Obtaining your, and your parent(s), vital records

Vital Records are birth, death, marriage, and divorce
certificates. Graduation certificates are not Vital.

In order to become a national of Japan, Japan will need to create a family unit register (戸籍 {koseki}) — even if you have no known family inside or outside Japan — with information regarding:

• your marriage(s) and possibly divorce(s)
• your dependents (children, including adoptions etc)
• your legal spouse
• your date of birth
• your parents
• their full names, converted to Japanese: probably カタカナ {katakana} (Japanese syllabet) but possibly 漢字 {kanji} (sinograms) depending on their nationality records
• their birth certificates proving their names and existence
• their death certificate, if applicable
• their marriage and or divorce certificates, if applicable
• their dependents (all known children)

Because the Ministry of Justice needs this very official domestic proof of Japanese nationality to be as accurate as possible, they will want to see official documentation. This official documentation is usually held and certified by governments as one's "vital records."

Your case officer will initially interview you orally to ask you personal questions about your family in order to determine what sort of documentation can be obtained and what will be needed, so the exact paperwork depends on a case-by-case basis.

They may even ask for a family photo! Not everybody needs to include family photos, though. It depends on the case. In particular, it seems to bolster the case that the family being described on paper is "real" and not fabricated. This is also why you provide a map to your home and business; if they decide it's necessary, they may visit one's home or work place (with or without warning; they may not even go inside or talk to anybody) and determine if the home/business described in your application matches what they see.

See these two links for more information:

• Collecting a few personal/family photographs
• Completing the Family Outline

What if an applicant comes from a dysfunctional family and has no idea where his or her parents and grandparents live, much less their occupations? What if you are unable to obtain a copy of your parents'  marriage or divorce certificates? Would a situation like this disqualify the applicant?

They are aware that there are cases like this, and they can be flexible if getting this information or contacting them is an impossibility. Obviously, you'll have to explain the situation to the case officer. More information on this is available here:

• What if you're missing some of the paperwork?
• Collecting the birth & marriage certificates

For example, for many African countries, some people don't even have birth certificates, so their "birth date" is a guess (In these cases, the month and day are often set to January 1st). More information about this is here:

• Bobby Ologun: Profile of naturalized citizen
• Dr. John Muwete Muluaka: Profile of a naturalized citizen

However, simply not getting along with your family (or getting the vital records is too troublesome for either them or you) will probably not be acceptable as an excuse to opt-out of getting the paperwork. Unless your family members are (literally) criminals or affiliated with criminal organizations (Mafia, Triads, Yakuza), terrorists, or members of an organization that has actively plotted to violently overthrow the Japanese government (ex. Japanese Red Army, Aum Shinrikyo) and you have connections/contact with them, the case officer does not care about how dysfunctional the relationship is.

The 家族の概要 {kazoku no gaiyō} form has the option to check off a "none of the above" for family members' opinions on whether they approve or disapprove of the person naturalizing.

Ideally, as I said, they want information that I said is accurate. However, they do work (on a case by case basis) with you if due to impossible circumstances you're unable to provide the necessary paperwork. Note that they may ask for an alternative form of proof of family.

YOU DO NOT NEED YOUR PARENTS' COOPERATION TO OBTAIN THEIR VITAL RECORDS

It depends on the nation and the state, but often you do not need your parents' consent to obtain their vital records if you are a direct descendant / have direct lineage. As an example, in the state of Maine in the United States, this means:

• The person named on the record
• The person's spouse or registered domestic partner
• The parent(s) named on the record
• Descendants of the person named on the record (including children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren to the most remote degree)
• The legal custodian, guardian, or authorized representative of the person named on the record

In order to prove direct lineage when requesting records concerning your parents or grandparents, a copy of your birth certificate will identify your parents. If your parents were married, this document can be used to obtain a copy of your parents' marriage record, which should identify your grandparents.

Depending on the nation & state (again we use the state of Maine as an example), other acceptable proof of direct lineage could include:

• a hospital or physician's record of birth or death
• a baptismal record
• school enrollment records
• military records
• court records
• a family bible record
• a newspaper engagement, marriage or birth announcement, or an obituary
• a U.S. Census enumeration record
• an insurance application
• an affidavit

If you don't have direct lineage, you (or anybody else) can often access these records if enough time has passed. Again, it depends on the nation and state, but using the state of Maine yet again as a reference, this typically means:

• birth records that are 75 years or older
• marriage records 50 years or older
• death records 25 years or older
• fetal deaths 50 years or older

… are considered public records and informational copies can be issued to anyone requesting them. Obviously, I can't itemize every single nation/state/country, but I checked a few western European countries to determine that other countries have similar (but not identical) guidelines.

Once upon a time, one could obtain the records of anybody at any time with little in the form of identification or need/connection (those with proper genealogy licenses can still do this in some states). With the advent of sensitivity regarding illegal discrimination and awareness of identity theft practices, they are more strict about revealing these documents to people with no legitimate connection or need. Attempting to obtain vital records illegally is considered to be a felony in most places.

Do remember, though, that intentionally lying on your application is grounds for disqualifying the naturalization (even after it has been approved: this is called administrative denaturalization), if they judge the lie to be serious enough (ex. lying about one's criminal record is the benchmark). So I can't recommend lying about your family situation in order to avoid extra paperwork and procedure.

As for completing the Family Outline where it asks whether or not family members "approve" of the naturalization or not, this is your opinion, and any disapproval does not affect your chances for naturalization unless you're attempting to naturalize as a family unit and they are one of the people to be naturalized. They only ask for exact addresses (and phone numbers) of those living in Japan. Everything else is a best effort basis.