Am I still a Japanese citizen?

8 comments

1. I am somewhat in the same situation, but I was born in Japan and adopted and no nothing about my Japanese family and would like to move back to Japan one day with a family and live there at least 3 or 4yrs

2. I would go to the Japanese embassy in the country where you presently live and ask your questions there. They will give you proper information.

   Did your mother ever register your birth in Japan?

   Did you ever have a Japanese passport? If you have these documents you should bring them with you to the embassy.

   I would not suggest you share your mother’s other nationality with the embassy. You are inquiring about yourself and you were born from a Japanese mother.

3. If you were born outside of Japan to a Japanese national and you acquired a foreign nationality due to being born in that country then in order to keep your Japanese nationality your Japanese parent would need to have filed a notification of intention to retain Japanese nationality on your behalf within 3 months of your birth.

   If she did that, your Japanese nationality would not be automatically revoked just by you turning 22. If she didn’t, then you would have lost your Japanese nationality when you were still a baby.

4. Well, I think having a lawyer would actually help you than asking redditors

5. I guess you have to ask?

6. For those who will see this later, if you were born as dual national, you can keep your Japanese citizenship indefinitely, as long as you don’t acquire another citizenship by choice. You should make the declaration of choice of your intention to retain your Japanese citizenship by age 20, but not doing so does not mean your citizenship becomes invalid- it can only be revoked by an act of the Minister of Justice and they are not in the business of removing citizenships in this way, at least for now.

   In OP’s case, since your mom naturalized, she instantly lost her Japanese citizenship and you were never Japanese. But if you wanted to square everything away and formally renounce the Japanese citizenship, you can file a notification of renouncing Japanese nationality (国籍離脱届 kokuseki ridatsu todoke) to your embassy.

7. >*Was my citizenship automatically revoked when I was 22 or is it just waiting to be revoked?*

   Recently, the age of adulthood was changed from 20 to 18 years of age in Japan, so the age of notification/choice of nationality is now when you turn 20 years of age (2 years after becoming an adult). If you don’t advise of a choice at the time, you’re taken to have elected to surrender your Japanese citizenship.

   Having said that, losing your Japanese nationality if you fail to notify the Japanese government is not automatic because, as far as I understand it, as the government needs to realise that you failed to advise of your choice and it then needs to make an actual decision. So, although the Japanese government certainly can revoke your Japanese nationality if you fail to make a choice, it may not get around to actually doing so.

   >*Would a I have any issues traveling to Japan if I do have a revoked citizenship?*

   If your Japanese citizenship has been revoked but you try to travel on a Japanese passport – yes, you will have issues! However, if you travel on a different passport then no, you won’t have any issues.

   However, if you do still have Japanese citizenship then, legally, you should enter and exit Japan using your Japanese passport.

   For people with dual citizenship living in Country A (say, the US) and travelling to Country B (say, Japan), the process is:

   – Depart Country A using Country A passport;
   – Enter Country B using Country B passport;
   – Depart Country B using Country B passport;
   – Enter Country A using Country A passport.

   >*For personal reasons, I’m not looking to live in Japan, I’m actually interested in making sure I don’t have a Japanese citizenship*

   That’s fine and it’s entirely up to you, if that is what you want to do.

   If it’s something you’re concerned about, then simply get in touch with your local Japanese consulate or embassy and say you want to make a choice about your nationality. If they are able to access your records, they might be able to tell you if you’re still listed as a Japanese national, or whether your citizenship has been revoked.

   If they don’t know, or if it hasn’t been revoked, the consulate or embassy can send you a 国籍選択届 (“kokuseki sentaku todoke”), a declaration of nationality form. You can fill out the form and declare that you are renouncing your Japanese nationality.

   I will say, however, that there’s generally no harm in having a second nationality and so it’s not something you actually need to renounce.

8. My kid was born in Japan in 2010, I’m a US citizen, so they have dual.

   At that time I was given to understand that Japan would revoke the Japanese citizenship at age 18. Or more specifically, a choice of which one to keep must be made at that time, or the Japanese citizenship would be revoked automatically.

   I also heard some people saying they just keep quiet about it and Japan won’t bother doing anything to them.

   Now it sounds like things have changed, or perhaps my understanding was wrong the whole time. Anyone know which?