The certificate of legal capacity to marry must state that the
concerned is single, is of legal age to marry and is not bound to any restriction to
marry.

What to do then if one can't provide the "Kon-in Youken Gubi Shoumei-sho"?
There should be no problem if the concerned could submit an equivalent document
as long as the document clearly stating the identity of the concerned is issued by
the a credited authorities of your home country and the country's law governing
marriage is known to public. The document will be honored in Japan. For instance,
countries like South Korea and Taiwan where there are family registration system
like that in Japan, a copy of family register will do as an equivalent document for
the certificate of legal capacity to marry.

Now, what if your homeland doesn't implement the issue ones of certificate of legal
capacity of marriage or won't issue the certificate as the system doesn't have any
to confirm, anyway to confirm the identity or nor the marital status of the
concerned. Or what if the issued certificate doesn't contain enough information to
satisfy the requirements under Japan's law. In all cases, denying marriage from the
concerned just because he cannot submit the certificate of legal capacity to marry
will be or seem absurd. So, for such cases, alternative documents can be submitted
instead of the certificates and this can be a "Sen-sei sho" or written oath or "Kon
-in shoumei sho" or marriage certificate. The "Sen-sei sho" is a written oath which
the concerned foreign national to be married declares his capacity to marry by
speaking that he is at legal age to marry, single and free to marry under the law of
his country before the consulate or ambassadors of his homeland who has the
authority to acknowledge the oath.

However, take note that the "Sen-sei sho" is only acceptable from citizen of the
country like the United States of America, which has prior agreement on the
matter with the Japanese government. How about the marriage certificate? As
stated in "Hou rei" article 13, the marriage between a Japanese national and
foreign national is not legally effective in Japan only by ceremonies conducted
according to the formalities of the country of the foreign spouse. However, by
handing or by handing in the marriage certificate issued by the respective authority
of the countries of the foreign spouse to the Japanese principal office for the
registration of their marriage in Japan, the married certificate issued from another
country will serve as the certificate of legal capacity to marry and the registration
of the marriage will be accepted accordingly by the Japanese officer.

But what if you are into the worst case in which neither a written oath nor
marriage certificate from the homeland of the foreign spouse is available? The last
resource is to disclose the content of the law of the homeland of your foreign
fiance or fiancee, and prepare the documents that show your fiance or fiancee
indeed meets the requirements of marriage under the law. The documents to be
prepared are a copy of the national law governing marriage, identification card or
birth certificate issued by the respective authorities. These documents should
certify that your foreign fiance or fiancee has met the primary requirements for
marriage and therefore, your marriage could be legally effective in Japan.