Guides

Procedures in Japan where English documents need a Japanese translation, summarised from the law and government guidance.

• Which Japanese procedures need a translation of English documents, and what the translator must provide

  When documents in English need a Japanese translation for residence status, family register, residence record, nationality, tax, health insurance and driving licence procedures, and what each requires of the translator (qualifications, name, signature, address), based on laws and each office's guidance.

• Translations for claiming dependants who live abroad (year-end adjustment and tax returns)

  Which documents you need to claim a tax deduction for family members living outside Japan, and when they need a Japanese translation, based on the National Tax Agency's guidance.

• Marrying a foreign national in Japan: documents and Japanese translations

  Which documents a foreign partner needs for a marriage registration at a Japanese city office, such as the certificate of legal capacity to marry, and the rules for the Japanese translations that go with them, based on Ministry of Justice and city guidance.

• Registering a birth abroad: the 3-month deadline, keeping Japanese nationality, and translating the birth certificate

  How to register the birth of a Japanese child born outside Japan (within three months), when you must also declare to retain Japanese nationality, and the rules for translating the foreign birth certificate, based on the Family Register Act, the Nationality Act and government guidance.

• Registering a foreign family's residence: proof of relationship to the head of household, and translations

  Which documents prove a family relationship to the head of household when foreign family members register their residence (住民票) together, and the Japanese translation they need, based on the law and guidance from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications and municipalities.

• Translations for family and spouse residence applications (marriage and birth certificates)

  Which foreign documents, such as marriage and birth certificates, you submit when applying for the Dependent, Spouse or Child of Japanese National, or Spouse of Permanent Resident status, and the Japanese translation they need, based on the Immigration Services Agency's guidance and the law.

• Student visa applications: bank balance certificates and other proof of funds, and translations

  When an application for a Certificate of Eligibility for the Student status needs a bank balance certificate or proof of the sponsor's income, and the Japanese translation these documents need, based on the Immigration Services Agency's document checklists.

• Permanent residence applications: foreign documents and Japanese translations (marriage and degree certificates, statement of reasons)

  Which foreign documents you submit with a permanent residence application (marriage and birth certificates, degree certificates and work history for highly skilled professionals' points, a statement of reasons written in English) and the Japanese translations they need, based on the Immigration Services Agency's guidance and the law. Includes the October 2026 fee change and which version of the guidelines applies when.

This page is general information. The documents required and the format of translations differ by country and office, and can change. Check the current guidance of the office you are submitting to before you file.