Japanese Citizenship

Benefits

Becoming a citizen of Japan provides you with a lot of benefits by granting you the full set of the exact same rights as those of Japanese-born citizens. These include, for example:

• The right to vote in elections. Naturalized citizens are expected to participate in elections.
• The right to run for a public office. For example, for a local assembly or even for the Diet.
• The right to become a civil servant. For example, a judge, a prosecutor, the police, or even the Self-Defence Forces.
• To travel freely in and out of Japan without a re-entry permit and without time limitation.
• To travel to many countries around the world without a visa, since Japanese passport is one of the world’s most powerful ones.

Where to apply?

Applications and interviews are handled by the Bureau of Legal Affairs of your residence area. But the decision about your citizenship is done by the Ministry of Justice.

Requirements and Prerequisites

Continuous residence in Japan. An applicant must be living in Japan for more than 5 years at the moment of application and have a valid visa (officially called the Status of Residence or SOR for short). However, this rule in not applicable to the years of residency spent under the student visa. Those will not be counted. This requirement also implies that you were spending at least 80% of each granted residency period in Japan.

Age. An applicant must be at least 20 years of age and must be officially considered to be an adult in their home county. Nevertheless, this rule is not applicable to dependent children under 20 years of age who are applying together with the adult applicants.

Good moral conduct. This term is vague and hard for many to interpret and understand. It is best to think of it as the perfect record of your previous day-to-day life both in Japan and in your own home country. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Being a good member of society that does not create any disturbances to other people. For example, being involved in a traffic accident or a bar fight, having unpaid debts and/or taxes, being in any way connected to people with a questionable behavior can make the processing time very long due to investigations or even lead to rejection of your application. Any misconduct that is deemed to be a minor thing in your country can be seen in a very harsh light in Japan.
• Paying your taxes.
• Being enrolled in the Japanese National Pension System and show the proofs of your payments.
• Paying your National Health Security Insurance

All precedents will be closely examined and assessed. The type, severity, and circumstances of any possible offense will be taken into consideration. Having a criminal record does not automatically mean the rejection of an application, but it is better not to have any.

Financial wellbeing. You and/or somebody else in your household should be capable of sustaining your livelihood. It means having a stable and sufficient income for yourself if you are single or for the members of your family if you have one. If you are a spouse of the Japanese national, you will have to prove that your marriage is genuine and both of you are living together. Students can sometimes rely on a regular and sufficient financing from their parents when it is applicable.

Single citizenship. Japan does not recognize double or multiple citizenships. If you wish to be naturalized in Japan, you have to denounce all the other citizenships as soon as you get your Japanese one. You will have two years to complete this requirement. If you are caught having double citizenship, you will face severe punishments that would probably be permanent.

Respect the Constitution of Japan. You have to respect and follow the Law and you should never be involved in any political violence against the Constitution of Japan or the Government of Japan, planning of any such violation acts, or supporting any groups that are planning or trying to carry out any violence again the Japanese government or the Constitution of Japan. Simply speaking, you should not be a member or a supporter of any group deemed to be terroristic. You will have to sign an oath where you swear to respect and follow the Law, maintain only the Japanese citizenship, etc.

Language skills. While not too high, there are some minimal requirements regarding the applicant’s abilities to communicate in Japanese. One should have a proficiency equivalent to Japanese primary school student, who is on average 7 or 8 years old. That includes:

• Being able to read and write both Japanese alphabets, hiragana and katakana
• Being able to understand basic hieroglyphs called kanji
• Being able to smoothly verbally communicate and understand what is said in Japanese. If you do not have any language proficiency certification (Japanese Language Proficiency Test Certificate or any other officially recognized document) you can assess your level by asking yourself if you could comfortably communicate with the immigration officer or perform cashier duties in a supermarket.

Inspection. Sometimes an official from the Bureau of Legal Affairs may come to inspect your home and a workplace and to talk to your neighbors. It is needed to verify the information you have provided in your papers. Such visits are not very common and usually do not happen, if your home and work addresses can be easily checked on the internet or if the naturalization office is overwhelmed with other applicants and is unable to visit all the applicants.

What documents do I need?

The set of documents you will have to prepare may vary from person to person. It depends on the previous residential statuses as well as your past and present personal circumstances. Moreover, the Bureau of Legal Affairs has the right to request more documents of their choice for inspection and clarification along the way if they deem it to be necessary for making a decision. Some of the main documents you need to provide include but are not limited to:

• An application form
• Two photos 5 cm x 5 cm
• A clarification letter explaining your desire to become a Japanese citizen (handwritten in Japanese by the applicants themselves)
• Proof of your current citizenship. For example, a certificate of birth.
• Resume
• Certificates of skills and qualifications. For example, a Japanese Language Proficiency Test Certificate.
• Diploma(s)
• Written oath
• Home and work addresses (sometimes you might need the maps of the nearby areas)
• Information about your family in your home country and in Japan as instructed by the officer
• The list of your relatives (you might have to write their names in Japanese)
• Clarification of your financial situation and livelihood:
  • Certificate of employment
  • Documents related to your business or a business of a family member (if applicable): company’s registration and financial statements, applicable licenses, etc.
  • Documents regarding your tax payments: income tax returns, enrolment in the Japanese National Pension System, availability of national health insurance, etc.
  • Clarification of your assets: bank statements, real-estate records, securities, etc.
• Your current Japanese residence card
• Driving record