Becoming Japanese

A person from the internet sent in this question to this site asking how a divorce from a Japanese national affects application for naturalization. It took me a while to get the answer to this question, as I have no direct experience with this. I finally managed to have a lunch with my contact at the MoJ, who gave me an easy answer. In my particular case, being married for over ten years to a Japanese reduced my "continuous residency requirement" from five years to a mere one year. Being married for this length of time also reduced the requirements, including residency (again to just one year), for permanent residency — which is not a prerequisite for Japanese naturalization. Divorce from a Japanese national does not negatively affect your chances for naturalization to Japan. It may indirectly affect your chances depending on how the divorce affects your livelihood (meaning your assets and your income), but the event taking place in your past does not affect the six ...

"Naturalize and become a Japanese!" It's been a while since I've written about a source of information on the internet that was incorrect. This next entry is unusual in that it comes from a source that should be reputable: a lawyer/consultant specializing in Japanese immigration. On the page titled "I want to become a Japanese national" written by the Tokyo Immigration Service (Immigration Solicitor 佐藤正巳 { MASAMI Satō } ), the following is written under "1. Duration of Stay": You are required to have a valid visa ( Status of Residence ) from the Immigration Bureau of Japan at the time of application and you must have been living in Japan for at least 5 years. Also the bureau confirms whether you have been living in Japan at least 80% of the 365 days every year. The time spent on a Student visa cannot be counted in this 5 year period. This isn't exactly true: all valid continuous 在留資格 { zairyū shikaku } (Status of Residence; SoR)...

According to the 官報 { kampō } (Official Gazette [of the Japanese Diet]), "Living Treasure" Donald Keene acquired Japanese naturalization on March 8th, 2012. At a press conference held at his home (!), he commented, 「待ちわびていた知らせ。うれしく思いました」 { "Machiwabite ita shirase. Ureshiku omoimashita." } ("This is news I've been waiting for. I'm pleased.") Like most people that get naturalized in Japan, he received the news via telephone from a case worker. Professor Keene, who has received numerous awards from both the U.S. and Japan, decided to acquire Japanese citizenship soon after the east Japan tsunami and earthquake disaster. The process only took about four months, which is a bit on the fast side compared to most applicants, who normally take anywhere from over a half a year to sometimes over a year. Some people speculate that his advanced age (89) and his indisputable contributions to Japanese society may have contributed to the speed of his pr...

I travel, for business, a lot . I travel so much that the idea of a Japanese passport was appealing to me because it would simplify my travel compared to using a U.S. passport from a Japan base. (ex. visas to India take longer to process if you apply as a non-Japanese in Japan, and it's harder for Americans to get into China than Japanese. I can now also indulge in Cuban cigars and rum if I choose to vacation there). I have Chinese friends that naturalized to Japanese for professional reasons; it is too hard to travel for business on a PRC passport, they say. From a qualifications for Japanese citizenship point of view, my biggest concern was that I spent too many days outside of Japan to count years as "consecutive years of residence". Spend more than 100 days continuous or 150 days total outside of Japan and it doesn't count as a "year of residence". Likewise, I carefully watch the calendar to make sure I don't spend more than a month total in the ...

This post isn't about naturalization to Japan. It's about the acquisition of nationality by birth to unmarried parents, one of whom has Japanese nationality and one who doesn't. But since this blog/site is called "Becoming legally Japanese", it fits, so we'll cover it. Japan modified its nationality laws for three years: starting January 1st, 2009 and ending December 31st of 2011 last year. The new law said that if the father was Japanese, and acknowledged paternity, then the child could receive Japanese nationality even if they were never married. This addresses a problem where a mother, who does not have Japanese nationality, had a child with a Japanese father, but was unable to secure Japanese nationality immediately after birth (or the reverse). This process is different from naturalization. All you need to do is: file the paperwork showing that the father or mother acknowledged paternity Be a minor (under 20 years of age) Never have pre...

Is there a status or visa you should have that gives you a better chance of being naturalized? Is it better to be on a "spousal visa" or be a "permanent resident" to increase your chances of being naturalized? The answer is that it doesn't matter. The most important thing is that your status in Japan is and always has been proper: You've never overstayed your status; you've never forgotten to renew your status (even by one day); you've never worked on a status that doesn't permit work (including a temporary landing permit); you've never done work outside of your status' area (for example, engineering work on a humanities status). Having permanent residency status, unlike many other countries, is not a prerequisite for naturalization. Now, there are some status that may hint that you qualify for 簡易帰化 { kan'i kika } (simplified naturalization). For example: 家族滞在 { kazoku taizai } (living with family) 特別永住者 { tokubetsu e...

Naturalization is not a visa. There is no stamp in your passport. You don't even get an identification card that says you are Japanese (although you can apply for one). You're just a Japanese citizen. Forever. Until you die. And you're still considered to be a Japanese citizen after you die. Though a dead one. We're only going to cover the most common case here for visas, as there are hundreds of combinations and cases and special rules for every circumstance and focusing on visas or permanent residency is outside of the scope of this site. Permanent residency and special permanent residency in Japan, by the way, are also not "visas" — as you can't get them overseas — or status of residences, even though they look like status of residency stamps in your passport and they're usually listed with the other statuses on immigration web sites. Permant residency is only obtainable once you have a status of residence in Japan. You can skip being a per...