Naturalization Story Part 2: Second Naturalization Consultation & Prep Work

Two women looking at papers, one of them writing
A+!

Hello again! This is the second part of my documentation of the naturalization process. If you haven't already, please read part 1 here.

In the previous post, I talked about the first consultation and the homework I got from the case worker. This time, I will talk about the other preparations I did before going to the second consultation, and the second consultation itself.

Thanks to the wealth of information on this blog, I already had a pretty good idea of what other documents I will need. Since there are templates for them here and elsewhere on the internet, I decided to prepare a few of them in advance.

Documents I prepared in advance

  1. 芪族の抂芁shinzoku no gaiyō, family outline (inside and outside Japan)
  2. 履歎曞rirekisho, Personal History (parts 1 and 2)
  3. 垰化の動機曞kika no dōkisho, motivation essay for naturalization
  4. 生蚈の抂芁seikei no gaiyō, Living Expenses Outline (parts 1 and 2)
  5. 略図ryakuzu（自宅jitaku、勀務先kinmusaki）, map of vicinity of home and employment

Note: document numbering is continued from the previous post

In the beginning of May 2021, I made a reservation for my second consultation for early June 2021 at the Legal Affairs Bureau. I made the reservation before I knew when I could get my documents from the Philippines. Unfortunately, while the documents (birth certificate, marriage certificate) were already safely in the hands of my parents, the apostille appointment at DFA was for much later, in mid-June. And the day the documents actually arrive at my doorstep in Japan would be a week or so after that. Regardless, I decided to push through with the consultation, because aside from not having the original documents, I was able to prepare everything else. I asked my parents to send scanned copies of requirements (1) through (3), and I prepared translations for them.

I also got an accordion file folder to organize my documents. Gotta make sure everything's accounted for!

accordion folder with documents
The numbers in the blue post-its correspond to the numbers in the list of required documents

The Second Consultation

I arrived at the Legal Affairs Bureau at 3 pm, 30 minutes before my designated time slot. As usual, I filled up the information card and sat at the waiting room. I could hear the conversations of the two sets of people currently doing their consultation. This time, I chose the last time slot, so hopefully there won't be anyone waiting outside listening to my consultation. When my turn came, I was greeted by the same middle-aged case worker as last time. We entered the consultation room, took our seats, and he asked me about the progress of my documents.

I pulled out my file folder, and from it I gave him the A3-sized list of requirements he gave me in my first consultation. From there he asked me to give him the documents one by one. I told him about the status of my Philippine documents, and he was perfectly fine with checking just the scanned copies and their Japanese translations, with the promise that the originals would be available next time. We went through the list, and after we finished checking all the homework from the first consultation, he handed them off to a different Legal Affairs Bureau representative to do a finer check. While we were waiting, I told him about the extra documents I prepared, and offered them to him.

He started looking at the extra documents I gave him, marking the corresponding rows in the list of requirements as he went. While he was looking at the family outline, I interrupted him to clarify something about the instructions. They say to include one's 婚玄者kon'yakusha, or fiancé/fiancée, and I told him that that condition applied to me (In our first consultation, he only asked if I was single or married, and I was not yet aware of the requirements for the family outline). He asked if my fiancée is Japanese, I answered yes. Then he told me "in that case, please get the 戞籍謄本koseki tōhon, or unabridged family register, of your fiancée".

He continued checking the rest of the documents, occasionally making comments or marking things for correction. Finally, he looked up to me and said, "Wow, you actually have almost everything prepared. You're only missing a couple of documents, I'll mark them in the list. Please bring them next time". The overachiever student in me jumped up and down with glee. He gave me the forms to fill up, with one of them being the holy grail: the 垰化蚱可申請曞kika kyoka shinseisho, the naturalization application form.

The representative who checked my homework from the first consultation came back, and returned the documents to the case worker. All my documents were satisfactory, except I forgot to write my address in one of the translated forms. The case worker returned all my documents to me, explained the parts that needed correction, and told me to make a reservation for my next (and most likely last) consultation. I made one for early July.

That felt good. Total consultation time: about 40 minutes.

Last few documents to prepare

  1. 戞籍謄本koseki tōhon, unabridged family register, of my fiancée
  2. 圚勀及び絊䞎蚌明曞zaikin oyobi kyÅ«yo shōmeisho, proof of employment and income
  3. 垰化蚱可申請曞kika kyoka shinseisho, naturalization application form

Gathering/Making the Documents, Round 2

I'll make a few comments regarding the documents for this round. I will omit those which I have nothing to comment.

(17) Motivation essay

Initially I printed a draft of my essay for the second consultation. I figured that I would just ask for feedback regarding the content of the essay, and handwrite the final version. However, my case worker was not too interested in my motivation essay. He even asked me if I wanted him to check it, meaning that he wasn't planning to. He casually glanced over it, and told me "you seem to have the important points down. I think this is fine."

I handwrote the essay some time afterwards. It ended up being two and a half pages long.

(19) Map of vicinity of home and employment

I made these by pasting snippets from Google Maps, printing them in black and white, and drawing the path from the nearest station using a pink highlighter. This was acceptable. Initially, I only brought maps of my current residence and place of work, but my case worker told me that he needed a vicinity map of my current and previous residences of the past 3 years. Because I have moved within the past 3 years, I needed to make additional maps.

(20) Family register

We tried and successfully obtained this document from a convenience store. This document, like document #6 (Certificate of Residence) can be obtained from most convenience stores with a multifunction printer using your マむナンバヌカヌドmainanbā kādo.

(21) Proof of employment and income

The form was provided by the Legal Affairs Bureau representative. I scanned it and requested my company's HR department to fill it up.

(22) Naturalization application form

My case worker told me to fill everything up except the date and signature field. He told me I need to fill those up in the presence of a Legal Affairs Bureau representative (such as him) on the day that they accept my application. Also, he told me not to attach the requisite 5cm x 5cm photos yet, but have them ready for the next consultation.

 

With all the documents accounted for, I have about 2.5 cm of paper.

accordion folder measured on its side, 2.5 cm
or 1 inch for our friends across the Pacific

In other news...

At this point in the story, about a week before my third consultation, my documents from the Philippines (requirements (1) to (3) ) arrived. It took 3 days via DHL. Thank god for the modern world's global logistics! I made sure all of the documents were there (they were, thanks to my parents for meticulously preparing them!), and made copies. At this point, the only requirement I haven't completely filled up is #22, the naturalization application form, because dating and signing the form has to happen at the Legal Affairs Bureau.


That's all for part 2! I'm fully prepared. In the next part, I'll write about the third consultation.


Location: Nagoya, PrÀfektur Aichi, Japan

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