Translation of post-naturalization procedures


The original Japanese



... translates roughly to the following:


Dear ______________:

Regarding Procedures for After Naturalization

Those who have naturalized must complete the following set procedures within the designated time periods:

☑ Notification of Naturalization

You must complete a Notification of Naturalization Form and submit it to either the Ward/City Office of your current residence or your new registered domicile within one month from the day of your naturalization (Nationality Law Article 102, part 2) Those who do not may be subject to a fine.

You should have received a "Proof of Naturalization Identification" from the Ministry of Justice. You will need this in addition to the Notification of Naturalization form.

☑ Return your Alien Registration Card

You must return your Alien Registration card within 14 days from the day of your naturalization. (Alien Registration Law Article 12) Those who do not do so in time may be subject to a fine or sentence.

☑ Nationality Selection (only applies to those who still have multiple nationalities)

Those who have additional nationalities in addition to Japanese nationality have two years from the time of their naturalization (those under 20 have until they're 22 years old) to do one of the following two procedures in order to select Japanese nationality. (Nationality Law Article 14) If you do not complete the procedures within the time period, you may receive a notification regarding Nationality Selection from the Minister of Justice, and you may lose your Japanese nationality (Nationality Law Article 15).

① Renunciation of Foreign Nationalities

After completing the appropriate steps for renouncing from other countries, you should submit a "Notification of Loss of Foreign Nationality Form" and submit it to either your local Ward/City office or your new registered domicile.

② Declaration of Choice of Japanese Nationality

For the cases where a country has no renunciation procedure, etc., so you can't renounce within the time period, you should complete a "Nationality Selection Form" and submit it to either your Ward/City office or your new registered domicile. (Family Registration Law Article 104) Those who use this method will not receive a notification from the Minister of Justice regarding their Nationality Selection.

Furthermore, if it becomes such that you can and do renounce your nationality afterwards, please follow the procedures in ① regarding the submission of a "Notification of Loss of Foreign Nationality."

Popular posts from this blog

How much did it actually cost to naturalize?

Image
Pennies, compared to most other developed countries In 2010, an article was published here about how much it costs to apply for naturalization. It was true then, and it's still true now in 2022: The application itself is free . ¥0, nada, zilch. Compare that to the US ($725) , UK (£1,330) , Germany (€255) . However, there are many things throughout the process that can cost money: getting your civil documents both in Japan and your home country, tax documents, driving record, etc. You will also to make personal appearances to your local Legal Affairs Bureau. Here I will talk about how much it cost me personally, including the cost of gathering all documents, photocopying, travel, etc. List of Expenses Below is the list of my naturalization-related expenses. All told, it cost me about ¥18,500 to make a successful application. It is worth repeating: There is no application fee . Everything in the list above are expenses related to getting documents I need to submit with my naturaliza...
Read more →

Types of Japanese Passports

Image
The vast majority of people that naturalize will probably apply for a "red" Japanese passport after their 戸籍 { koseki } (family register) is created — which takes about a couple weeks followed by a few weeks for the passport to be issued. It is not necessary to apply for a passport. Just like the United States, the vast majority of the populace never actually travels outside of their country for their lifetime. However, realisticly speaking, it's very likely that a naturalized person would have a Japanese passport as they most likely have family ties overseas. Language The passport is in two languages: English and Japanese. Very old passports, similar to my U.S. passport, also had French, the language of diplomacy. My oh my, how the French empire's influence has faded. My last U.S. passport added Spanish. My oh my, how South, Central, and Latin America's influence has increased! ☺ On current Japanese passports, the message from the Minister of Foreig...
Read more →

All about Japanese personal inkan/hanko/chops/seals

Image
"signing" a payment slip at a bank In Japan (and other Asian countries), it is traditional practice to use an 印鑑 { inkan } ( aka 印章 { inshō } ) — colloquially called a 判子 { hanko } in Japanese or "chop" in British English — instead of a signature for acknowledging / signing / accepting documents. Pedantically speaking, a 判子 hanko is the actual stamping object, and an 印鑑 inkan is the ink impression that is made, but many native Japanese use the two words interchangeably. In the 21st century, Japanese recommend having three types of seals: one for casual informal acceptance: 認印 { mitomein } one for your bank accounts: 銀行印 { ginkō-in } the "real" registered one: ( 実印 { jitsuin } ) While it's perfectly possible to use just one seal for all of these functions, most people use at least two or three for the same reason that people should use different passwords for different services on the internet: in the case of a compromised s...
Read more →