Registration and Other Legal Procedures

●Alien Registration  ●Seal registration

●Registration of marriages, divorces, births, and deaths  ●Procedures for residential status and re-entry permits  ●Naturalization or Japanese citizenship  ●Consultation services

●Alien Registration 【City Residents Division 】

 All foreign nationals who stay in Japan for 90 days or longer must register at the local city hall (except diplomats and those on official visits). Foreign nationals over the age of 16 must, in principle, submit the registration in person at city hall. Persons under the age of 16 or those who cannot submit the registration in person due to disease, physical disability, or other reasons can have a representative living within the same household submit the registration. Also, changes to the registration and receipt of a Certificate of Alien Registration may be filed by a family member living within the same household with the applicant (except for changes due to updates or changes in the applicant's residential qualification from under one year to over one year).

Major legal procedures

※ Photographs must be front view, without a hat, and taken within the last six months. Two identical photos　sized 4.5 cm tall by 3.5 cm wide are required.

No photograph is required for applicants under the age of 16.

●Seal registration 【City Residents Division, Yamada, Senrioka, and Senri Branch Offices】

Those who have completed Resident Registration or Alien Registration may register their seal impressions. The applicant in person or his/her attorney must bring the seal to be registered along with the application.

Registration procedures

(1) Application for registration.

(2) Inquiry/answer sheet is sent by mail to the applicant.

(3) The applicant must affix the seal impression for registration to the answer sheet and bring it to City Hall.

(4) After the answer sheet is checked, the Certificate of Seal Registration is issued.

※　The Certificate may be issued on the date of the application only if the application is submitted by the applicant in person and only if the identification is verified by submission of a certificate with a photograph of the face issued by a Japanese government office such as a driver's license or the Certificate of Alien Registration.

Seals that cannot be registered

・Worn or chipped seals

・Seals that do not express the name of the person to be registered.

・Seals with foreign characters

・Seals made of rubber or other soft material

Application by an attorney

To delegate application procedures to an attorney, a document certifying such delegation and the seal of the attorney are required. A letter of inquiry to verify the applicant's intention is then sent to the applicant . No certificate can be issued instantly.

Abolition of Seal-impression Registration

If the seal is changed (replaced) or lost, submit an application for abolition of the Seal Registration.

Loss of Certificate of Seal Registration

If the seal is lost, submit an application for a lost Certificate of Seal Registration.

Change of Seal Registration

File an application for abolition or loss together with an application for Seal Registration.

Reissue of Certificate of Seal Registration

Reissue is allowed only for a certificate on which the Mayor's Seal (seal impression) can be identified.

●Registration of marriages, divorces, births, and deaths

【City Residents Division, Yamada/Senrioka/Senri Branch Office】

Registration must be made at the City Residents Division or a branch office. Registration in the registrant's home country must be made separately. If the registrant's residential status changes, the necessary procedures must be completed at the Immigration Office. Similarly, if there are any changes in the information on the Alien Registration, the necessary procedures for those changes must be completed at City Hall.

The following forms require the signatures and seals of the registrant. If the registrant comes from a country with no custom of using personal seals, no seals are required.

Marriage （Please read the description at the beginning of this section.）

To marry in Japan, it is necessary to register the marriage. Submit documents (1), (2), and (3) as follows:

(1) Notification of Marriage (kon'in-todoke)（Signatures and seals of two adult witnesses are required.）

(2) Certificate of eligibility for marriage (issued by the consulate of the registrant's home country) and a Japanese translation （with the translator's name and address）

(3) Passport（shown）. If the registrant has no passport, a document certifying nationality must be submitted. In cases other than showing a passport, a Japanese translation is required.

※ If the day, month, and year of birth are not clearly shown on documents (2) and (3) above, a document certifying the date of birth is also required.

※ Japanese nationals are required to submit a certified copy of the family register (koseki touhon) instead of (2) and (3) (not required if the registration is made in the registrant's domicile).

Divorce （Please read the description at the beginning of this section.）

In Japan, married couples may be divorced in court or with the mutual consent of both husband and wife (requiring the signatures or seals of two witnesses). The latter type of divorce, known as a “Divorce by Agreement (kyougi rikon),” may be prohibited for a marriage between foreign nationals. If either the husband or the wife is a Japanese national living in Japan, the procedure is allowed even if a divorce by agreement is not permitted in the country of the other party.

Birth （Please read the description at the beginning of this section.）

If a child is born in Japan, either the father or the mother of the child must report the birth. The birth registration must be made within 14 days of the birth, including the date of the birth.
　Obtain the birth certificate issued by the hospital. Fill out the Birth Registration form, which is incorporated into the birth certificate, and submit it to register the birth. Bring the Maternal and Child Health Handbook (boshi-kenko-techo), if issued, together with the birth registration form.

※ If the newborn child will not have Japanese citizenship, but will stay in Japan for 62 or more days after birth, including the date of the birth, complete the procedures for alien registration at City Hall within 61 days, including the date of the birth.

※ Children born outside with either a Japanese father or mother are entitled to Japanese citizenship, but will lose citizenship unless the Notification of Birth, together with the Notification of Japanese Nationality Reservation, is submitted within three months after the birth. Since there have been many cases where children lose their Japanese citizenship due to failure to follow these procedures, be sure to complete and submit all forms.

Death （Please read the description at the beginning of this section.）

The death of a foreign national, if it occurs in Japan, must be registered. The death should be registered either by a member of the bereaved family or by a person who lived with the deceased. The death should be registered within seven days, including the day of death, either at the municipal office in the area where the death occurred or the address of the person reporting the death.

The Certificate of Alien Registration of the deceased person must be returned within fourteen days to City Hall.

Certificate of registration acceptance of marriages, births, divorces, and deaths  

Apply for certificates of registration acceptance at the city hall or municipal office where the registration was made. If any person other than the applicant submits an application, a letter evidencing power of attorney from the original applicant is required.

●Procedures for residential status and re-entry permits

 【Osaka Regional Immigration Bureau】

Procedures for changing the period of stay or residential status or applying for a Certificate of Eligibility must be completed at the Osaka Regional Immigration Bureau no later than 10 days before expiration of the current period of stay. If foreign residents are leaving temporarily and intend to return with the same purpose of stay, they must obtain a re-entry permit. If such residents leave Japan without a re-entry permit, they will have to obtain a new visa appropriate for the purpose of entry.

Application for a re-entry permit must be made at the Osaka Regional Immigration Bureau by submitting the applicant's passport and Certificate of Alien Registration. A processing fee is also required.

※ For detailed procedures for updating the period of stay or changing the residential status, contact the General Information Center for Foreign Residents.

●Naturalization or Japanese Citizenship

【Kita-Osaka Branch Office, Osaka Legal Affairs Bureau ,】

For naturalization or obtaining Japanese citizenship, contact the Kita-Osaka Branch Office, Osaka Legal Affairs Bureau.

●Consultation services

Consultation services for general affairs

Consultation services for job placement