Naturalization Story Part 3: Final(*) Consultation
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| An (emotional) approximation of how much documents I gathered |
Hello everyone. This is the part 3 of my naturalization story. Part 1 and Part 2 linked. At this point, I have prepared all the documents I possibly could. There are no more documents I can prepare in advance. So we are going straight to the third and last consultation. Don't worry, I will explain the asterisk (*) in the title later. Also, I will try a different writing style this time, with mini-chapter markers throughout the text.
Third Consultation
One rainy afternoon in July, I made my way to the Legal Affairs Bureau. By now I am familiar with the commute. I went to the reception desk, filled up the consultation form, and went to the waiting room. This time, a different but similarly middle aged man, called me in to the consultation room.
I pulled out my file folder and gave him the complete set of documents. He checked them one by one, also taking note of the remarks written on the A3-sized requirements list regarding some things they asked me to correct. He confirmed that all the required documents were there. He then produced two sets of forms.
Two out of three last things to sign
In the beginning of this post, I mentioned that there were no more documents I could prepare. However, there are actually a couple more documents that I need to submit. The following are documents which are only given to you once you have completed all the other requirements. They ask you to sign and date the oath in their presence. They were very particular with the "in their presence" part, hence why they don't give the forms in advance.
宣èªæž #1, Oath to the Japanese Constitution宣èªæž #2, Oath to renounce all current citizenships
As usual, numbering is continued from parts 1 and 2.
The oath to the Japanese constitution is my promise to obey the Japanese constitution and laws. The oath to renounce all current nationalities is my promise to fulfill requirement #5 of naturalization, which is to be exclusively (to the extent of my ability) a Japanese citizen.
With the oaths done, we went to the naturalization application form. He asked me to glue my 5x5 photos to the two copies of the application form, and write the date when I took them.
Middle name issues
He
commented on how I wrote my current (pre-naturalization) name on the
naturalization application form. Japan does not have a concept of a "middle name". You only have the family name (
This
struck me as odd, because in Japan I wouldn't say my last name is
"Miller Smith". But then again, saying that my name is "Daniel Miller"
isn't quite correct either. He told me that that is how it would appear
in my
The last thing to sign
Now that everything is in order, he told me that he would ask verbally one last time, as a matter of formalities, "Are you, of your own free will, applying for Japanese citizenship, and are you fully aware of everything that entails?". I answered, "Yes". He replied in turn, "Very well, in that case, please sign your name and write the date on the naturalization application forms". And so I wrote.
Application accepted
He collected all of my documents, and told me "We (the Legal Affairs Bureau) now formally accept your application.". I breathed a sigh of relief. He gave me a green A5-sized card, with the date of my application and the phone number and mailing address of the Legal Affairs Bureau. "Your
Explanation of what comes next
The case worker exited the room, and another person came in. This person explained the details of the contact card. He told me that they will be examining my application and documents in more detail, and that if necessary, they may ask me to submit additional documents. Also, as written in the card, he told me to call the legal affairs bureau whenever any of the following happened:
- A change in my address or contact information
- This one is obvious, as they need to be able to contact me. Also, I can imagine that if I am moving outside their jurisdiction (for example, moving from Nagoya to Tokyo), they would hand over the application to the appropriate Legal Affairs Bureau in charge of my new area of residence.
- A change in my civil status (marriage, birth of child, death of immediate family, etc.)
- These might entail a change in some of the required documents, and potentially a change in the conditions of naturalization. Also ultimately, these can affect what goes on my family register.
- A change in my place of employment
- Both changing your employer (moving jobs) and changing your work address at the same employer must be reported
- When I go out of and return to Japan (at least 1 month before departure, and a few days after returning)
- They explained that this is necessary because they (Japan) do not want to naturalize someone while he/she is outside of Japan. The person explaining told me to avoid traveling outside Japan as much as possible after the formal interview, as the results of the application can come out any time.
- I commit a traffic violation, or am in involved in a traffic accident
- This might affect my "good conduct" score and thus, my eligibility to naturalize.
- If my SoR and/or its valid period changes
- They just want to know that you are maintaining a valid SoR throughout the application period. In my case, my SoR was valid until 2026, so this was a non-issue.
- I want to change my post-naturalization name or
æ¬ç± , registered domicile - They told me that if I had a change of heart, I could still change my preferred post-naturalization name or registered domicile until the day of the formal interview.
- Any changes or corrections to the documents or information I submitted with regards to my application
And that marks the end of my third and last consultation. As I was being led out of the consultation room, the Legal Affairs Bureau representative said, "If you don't receive a call from us, take that as a sign that things are going well and there are no problems with your application". Fair enough, no news is good news, I guess?
Final (*) consultation?
Although this was my last consultation, it is not my final interaction with the Legal Affairs Bureau. I still have to wait for the formal interview. During my "downtime" waiting for correspondence from the Legal Affairs Bureau, I have to keep in contact with them regarding any changes in my status. Also, that means that there will be a 4-6 month gap to my next update in this blog, unless something interesting happens.
Wrapping up
Let's take a look at the rough timeline of my journey so far:
About 3 months have elapsed between when I first called the Legal Affairs Bureau and when I finished my third consultation. Also, it took a bit over 2 months to get the civil documents from the Philippines. COVID did have a part to play some delays during the entire process, but that's a story best told in its own article. Till next time!
