Becoming Japanese

A regular job is good / best, but not always necessary As this site is in English, I often get questions from people whose native language is English and they have worked and lived in Japan for quite some time. Of that subset of people, three types of employment come up most often: English teachers Software programmers Japanese to English translators Of these professions, it's not uncommon for them to be contractor work, freelance, or self-employed — rather than working as a regular employee ( 正社員 { seishain } ) at a Japanese company. I'm often asked by people "how much money do I have to make to qualify for naturalization?" While Japan's MoJ ( 法務省 { hōmushō } ) doesn't reveal their exact criteria, I have spoken to case officers and inquired about other successful applicants, and the general answer is: you don't have to make much . The generic answer is: if your take-home income, minus your liabilities (debts, expenses for food a...

Today's question comes from an email who asks if an American makes too much money, is there a chance that his attempt to relinquish his U.S. citizenship will be denied? Also, will Japan permit a wealthy person to skip the relinquishment process so they don't have to pay the U.S. Exit Tax? Can you skip any other step if you're wealthy or famous? The quick answer all of these questions is "no". As long as you go through the expatriation process properly (ex. you can't just storm into the embassy, claim you're mad because you preferred political party didn't get into power, and light your passport & your country's flag on fire *), the U.S. will not deny an American the ability to willfully self relinquish or renounce their citizenship. It's not a constitutional right like in Japan, but it is a right codified into U.S. law. * Fun trivia: not only will burning your passport not cause you to lose your nationality, it may get you in trouble...