American had to forfeit naturalized citizenship due to hiding his lack of relinquishment
David [pseudonym] is a natural-born U.S. citizen who immigrated to Japan in 1997 [confirmed] and lives in western Tokyo and works in the 23 wards of Tokyo. He works in the finance industry [unconfirmed] for a foreign multi-national, and makes "well over ¥10 million a year" [unconfirmed].
He naturalized to Japanese in 2007 [confirmed], receiving his Japanese nationality before losing his American citizenship. In 2009, rather than relinquish his U.S. nationality, he went to city hall and submitted a "Choice of Nationality Form" (国籍選択届) and chose "Japanese nationality" [confirmed]. He then did nothing about formally relinquishing his nationality.
In the spring of 2013, he got a letter from the Ministry of Justice mentioning his nationality, the Oaths he signed — both the Oath to obey the Japanese Constitution and all its laws, which includes the Nationality Law which mentions the giving up of other nationalities, and the Oath to Renounce — and a request to call them or meet with them to discuss the state of his "other nationalities (外国籍)". [unconfirmed] He did not respond to the letter.
Four months ago, he got another letter from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ; 法務省), this time sent via registered mail (書留) repeating the same request, but this time setting a time and place for a formal meeting, giving him a list of paperwork to bring (up to date family register, any and ALL passports, birth certificate, marriage/divorce certificates, and bank statement books). It told him that if the date or place was not convenient, he could call to reschedule. It also warned that if he failed to show or respond, there would be consequences.
Two months ago, he met at the 法務局 (Legal Affairs Bureau). He claims that the "banks had noticed inconsistencies" with respect to his nationality and residency and had notified the MoJ [unconfirmed]. He believes that this is due to Japanese banks efforts to ramp up for compliance for American FATCA rules, in which the U.S. requires foreign banks that deal with U.S. banks to be aware of and cooperate with the United States with matters of U.S. income and asset reporting for taxation. He said that he had not been filing annual mandatory U.S. 1040 income tax forms since he acquired Japanese nationality.
He told the Japanese that he thought he effectively renounced his U.S. citizenship when he did his Choice of Nationality at City Hall. The MoJ responded that no, the Choice of Nationality is not the same thing as renouncing and they believe he knew this because they explained that to him both orally and in writing.
At the end of the meeting, they believed that he had not naturalized in good faith and because he was in possession of another nationality, they were prepared to annul his Japanese nationality on the grounds that all the conditions for acquiring Japanese nationality via naturalization were not met.
He asked what would happen once his Japanese naturalization was removed. They said he would receive a temporary visitor status stamp, and he could attempt to apply for a Status of Residence or possibly apply for naturalization sometime in the future again. He asked if his annulled naturalization would go on his record and affect his ability to obtain a visa, get permanent residency, or apply for naturalization again. They said that yes, it would be on his record, and this event would affect his ability to get permission to live and work in Japan.
He said that he would go to the U.S. embassy and relinquish as soon as possible. They said no, because his not relinquishing citizenship did not appear to be a mistake, but a willful deceit and it had been over five years.
He pleaded and made a deal: he agreed to renounce his Japanese nationality. In exchange, he asked that his permanent residency be restored. They said that they would give him a 定住者 (long term resident) Status of Residence (SoR; 在留資格), but they would not give him permanent resident status. He asked if he could apply for Permanent Resident Status (永住者資格; PR) in the future.
"You can try, but we can't promise you'll receive it."
He went to immigration a week later and handed them a special paper prepared by the MoJ [unconfirmed]. They issued him a Long-Term Resident status, and cancelled his Permanent Resident stamp (big "VOID" over the sticker stamp) [confirmed] in one visit.
A few weeks later, he received his Japanese passport, cancelled, in the mail, along with a copy of his family register showing that it had been cancelled/he had been removed. His wife and children were moved to a separate, new family register. On the new family register, it mentions his name, his nationality, his loss of Japanese nationality, with the reason being listed as 「身分行為による喪失」 (loss due to individual's actions).
He seems to accept his loss, jokingly saying "he had a good run... at least I got to vote!". However, he is worried about squaring up with the IRS, and he is worried as to whether he'll be able to renew his SoR, or ever upgrade to PR (永住者資格; Permanent Resident Status), as he has a lot invested in Japan (career, home, family) that can't be moved easily anymore. When I told him that because he was no longer a Japanese national, he could possibly be extradited from Japan to the United States for tax evasion, he got worried.
When I asked if he had any advice for others considering naturalization, he said, "when I first did what I did, I did it because I thought that even if I was caught, it wouldn't be a big deal. But it is a big deal. I'm sorry I ever did it, because now I'm worse off than where I was before I applied." ☹
