Japanese Marriage Acceptance Certificate Apostille and Certified Translation

It depends on your destination country and your timeline. Here's how to decide:

• You need a document before the family register is updated → Marriage Acceptance Certificate (availability depends on the municipality)
• You also need to prove broader family relationships → family register
• You're filing with USCIS or UKVI → both documents may be requested
• You're filing a Philippines PSA Report of Marriage → the Marriage Acceptance Certificate may be used
• You're submitting to Singapore or New Zealand authorities → check the applicable document set against the receiving authority's instructions

Requirements vary by receiving authority and document purpose. Our two-document bundle (¥138,000 — ¥16,000 off the standalone price) is available when both documents are useful.

The standard format is commonly used for authentication purposes. Both formats are equally valid for apostille and consular legalization. The formal presentation format (shojo-gata) is primarily ceremonial — designed for display or as a memento — and it costs roughly four times as much (¥1,400 vs. ¥350).

That said, if you already have the formal presentation format, we can usually apostille it as is. Note that it's A4 sized and may need careful packaging during international shipping.

It may be available shortly after filing, depending on the municipality and filing status. The family register takes 1–2 weeks for a new marriage to be reflected in many cases, so timing should be confirmed with the filing municipality.

It may be useful for time-sensitive situations like:

• Tight deadlines for overseas spouse visa applications
• Foreign authorities requesting proof of marriage
• Filing the foreign-side marriage record
• Obtaining documents before a scheduled return to your country of residence

If you have a planned filing date, please contact us in advance so we can prepare the workflow and confirm the municipality's timing.

Yes, we can handle the process by proxy. One important thing to note:

• Where the certificate is issued: The Marriage Acceptance Certificate is issued by the municipality where you filed the marriage — which is not necessarily your registered domicile. This catches many clients off guard.
• Power of attorney: We provide a template
• Process: We request the certificate from the filing municipality → obtain MOFA apostille → prepare Certified Translation → ship internationally

We support clients based in the United States, the United Kingdom, Singapore, New Zealand, and the Philippines. Please prepare the following before engagement:

• Passport copy
• Power of attorney (we provide a template)
• Name of the municipality where you filed your marriage
• Date of marriage filing (used for record retrieval)

For clients in different time zones, we offer WhatsApp Business communication.

It's optional. Here's why:

• USCIS may accept certified translations with a translator's affidavit (8 CFR §103.2(b)(3))
• Our gyoseishoshi-issued Certification of Translation Accuracy is designed to support that type of submission
• The Embassy notarization adds extra cost, involves an appointment, and an in-person Embassy visit

However, in rare cases, a USCIS officer may request Embassy notarization. If the receiving authority asks for it, this is available as an optional add-on.

Important note about a 2025 policy change: Effective September 1, 2025, the US Embassy in Tokyo discontinued notarization of the Certificate of No Impediment to Marriage (婚姻要件具備証明書) for US citizens, replacing it with a downloadable letter (PDF). This concerns pre-marriage documentation only. The Embassy's notarization of post-marriage Marriage Acceptance Certificate translations remains in service. These two services are easily confused — please don't conflate them.

The certificate itself has no legal expiration, but receiving authorities may set their own validity windows.

Plan your timeline backwards from the final submission date, accounting for issuance → apostille → translation → international shipping. We provide a reverse-calculated schedule at engagement.

The 5 countries we serve fall into two distinct routes:

Route A (US / UK): Completed with gyoseishoshi's Certification of Translation Accuracy alone.
Route B (Singapore, New Zealand, and the Philippines): notary route may be requested by the receiving authority, depending on the document purpose.

For more details, please refer to our Country-by-Country Guide.

As a general rule, those countries are outside our service scope.

Apostille Japan primarily handles apostille arrangements and Certified Translation into English for Japanese public documents, including certificates of acceptance of marriage notification, for submission to the United States, the United Kingdom, Singapore, New Zealand, and the Philippines.

For countries such as Germany, France, Spain, Italy, and Brazil, sworn translators, locally designated translators, or country-specific translation and authentication procedures may be required. For countries such as China and Vietnam, embassy or consular legalization in Japan may be the primary route rather than a Hague Apostille.

For that reason, we limit our service scope to the five supported countries and focus on reviewing the requirements of the receiving authority, translation certification, and whether a Ministry of Foreign Affairs apostille is required for those destinations.