Sorry if this sounds like a dumb question. Just wanted to see if anyone has any experience in this as I’m struggling to find much concrete information online. I\`m English and the (quite recent) wife is Japanese. We got married in Japan just over a year ago and have stayed here since. Does anybody know what protocol we have to go through to get our marriage recognised at home? I’ve done a few quick google searches and it appears that it isn’t necessary:
“A marriage abroad will be legally recognised in the UK providing it was contracted according to the law of the country in which it took place. **There is no requirement, or facility, to register the marriage in England afterwards**.”
But surely its better to register it if going home? There may be a case in the future (like getting a joint bank account, house, will etc…) that having a registered marriage is necessary. If so then what are the protocols? We’re not planning on it any time soon but the conversation arose recently and I really didn’t know how to answer it
4 comments
Firstly, maybe think twice, the UK has a lot going on right now and none of it good…
But to answer your question, you would be (presumably) applying for a spousal visa, which costs a (fairly large) amount of money along with a lot of relationship supporting evidence.
Among those pieces of evidence would be Japanese documents you can get at city hall proving you have gotten married. You would translate those, along with other proof it’s not a sham marriage like shared bills and proof of living arrangements, and send it with your application.
And that’s about it! You don’t need to register the marriage in the UK, as stated your marriage will be legally recognized and if your marital status is relevant, ie to something like a visa application, you substantiate it with translated Japanese documents, as Japan is where you were married.
I believe when they say “there is no requirement to register” the marriage it means you don’t need to. As in you “can’t”. You’re already considered legally married in the uk so there are no more processes to do. You just need to have a translated (possibly notarized) copy of your marriage certificate on hand if you ever need to submit or show any documents proving you’re married
I got married in Las Vegas many years ago. Never ‘registered’ it in the UK – just produced the document when required. The only difference for a Japanese wedding is that you’ll need a translation of the certificate and that the rules for settling in the UK are a lot stricter and more expensive than they were back then – even for spouses, which I find hard to accept (the ‘hostile environment’ as it’s known). The UK is also a far worse country than it was back then too (hence all the immigration cost and hassle). If you can go anywhere else, or simply stay here, I’d recommend that. I left 1.5 years ago when it was bad and it’s worse now.
Maybe ask at your embassy in Japan.