Certified Jūminhyō (住民票) Translation — Japanese into English
The jūminhyō is the Japanese certificate of residence: it attests to your address, your household composition and your former addresses, which IRCC asks for on almost every form. It does not prove parentage — that is the koseki. Asiatis produces its certified translation into English, ready to file.
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Get my quote onlineAlso known as
住民票 — jūminhyō · juminhyo · jyuminhyo · jūminhyō no utsushi · 住民票の写し · 世帯全員の住民票 · 住民票の除票 · joseki · johyo · 除票 · 住民票記載事項証明書 · certificat de résidence japonais · Japanese residence certificate · certificate of residence Japan
What is the jūminhyō?
The jūminhyō (住民票) is the record each Japanese municipality keeps for its residents, in the basic resident register (住民基本台帳). It should not be confused with the koseki: the koseki is held by the municipality of legal domicile and records civil status events, whereas the jūminhyō is held by the municipality where you actually live and records where you live. What you file is a copy, the jūminhyō no utsushi (住民票の写し). It carries the name, address, date of birth, sex and previous address; the household, the legal domicile and the My Number appear only if you expressly ask for them. For a Canadian application, this is the document that evidences your address history and, when you request the full version, your household composition.
Variants of the document
| Name | Type | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| 世帯全員の住民票の写しsetai zen’in no jūminhyō no utsushi | Full household copy | Covers everyone registered in the same household. This is the version to request whenever you need to show who you live with — spouse, children, dependent parents. |
| 個人の住民票の写しkojin no jūminhyō no utsushi | Individual extract | Covers one person only. Enough to prove an address, but it does not show the household: check what the form asks for before you order. |
| 住民票の除票jūminhyō no johyō | Removed record | The record of someone removed from the register — departure abroad, a move, death. This is what you will get if you have already left Japan, your current record no longer existing. |
| 住民票記載事項証明書jūminhyō kisai jikō shōmeisho | Certificate of recorded items | Attests only to selected items of the record, on a form supplied by the requester. Rarely what an immigration application expects: when in doubt, take the copy. |
How to obtain the document in Japan
- 1
Go to your municipality of residence
The jūminhyō is held by the city hall of the municipality where you are registered as a resident — not the one of your legal domicile (本籍地), which holds the koseki. The two are often different.
- 2
Counter, mail, proxy or convenience store
The request is made at the counter, by mail, or through a proxy holding a power of attorney (委任状). A resident with a My Number card can also obtain the copy from a multi-service kiosk in a convenience store, in municipalities that offer convenience-store issuance (コンビニ交付).
- 3
Expressly request the fields omitted by default
This is the step almost everyone skips. The legal domicile and its head, the head of household and the relationship to them, the My Number and the register code are omitted unless expressly requested; for a foreign resident, so are the status and period of residence. Tick the corresponding boxes on the form, or say so at the counter.
- 4
If you have already left Japan
A declared departure abroad (海外転出届) removes you from the register: there is no longer a current record, only a removed record (除票). Japanese consulates do not issue them; the request goes to your last municipality of residence, by mail or through a proxy. Asiatis does not obtain the document for you: we translate the one you have obtained.
What an acceptable translation requires
IRCC requires any document that is not in English or French to be accompanied by a translation into one of those two languages. The translation must be complete — headings, stamps, entries and fields marked "omitted" included — and may not be produced by the applicant, by a family member, or by a representative on the application. Asiatis assigns your jūminhyō to a certified translator who is a member of a Canadian professional order: the translation carries that translator's signed and sealed declaration, the form IRCC asks for, and you have no affidavit to arrange. For a Quebec immigration application, the MIFI admits French and English alike, provided the translator belongs to OTTIAQ, ATIO, STIBC or CTINB.
The pitfalls specific to this document
The useful fields are omitted by default
A standard copy hides the legal domicile and its head, the head of household and the relationship to them, the My Number and the register code — the marking "省略" (omitted) appears in their place. Yet it is the legal domicile that ties your jūminhyō to your koseki. Ask for it when you order: a copy already issued cannot be completed, you have to request another.
The relationship shown is not parentage
The 続柄 on a jūminhyō states your relationship to the head of household — "child", "spouse" — and nothing more. It proves neither who your parents are nor your rank among siblings. For parentage, IRCC expects the koseki, and no jūminhyō will stand in for it.
Do not have your My Number printed on it
The individual number (マイナンバー) is a sensitive identifier that Japanese municipalities advise against disclosing to a third party, and that a proxy cannot obtain in any case. No IRCC form asks for it: leave the box unticked.
Once you have left Japan, your record no longer exists as such
A declared departure abroad removes you from the register. You can obtain only a removed record (除票), and only if the removal occurred on or after 20 June 2014: those of 19 June 2014 or earlier can no longer be issued. Since the amendment that took effect on 20 June 2019, these records are kept for 150 years instead of 5.
Dates are in imperial eras
A jūminhyō dates moves in and out in Reiwa (令和), Heisei (平成) or Shōwa (昭和). An IRCC officer reconstructing ten years of address history needs Gregorian dates, converted to the exact day, including for years in which the era changed.
A Japanese address does not translate word for word
A Japanese address reads from largest unit to smallest, and ends in a chōme-banchi-gō sequence with no Canadian equivalent. Transposed out of order, it no longer matches the one you entered on the form — and it is the match between the two that the officer checks.
What you receive
- Complete certified translation, laid out faithfully to the original record
- Japanese era dates converted to the Gregorian calendar
- Addresses transcribed in Canadian order, with the Japanese form kept alongside
- Translator's signed and sealed declaration, meeting IRCC requirements
- PDF delivery — the digital format is enough for IRCC; paper copy on request
Pricing depends on the number of pages in your document. Get your quote online in a few minutes.
Get my quote onlineFrequently asked questions
Jūminhyō or koseki: which one do I have to provide?
They answer different questions. The jūminhyō proves where you live and with whom; the koseki proves your birth, your parentage and your marriage. An immigration application often asks for both. Send us a photo of what you have and we will tell you what it is.
How much does it cost to translate my jūminhyō?
The price depends on the number of pages in your document — a common jūminhyō runs to one, two if the household is large. The simplest route is our online quote form: you upload the document and get your price in a few minutes, with no commitment.
Get my quote onlineMy copy shows "省略" in several places. Is that a problem?
It depends what the form asks for. "省略" means the field was omitted at issue, not that it is empty. If the legal domicile or the relationship to the head of household is required of you, you have to request another copy from the city hall with the boxes ticked: a copy already issued cannot be completed.
I left Japan a long time ago. Can I still obtain one?
You will get a removed record, not a current one. It can be issued if your removal occurred on or after 20 June 2014; beyond that limit, the municipality can no longer produce it. Since 2019, these records are kept for 150 years.
Can I translate my own jūminhyō?
No. IRCC does not accept translations made by the applicant, by a family member, or by a representative on the application, even where that person is a professional translator.
Do you need the original, or is a photo enough?
A scan or a clear, complete photo is enough for us to produce the translation. Keep the original: that is what you will attach to your application, together with our certified translation.