Article 12-3Issuance of Copy, etc. of Certificate of Residence upon Request by Person Other than Person Concerned, etc.

①The mayor of the municipality may, in addition to what is provided for under the provisions of the preceding two Articles, when there has been a request from a person listed in the following items, with regard to the basic resident register kept by that municipality, to the effect that a copy of the certificate of residence showing only the basic certified matters (meaning the matters listed in Article 7, items (i) through (iii) and items (vi) through (viii); hereinafter the same applies in this paragraph and paragraph (7)) or a certificate of items stated in resident register concerning the basic certified matters is necessary, and finds that request to be reasonable, issue that copy of the certificate of residence or certificate of items stated in resident register to the person making that request.

②The mayor of the municipality may, in addition to what is provided for under the provisions of the preceding two Articles and the preceding paragraph, when there has been a request from a specified mandated professional, with regard to the basic resident register kept by that municipality, to the effect that a copy of the certificate of residence or a certificate of items stated in resident register prescribed in the preceding paragraph is necessary, on the ground that the client of the case or affairs entrusted to the specified mandated professional falls under a person listed in the items of that paragraph, and finds that request to be reasonable, issue that copy of the certificate of residence or certificate of items stated in resident register to that specified mandated professional.

③The "specified mandated professional" prescribed in the preceding paragraph means an attorney (including a legal professional corporation and a joint corporation of attorneys and registered foreign lawyers), a judicial scrivener (including a judicial scrivener corporation), a land and house investigator (including a land and house investigator corporation), a certified public tax accountant (including a certified public tax accountant corporation), a labor and social security attorney (including a labor and social security attorney corporation), a patent attorney (including a patent attorney corporation), a maritime procedure agent, or an administrative scrivener (including an administrative scrivener corporation).

④A request under paragraph (1) or paragraph (2) must be made in a manner that makes clear the following matters, as specified by Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.

⑤When making a request under paragraph (1) or paragraph (2), the person actually undertaking the request must make clear to the mayor of the municipality, by the method of presenting an Individual Number Card or by another method specified by Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, that the person actually undertaking the request is the person himself or herself.

⑥In the case referred to in the preceding paragraph, where the person actually undertaking the request is the agent of the person making the request, or is otherwise a person different from the person making the request, the person actually undertaking the request must present or submit to the mayor of the municipality, by the method specified by Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, a document making clear that that person is undertaking the request at the request of the person making the request or under the provisions of laws and regulations.

⑦Where a person making the request needs, in order to achieve the purpose of use set out in paragraph (4), item (iv), a copy of the certificate of residence showing all or part of the matters other than the basic certified matters (excluding the matters set out in Article 7, item (viii)-2 and item (xiii); the same applies in the rest of this paragraph), in addition to the basic certified matters, or a certificate of items stated in resident register stating all or part of the matters other than the basic certified matters, in addition to the basic certified matters, that person may, when making the request under paragraph (1) or paragraph (2), notify the mayor of the municipality to that effect.

⑧Where the mayor of the municipality finds the request made under the preceding paragraph reasonable, the mayor may, in lieu of the copy of the certificate of residence or the certificate of items stated in resident register prescribed in paragraph (1), issue the copy of the certificate of residence or the certificate of items stated in resident register prescribed in the preceding paragraph.

⑨A person intending to make the request under paragraph (1) or paragraph (2) may request that the copy of the certificate of residence or the certificate of items stated in resident register prescribed in paragraph (1) be sent by mail or another method specified by Ministerial Order.