Naturalization Story Part 4: The interview, the long wait, and the result

I believe I made the choice the moment I applied

Hello everyone. It has been a year since I formally applied for citizenship. I am happy to announce that I finally have an update: I am officially Japanese!

It took a bit more than a year, and in the interim, there was nothing to do but wait. And wait. And come for the interview. Then wait some more. Here is what happened during that time.

The Naturalization Interview

I got the call for the interview from the Legal Affairs Bureau some time in February 2022. Along with deciding the interview date, I was asked to bring some additional documents:

Additional Documents

For me

  1. ねんきん定期便nenkin teikibin, Pension coverage letter
  2. A copy of my parents' passports' data page

For my fiancée

  1. 住民票jūminhyō, Certificate of Residence
  2. 市県民税納税証明書shikenminzei nōzeishōmeishō, Certificate of payment of municipal and prefectural tax
  3. 市民税県民税証明書shiminzei kenminzei nōzeishōmeishō, Certificate of residents’ tax

 For both me and my fiancée

  1. 源泉徴収票gensenchōshūhyō, Certificate of income and withholding tax for the past year
  2. 給与明細kyūyomeisai, Salary payment slips for the last 3 months

Of note here is that I have already submitted my 源泉徴収票gensenchōshūhyō once before, but they wanted a copy of my latest (2021) 源泉徴収票gensenchōshūhyō.

Apart from the above documents, I was also asked to present (but not submit) my residence card, driver's license, passport, and health insurance card. Also, they asked me to come with my fiancée, as they will be interviewing her as well.

The Interview

I went to the Nagoya Legal Affairs Bureau, as I have done thrice previously. I was led to the consultation room first, while my fiancée waited outside. My caseworker basically went through all my submitted documents with me, occassionally asking questions here and there, and confirming that my answers are in line with my submitted documents. There were also some questions which were unrelated to my documents, such as:

  • Why did you come to Japan?
  • Why do you want to become Japanese?
  • How did you meet your fiancée?
  • Can you explain in detail what you do for work?
  • Do you have plans to (permanently) go back to your home country?
  • What are your plans for when your parents age and need care?

 My caseworker was taking notes as I was talking, so my answers to these quesitons will undoubtedly be important in whether I get approved or not. However, there were no unanswerable or "trick" questions.

My interview took about an hour and a half. After that they interviewed my fiancée for about ten minutes, and that was it. I was told that the results would come within about six months.

 The Results

The call

In early August, I called my caseworker to notify them that I had renewed my (foreign) passport. It was expiring soon, and with no idea when I would get my naturalization results, and not willing to be stuck without a passport, I chose to renew. They asked me to send a copy of the cover and data page.

But wait, there's more!

My caseworker asked me if I had more time to talk, because she needed to check if anything has changed about my situation. It was at this point that I thought, "This is the thing I've read about online! This is a sign that my application is going to be approved!". I said yes, and she asked me if I still lived at the same place, if I didn't have children or get married, if I still worked at the same company, if I had plans to go out of Japan in the next couple of months, etc. Basically the things that you have to report to the Legal Affairs Bureau while waiting for the results. I answered that nothing has changed, and she told me that my results would come "soon".

Seeing my name in the 官報kanpō

I should mention that since about a month after my interview, I have been checking the 官報kanpō, or official gazette every day. And in the past month or so, my fiancée has started checking it too.

One morning in mid-August, I was awakened by my very excited fiancée, pointing to her phone. There I saw it: my name was on the official gazette.

Becoming legally Japanese

The day my name was published in the official gazette, I was already legally Japanese, although I had no documents to prove it yet. A couple of days later, my caseworker called me, told me that my application was approved, and I could pick my naturalization documents up at the Legal Affairs Bureau or they could mail it to me. I chose to pick them up. I received the following documents:

  1. Instructions about the required procedures after naturalization
  2. 帰化届kikatodoke, notice of naturalization
  3. 帰化者の身分証明書 {kikasha no mibun shōmeisho}, the proof of identity of naturalized person
  4. A "Choice of nationality" flyer from the MoJ

In the instructions, there are 3 things I have to do.

  1. Submit the 帰化届kikatodoke to my local city hall within 1 month of my naturalization
  2. Surrender my 在留カードzairyū KĀDO to immigration within 14 days of my naturalization
  3. Renounce/relinquish my non-Japanese citizenship within 2 years of my naturalization

 I have done 1 and 2, and plan to do 3 in the near future.

Epilogue

All in all, it took about 13 months from application to approval. It's only been a few days, so I still haven't fully internalized that I am now officially, legally Japanese. There definitely was some trepidation when I put my residence card in an envelope and mailed it to immigration ("what if the police ask me for it?"). But now I'm starting to get that warm, fuzzy feeling, and find myself smiling for no reason.

I'm Japanese, I no longer need a visa to stay in Japan. In fact, I have the right to stay in Japan. I can take on any job I want, or none at all, without fear of being in breach of my SoR.

I'm still waiting for my civil records to be updated, so I can get a 住民票jūminhyō, which I'll need to update my driver's license, bank/credit cards, etc., and a 戸籍謄本kosekitōhon, so I can apply for a Japanese passport. I might write about those if I have anything interesting to share, but for now, thank you for following my story thus far.

Location: 2-chōme-2-1 Sannomaru, Naka Ward, Nagoya, Aichi 460-0001, Japan

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