The Hague Convention (Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction)

If you have a child of yours removed from a Contracting State of the Hague Convention (1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction) to Japan, or have a child who lives in another Contracting State currently retained in Japan, and if your rights of custody are breached, you can file an application with the Central Authority of Japan for assistance in order to realize the return of the child to the state of his or her habitual residence (Assistance in Child’s Return to Foreign State).

Your application, however, is to be dismissed if one of the following conditions is met. (Article 7, Paragraph (1), Act for Implementation of the Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction). Therefore, before filing an application, you are advised to make sure that your case does not fall under any of the following reasons for dismissal.

The documents required when applying to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Assistance in Child’s Return to Foreign State are as follows:

• Application for Assistance in Child’s Return (PDF)
• Supplementary Page for the Second or More Children (PDF)
  [Note] This page is needed only when you apply for more than one child.
• List of Attached Documents (for Application for Assistance in Child’s Return) (PDF)
• Attached Documents
• Power of Attorney [Sample Power of Attorney: Japanese (PDF) , English (PDF) ]
  [Note] If you wish to communicate with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs through an attorney, you will need to submit a power of attorney.

[Related Link]

• Child Abduction Legal System of Other Countries (Japanese only)

Please refer to the following when filling out the application form for Assistance in Child’s Return and preparing the attached documents.

• Guide to making an Application for Assistance in Child’s Return (PDF)
  [Note] Please be sure to read this Guide before you begin to prepare application documents.
• How to fill out the "Application for Assistance in Child's Return" (video) (Japanese only)
  [Note] Please watch this video for instructions on how to fill out the application form. (The video is available only in Japanese.)
  

Please fill in the necessary items on the application form and submit it with the attached documents to the following address by email or postal mail. Submissions by means other than email or postal mail (e.g., in person, fax) are not accepted. Please note that emails exceeding 10MB cannot be received; if your email exceeds this size, please split the attached documents into multiple emails and send them.