My first visit to the Nationality Section

[All of these conversations occurred in Japanese]

When I went to make my first appointment at the 法務局 {hōmukyoku} (Legal Affairs Bureau) in 九段下 {Kudanshita}, the public servant asked me the following question before I even gave my name:

"Have you ever overstayed your visa, worked without a visa, committed an offence no matter how minor (including moving traffic violations) either in Japan or anywhere else in the world, or not paid your taxes or your Japanese pension or health insurance?"

"No."

"Okay, then. Normally you need to call in advance and it takes three to five weeks to see a representative, but you're in luck: somebody cancelled their 2:30pm, so we can fit you in there if you're willing to wait."

I found it interesting that his very first question to me was regarding whether I had ever found myself on the wrong side of the law. No question about the time I've spent in Japan (which I thought would have been the obvious first question).

I ate lunch in their cafeteria in the basement and returned to the 8th floor at 2:30.

The room for naturalization candidates was sub divided into 10 private rooms, each numbered for one to eight (two were for administrative use).

"Inoue-san, please proceed to room number three. Your representative is number three."

The cube barely fit two people. There was two chairs on my side. Between us was a simple table / makeshift desk. To the side and on my representatives side of the desk were piles of law books and procedure books.

After introducing himself, he asked the same question about law-breaking again. Again, I gave the right answer. He then asked all the basics, and asked if I happened to bring any documentation with me (my 外国人登録証明書 {gaikokujin tōroku shōmeisho} (Alien Registration Card), my 運転免許証 {unten menkyo-shō} (Japanese driver's license) if I had one, passport, etc.

After determining how long I had been in Japan he then pulled out a colorful pamphlet with a cartoon character on it explaining "How to obtain Japanese nationality", passed it to me, and explained every point in the book.

He took a red pen and crossed out some of the requirements. "Because you've been married to a Japanese citizen for so long, the residency requirement is one year in Japan, not five."

"Wow! Just one year to qualify for naturalization?"

"Yes, but you have to have been married for over three years."

It was a bit shocking to me that from a residency requirement, citizenship is no harder than 永住者資格 {eijūsha shikaku} (permanent residency status) if you're married to a Japanese, and it's actually easier if you're single (it's not uncommon for immigration to want to see 10 years or more of residency if you're unmarried).

I have been married for over a decade and been in Japan for even longer. Is it possible for somebody to successfully get citizenship after being married to a Japanese for 3 years and 1 day and having lived in Japan for 1 year and 1 day? Most likely your public servant representative will encourage you to "live in Japan a few more years until you know for certain that this is what you want to do."

The whole one-on-one with my representative lasted exactly 29 minutes. He had another appointment lined up. What surprised me about the whole process was how easy it was. I thought that he would ask harder questions and even try to talk me out of it (to see how bad I wanted it) by saying how permanent and significant acquiring another nationality was. Nothing of the sort.

At 27 minutes, he gave me the colorful pamphlet, and he gave me a itemized copied list that looked like it had been photocopied over a hundred times and started circling things on it.

He circled birth certificates, marriage certificates, revenue statements, 戸籍謄本 {koseki tōhon} (certified copy of Japanese family register), 住民票 {jūminhyō} (Japanese residence registration), and many other items. He actually had a good sense of humor, and he exchanged a few jokes while talking about my history.

A lot of the foreign paperwork that didn't involve me (my parent's birth certificates and marriage certificate, my sibling's birth certificates) were overseas and would require lots of over-the-phone negotiations and depending on others for preparation.

It was my "homework." I was to retrieve these documents, and not make another appointment until I obtained them. Upon completion and verification of the first batch of papers, I'd would be given a much bigger A4 pamphlet (28 pages), the 帰化許可申請のてびき {kika kyoka shinsei no tebiki} (guidelines for applying for permission to naturalize) and the actual application forms.

"Next time, call this number to make an appointment, and mention either my name or my number. I will be your appointed representative until the end of the process. Expect the process, from start to finish, to take about eight to twelve months. Most of that time, of course, will be spent waiting for paperwork from overseas and waiting for an appointment."

Off I went to collect about a binder full of documents (most of them copies). It would take me about six weeks to get all the foreign birth and marriage certificates from overseas.