This article is a translation of the Japanese original. Where the two differ, the Japanese version prevails. Read the Japanese original（日本語版を読む）
Where documents on family status are hard to obtain, you must write a 理由書 (written explanation) setting out in detail why you cannot get them and what efforts you made to get them. Alongside that, a sworn affidavit and fuller documents built up in Japan are worth considering as substitutes.
An enquirer whose parents have died and who has no contact with his brother, and who is worried about preparing documents from his home country.
Documents that cover your family relationships from birth to the present, such as a birth certificate and a marriage certificate.
Explain why you cannot obtain the documents, use a sworn affidavit, and build up your documents from life in Japan.
The 法務局 does not treat the fact that a document cannot be obtained as the problem in itself. What it looks at is why you cannot obtain it, and what you did to try. It is essential to write a 理由書 (上申書) setting out the following points in detail.
Where documents proving family status are hard to obtain, it is common to draw up a sworn affidavit on family relationships. You swear to your family relationships yourself, for example at a notary's office in your home country, and a notary certifies those facts. The affidavit covers all your family relationships: parents, siblings, spouse, children and so on.
A sworn affidavit does not carry the force of a certificate issued by a state. How much weight it is given varies with the individual situation and with the past cases of the 地方法務局 (District Legal Affairs Bureau). You need to check directly with the officer at the 法務局 with jurisdiction.
Where home-country documents are hard to obtain, it also helps to build up the documents you have from your life in Japan, so as to support the reliability of your family status. Examples are the 戸籍謄本 (certificate of family register) of your Japanese spouse, the 戸籍謄本 of your child who is a Japanese national, and your 住民票 (certificate of residence).
Check how family registration works in your home country, whether older documents survive, and whether a sworn affidavit can be drawn up.
It is worth checking how the family register or civil registration system works in your home country, whether you still have any documents from the past such as an older passport or photographs, and whether a notary's office in your home country can draw up a sworn affidavit, including the steps and the cost. Prepare too so that you can explain in the 理由書, in concrete terms, how you came to lose contact with your brother. Home-country documents often take time to gather, so it helps to get all of this under way before the preliminary consultation.
Write a 理由書 (上申書) setting out in detail why you cannot obtain them and what efforts you made, and prepare material that can stand in their place.
Where documents proving family status are hard to obtain, it is a document in which you swear to your family relationships yourself, for example at a notary's office in your home country, and a notary certifies them.
A sworn affidavit does not carry the force of a certificate issued by a state. How much weight it is given varies with the individual situation and with the past cases of the 地方法務局, so you need to check with the 法務局 with jurisdiction.
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This page is a translation of the Japanese original. Where the two differ, the Japanese version prevails.