I’m not looking to move to Japan right now as I’m happy in LA and I visit Japan and have access to Japanese culture pretty easily but I’ve considered getting a Nikkeii visa for a while now so I could live in Japan and work on my next novel for as long as it takes and maybe buy one of those abandoned homes in the countryside and retire there for part of every year.
I’m 1/4 Japanese, my grandmother was Japanese and was born in Osaka, my hafu mom was born in Yokohama but she never got Japanese citizenship because she was born on an American army base, my sobo passed away back in 2003, but I’ve maintained contact with my Japanese cousins and aunt who I visit every time I go to Japan.
I’ve been wondering how much time and money it would take for me to apply for a Nikkei visa. Tracing my fam’s soseki would probably be easy since I can just ask my cousin’s wife whose English is better than my nihongo, but after that it looks like I would need to get my grandmother’s marriage certificate and also my mom’s and my birth certificate for starters. Anything else I need to do? Contact a Japanese immigration lawyer? Those of you that have experience in this topic, what do you recommend?
by dmitrifromparis