Two Documents That Now Should Be Among the First to Request (part 1 of 2)
However, as a result of the changes in the alien registration system that
went into effect on July 9, 2012, that strategy now needs to be adjusted, since
their are 2 required Japan documents that take anywhere from 2 weeks to 2
months to obtain, the 外国人登録原票 (alien registration record) and the 出入国記録 (Japan exit/entry record).
I will discuss the 外国人登録原票 in this post and the 出入国記録 in a subsequent
post.
While a document equivalent to the 外国人登録原票 was previously available from the local 市役所／区役所, with the revision of the alien registration system, all of that information
has now been sent to the 法務省 (Ministry of
Justice) in Tokyo. Even before the
revision, older records have been archived in Tokyo for some time now. When I obtained the form equivalent to
the 外国人登録原票 from my 区役所 on July 5 before all the records were sent to Tokyo, it only showed my
residence history from 1996, even though my residence has been continuous since
Dec 1978.
Now of course, anyone applying for naturalization will need to request,
either in person or by mail, a certified copy of their 外国人登録原票 from the 法務省. The 法務局国籍課 (Legal Affairs
Department Nationality Section) is now providing a printout of the instructions
for doing this, which can be found on the MoJ’s website here:
An application form in either MS Word or pdf format can be downloaded from
a link on that page. If sending
the request by mail, as identification you need to provide a photocopy of your
driver's license, health insurance card, or 在留カード (Residency Card; or Alien Registration Card if you are still using
that), and a certified (original, dated within the past 30 days) copy of your 住民票 (residence
record, which was previously only for Japanese citizens). Enclose a stamped sell-addressed
envelop, affix 300 yen in revenue stamps for each certified copy requested, and
indicate the date from which you want the records to start. Unless otherwise instructed by the 国籍課 (nationality section), it would probably be best to request the record all the way back to the
start of your residence. Interestingly,
when I called and asked, they said it was also possible to obtain the record
from a previous period of stay from 1976 to Jan 1978 that was not consecutive
with my current residence. When I
left in Jan 1978 I did not use a re-entry permit and returned my Alien
Registration Card. I had assumed
that any record of that stay would be lost, but I have requested it from the archives
and I'll see how it comes out.
The MoJ website says that the archives are required by law to provide the
外国人登録原票 within 30 days
of the request and that it typically will take 2 to 3 weeks for the most recent
record or 3 to 4 weeks for multiple records (and in some special cases longer
than 30 days), which is a lot longer than the few minutes it used to take at
city hall or the ward office.
The 外国人登録原票 request can be sent together with the request for
the 出入国記録, meaning you only have to enclose one certified
copy of your 住民票. You can ask to have both
returned together in the same stamped self-addressed envelope (so be sure to
attach sufficient postage) or enclose 2 stamped self-addressed envelops to have
them returned separately.
