Becoming legally Japanese comments

I feel I need political power to increase the visi...

2012-05-30T21:05:27.186+09:00

I feel I need political power to increase the visibility of Japanese of foreign origin so Eido your contacts would be appreciated to find out what I would be up against.

10-15000 thousand does not seem like a lot but it ...

2012-05-30T21:00:06.963+09:00

10-15000 thousand does not seem like a lot but it is not zero. Japan is one of the few countries that ask for a commitment, that is no second passport safety nets.

"Repercussions"? With respect to natural...

2012-05-26T18:17:40.319+09:00

"Repercussions"? With respect to naturalization? Technically speaking, no, though you will still have to qualify to show that you can maintain a living in Japan without easily ending up on welfare. There is debate on Japanese immigration sites about this, but many sites try to discourage the counting of "student years" as part of your "years of residency in Japan", because the MoJ may look at those years and see if you were showing evidence of living "unprotected and un-sheltered" during your time as a student.

As for the five years, the "extra two to three years of processing" phrase makes me think you're confused and you think it takes five years to process a naturalization application. It doesn't. It usually takes less than a year (sometimes less than half a year) to process a formally submitted application. "Five years" means "five years of physical residency in Japan prior to applying for citizenship."

So if I started my immigration process on a studen...

2012-05-26T11:57:53.170+09:00

So if I started my immigration process on a student visa,I would be allowed to switch to a workers visa after about two years or so without any repercussions?

And when they say five years,do they literally mean a straight forward five years or do they mean five years with an extra two to three years of processing like some other countries do?

I'm somewhat interested in running but less no...

2012-05-08T20:10:55.223+09:00

I'm somewhat interested in running but less now than I was in the past. I feel uncomfortable taking tax payer money since the government took so much from me last year even though I have a non-working wife and five children.

That makes sense. For people in Japan, then, the ...

2012-05-07T23:44:20.649+09:00

That makes sense. For people in Japan, then, the fee would almost never apply. Also makes sense that the US government would charge more for those cases. Probably costs them much more in legal fees. Great news for Americans wanting to acquire Japanese citizenship.

It actually is possible to renounce your U.S. citi...

2012-05-07T06:49:59.107+09:00

It actually is possible to renounce your U.S. citizenship without having another to fall back on. The U.S. simply makes it very difficult to do so (for good reason).

Read the blog http://nostate.com/ for an example of an American who renounced with the intention of becoming stateless.

Same for me. I didn't have to pay anything wh...

2012-05-06T21:38:42.223+09:00

Same for me. I didn't have to pay anything when I renounced my US citizenship in December 2010. That came as a surprise, as I was expecting to get hit with a big bill. I didn't ask for an explanation, so I don't know what the story is, but your explanation doesn't really make sense, since the US doesn't normally allow anyone to give up their citizenship without having another one. Regardless of the reason, I was happy to not have to pay. I also remember being impressed by how courteous and professional the US embassy staff handled my case.

I've been trying to recruit more foreign polit...

2012-05-06T16:15:51.564+09:00

I've been trying to recruit more foreign politicians with the intent of getting 30+ foreign-born councilors elected before I retire. I would love to have a yearly symposium with instruction on how to deal with various situations that are likely to come up as well as create a network for those times when experience can help negotiate a best case scenario for sticky situations.

I have a conundrum I'm dealing with right now, for example, where I have to choose whether to censure the mayor for being a corrupt dick or abstain on a 50-50 vote. Abstaining would mean the mayor will avoid censure this time.

My intent is to be on good terms when he wins the election this Nov. If I support the censure motion it will help any challengers. Unfortunately, the only challenger I've heard about is probably going to worse than the present mayor. So, do I support the censure motion on principle, knowing the mayor will not change his ways or do I try to use the situation in order to further my own goals? I wish I had 30 experienced brains to consult.

You know you could always run for local city counc...

2012-05-06T10:32:31.274+09:00

You know you could always run for local city councilor in your city. I can connect you with the people that can tell you what you need to do.

remember reading about Tsurunen in my political sc...

2012-05-06T10:15:27.769+09:00

remember reading about Tsurunen in my political science class at university about 20 years ago. Our professor gave us a clipping from the New York Times about him. Surely there have to be some more game naturalized people around.

2012-05-06T10:06:04.323+09:00

This comment has been removed by the author.

I have discovered, through personal experience, th...

2012-05-04T08:47:43.132+09:00

I have discovered, through personal experience, that this is doesn't apply to Americans who turn Japanese. That, according to the U.S. embassy, is considered to be "expatriating yourself", not "renouncing", and is still free.

This fee applies to people who are getting rid of their U.S. nationality without first becoming a national of another nation with the intent of giving up U.S. citizenship.

I received my "official Japanese name" o...

2012-04-28T15:08:33.655+09:00

I received my "official Japanese name" on Tueday, after six months of preperations and the City Office consulting with Immigration and the Ministry of Justice. I was told that it is very unusual in my part of the country. In fact, even the official that I hadn't talked to in six months immediately remembered the Japanese name that I wanted after not having seen him for six months. I am now officially 下地　亜莉栖　「シモジ　アリス」。My passport first name is Alice, and since there are some women in Japan named ありす, I kept my first name and just picked a last name that is very common around here.

I had to bring in a lot of proof that I was actually using this name before it could be changed. I was told that they require you to use it consistenly and long term before switching it on paper for you. I made a list of eleven settings where I use my Japanese name, and proof to go along with it.

My health insurance card now only says 下地　亜莉栖 with no katakana.

So, it is possible still, but it isn't very easy. ^-^

well, what can we say. japanese is such a beautifu...

2012-03-30T12:58:51.963+09:00

well, what can we say. japanese is such a beautiful and addicting cuontry hahahahautogate

I believe that getting permanent residence without...

2012-03-05T17:49:15.141+09:00

I believe that getting permanent residence without Japanese family connections is as difficult as acquiring citizenship. I know a single American man who got permanent residence after 10 years of consecutive residence (over 15 years total residence). Most people I have met don't go for either own their own even if they are eligible to. I suppose people want the best chance of being approved.

10 years continuous means tens years, back to back...

2012-03-04T20:28:55.280+09:00

10 years continuous means tens years, back to back, with each year having no more than 100 days outside of the country in a row and no more than 150 days outside of the country in a year total for each year.

However, if you are marrying or married to a Japanese or a permanent resident of Japan, you do not have to wait 10 years to qualify for permanent residency.

If you are married to a Japanese or someone with PR, you need to be married for at least three years (to prove that the marriage is not a sham) and only be in Japan for one (1) year.

Also, even if you're not married, it's possible to get PR in less than 10 years (no less than five) if you're judged to be an extraordinary asset to Japan.

Any idea on how they feel about returnees, all I s...

2012-03-04T19:42:45.819+09:00

Any idea on how they feel about returnees, all I see on the net mentions '10 years continuous'. I lived in Japan for 10 years, had to move to Hong Kong with work, married to a Japanese national and intend to come back and would like to apply for PR. Does anyone have any thoughts on that, or any examples anywhere? I have only been away for 18 months, but would hate to think I need to do another 10 years of temporary visa applications. Especially as I in effect coming back for good.

Hi MDesign Studio. That's not an easy question...

2012-01-23T23:57:42.018+09:00

Hi MDesign Studio. That's not an easy question and has a complicated answer, which depends case by case. Please read the pages on this site entitled "Steps", "Q&A", and "Docs" for further info and a starting point.

hi there, If I am qualified for simplified natura...

2012-01-22T11:19:08.632+09:00

hi there,

If I am qualified for simplified naturalization, what are the required documents when apply for Japanese nationality?

Thanks!

Kenji: I do plan on convering the 家族の概要 {kazoku no...

2011-12-15T09:15:21.330+09:00

Kenji: I do plan on convering the 家族の概要 {kazoku no gaiyō} (family overview) form, which actually has a checkbox selection where you indicate whether your family member is "for" your naturalization, "against" your naturalization, or indifferent.

I don't actually know a lot of people who are ...

2011-12-13T12:51:34.788+09:00

I don't actually know a lot of people who are in a position to be thinking about naturalization. Most of my friends are Japanese, and the handful who aren't are pretty universally attached to their home country, whether they realistically expect to ever live there again or not. So I don't recommend it to a lot of people, but if I met someone in a similar situation to my own, I probably would.

I was only 28 when I naturalized, but other than that I meet all of your criteria. ;)

Kenji, that's interesting that the attitude toward children seems to be different based on your spouse's nationality (??? or possibly just on your case worker?). My children ended up accompanying me to the MOJ a few times because there was nowhere else for them to be, but I don't remember anything that seemed to be even a casual test of how much Japanese they could speak. Even when they visited my house (I made sure that all the Anpanman and Kamen Rider toys were out and visible! LOL) they hardly looked at ANYTHING, definitely didn't scour the bookshelf for English picture books or open the refrigerator as I've heard other people mention.

That may just be because they had already met my husband and seen that we speak Japanese to each other. It's really interesting to see how things differ from case to case.

If you are married to a non-Japanese spouse I woul...

2011-12-13T11:44:31.391+09:00

If you are married to a non-Japanese spouse I would certainly say that the officials are interested in knowing whether he or she supports the decision to naturalize and has any interest in naturalizing as well. You can naturalize as a family but there is the language requirement that must be met by both adults. In my case the officials got a general idea of how integrated my kids were the day they came to hang out at my house. Having said that, there is more leniency languagewise for children although Japanese would be expected to be the dominant language. We naturalized as a family minus one because my wife didn't meet the requirement at the time.

Funny you should mention that. I looked into why t...

2011-12-09T09:49:16.170+09:00

Funny you should mention that. I looked into why they want a separate "proof of citizenship" in addition to your passport.

The reason, they explained, was because passports can be valid for up to ten years, but the MoJ likes documentation to be no more than six months old where ever possible.

A passport that has been issued for less than six months ago can be used as proof of citizenship.

If the document in question presents a common enou...

2011-12-08T22:24:43.032+09:00

If the document in question presents a common enough problem, sometimes your case worker at the MOJ might be able to help you as well. The US Embassy initially told me that there was no certificate of citizenship for a non-naturalized US citizen and that my passport was proof of my nationality... apparently (possibly depending on who you talk to) this is a fairly common response from the US Embassy, and my case worker was able to give me a copy of someone else's certificate of citizenship to take to the embassy and say "This. Give me this." Some documents they might not be able to help you with, but it's worth a shot to ask. They've got lots of previous examples in those folders to share, at least if you're lucky enough to get an enthusiastic case worker like mine was.