meyori said:
Hi, We are just started to gathering information/documents etc. and wondering if there is any time limit for validity of "Koseki Tohon"
We do not live Canada nor Japan and it seems getting documents (and translated) take very long time (possibly over three months, less my wife goes back to Japan.). Just wanted to make sure by the time we got those documents, they are good to use, not too old !Do you know if there is any time limits ?
I think (and correct me if I'm wrong) but when you get your koseki tohon, it says "valid for 3 months from date of issue" or something like that. For the translation - you could ask around and find a translation service that does it relatively quickly. The place I used did not require the original document, so I just scanned the koseki tohon I got and sent it to them. They took about 3 days to do it then they mailed it to me. Wasn't very cheap, but I didn't find any place significantly cheaper than that. I think, also, that this place offered to obtain your koseki tohon for you, for a fee.
Police certificate is valid for 3 months. You don't need a translation for that fortunately because it's in English (and four other languages.) (Also remember when you get it that you're not supposed to open it. It's invalid if opened.)
As a general rule, the Japanese police require "proof" of applying for a visa or something in order to issue you a police certificate. I showed them the document on CIC's website that says that CIC requires a police certificate for me to apply for PR, but that wasn't good enough for them. However, the police (in my case, in Chiba) advised me that I can just fill out a visa application form for Canada (not for PR, but some other kind - I forgot if it was for a student visa or whatever) by downloading the application form from the Canadian consulate's website. Normally, you'd apply for such a visa online, I believe, but in this case, you have to print out the form and fill it in and sign it. The police took a copy of that for their records and they gave me the police certificate. It's just for their internal system, I believe.
However, since your wife may be applying for the certificate at a Japanese consulate, the system might be different. But in any case, they should be able to do it - you might just have to go through their formalities. Just call the nearest consulate and ask what they need and how long it takes. CIC does require a police certificate as part of your application package. Since most Japanese applicants do send in a police certificate upfront, CIC may or may not return your entire application to you as incomplete. It might depend on the particular officer handling your application. If the consulate refuses to issue a police certificate without a request from CIC, get that in writing and include that in your application. (If your application is returned to you as being incomplete, you need to submit anew, and all your documents (such as the koseki tohon you already got) need to be valid, so it's risky.) If you're lucky, they might be ok with submitting a police certificate later on, though. Just bear in mind that if that's the case, your case will be put on hold for a while, so it may delay the approval of your application for a couple of months or so, however long it takes you to get the police certificate and mail it to them.
