Note on the application for Japanese Passports of Minors
Regarding the application for Japanese passports of minors, Japan issues passports by having a signature of a custodian as a legal representative to the application form. However, if the other parent has expressed his/her disagreement on the issuance of the child’s passport to the Embassy of Japan beforehand, the passport will usually be issued after the verification of the consent of both parents. In this verification process, the Embassy of Japan will check with the parent who disagreed beforehand on the issuance of child’s passport whether he/she is now willing to submit a “Letter of Consent for an Application of Passport.”
In Fiji, taking a child abroad without consent of his/her spouse who has custody may be accounted to criminal liability. To prevent Japanese citizens from such disadvantages, the Embassy of Japan is checking verbally to confirm the existence of agreement of both parents on the application for child’s passport, even if there is no declaration of disagreement from one parent.