Citizenship Question

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Betsy Ross Patriots

後輩

4 Feb 2008

15

0

• 1 Mar 2008

• #1

My husband was born to a Japanese mother and an American serviceman in the 1950s. They were not married. His mother gave birth in a Japanese hospital and his father was not in the country at the time.

His father came back to Japan and they married 5 years later. They had 3 more children in Japan, all who were born in a US military hospital.

So, my question is this, is my husband a Japanese citizen or an American citizen?

He came to the U.S. in 1963. He has never returned to Japan. He holds a U.S. passport, but a Japanese birth certificate.

He was never naturalized as a US citizen, so I wonder what is going on. His Mama will not discuss it.

Is he Japanese or American?

 

orochi

便利屋

1 May 2004

692

25

• 1 Mar 2008

• #2

If he has a US passport, it sounds like he is a US citizen.

 

Hiroyuki Nagashima

TAN

Twenty-year veteran

18 Jan 2005

11,682

3,643

• 1 Mar 2008

• #3

Please examine a family register at a government office of the district where his birth certificate says it.
If a family register is left,
He may restore Japanese citizenship.
But, by a Japanese law, he cannot have two dual nationalities,
He must choose an American citizen or a Japanese citizen.

 

FrustratedDave

先輩

19 May 2007

1,716

113

• 1 Mar 2008

• #4

Hiroyuki Nagashima said:

Please examine a family register at a government office of the district where his birth certificate says it.
If a family register is left,
He may restore Japanese citizenship.
But, by a Japanese law, he cannot have two dual nationalities,
He must choose an American citizen or a Japanese citizen.

Click to expand...

What he said..........

 

Mike Cash

骨も命も皆此の土地に埋めよう

Twenty-year veteran

15 Mar 2002

16,758

2,298

• 2 Mar 2008

• #5

He was born at a time when Japanese citizenship passed from father to child, not mother to child. While his birth would have been registered, lacking a Japanese father he would not have acquired Japanese citizenship at birth. Japan is a jus sanguinis country, not jus soli.

 

undrentide

Japa'n vagyok

18 Jan 2006

3,652

310

• 2 Mar 2008

• #6

The present law came into force on 1st July 1950, I think it is worthwhile for him to check if he has "koseki (registry) in Japan....

 

Mike Cash

骨も命も皆此の土地に埋めよう

Twenty-year veteran

15 Mar 2002

16,758

2,298

• 2 Mar 2008

• #7

I thought it was later than that.

 

Glenski

Just me

Twenty-year veteran

20 Aug 2003

4,910

416

• 2 Mar 2008

• #8

If he was born in the 1950s, then he is way past the age that he had to choose his citizenship (age 22). The fact that he holds an American passport shows what the choice was, even if he didn't understand/know the situation then.

 

B

Betsy Ross Patriots

後輩

4 Feb 2008

15

0

• 2 Mar 2008

• Thread starter
• #9

When I researched Japan's immigration website I thought I read that if an unwed Japanese woman gives birth to a child of a foreigner that the child takes the citizenship of the mother.

My husband was born in 1951. His parents were not married when he was born. His father was not even in the country when he was born, and returned 5 years later to marry Mama. My husband was born in a Japanese hospital, not a military base. He claims to have a United States birth certificate, but things don't add up. Wouldn't he have had a Japanese birth certificate?

Is it possible that his parents were able to get his citizenship changed? But, how? Wouldn't the United States have to have given permission for that?

Am I thinking about this too hard?

 

Mike Cash

骨も命も皆此の土地に埋めよう

Twenty-year veteran

15 Mar 2002

16,758

2,298

• 2 Mar 2008

• #10

Birth certificates in the United States are issued by the individual states. What he would have is a Consular Report of Birth of a Citizen of the United States of America.

Birth Abroad - US Citizenship Child Born Abroad Overseas Outside US Citizens Permanent Residents

Same thing my children have to establish their American citizenship.

I don't know if you're thinking about it too hard or not. I do sort of wonder why you're worried about it at all. Is it just a matter of curiosity?

 

B

butakun

先輩

9 Dec 2004

93

4

• 2 Mar 2008

• #11

Nationality Act (国籍法) indeed went into effect July 1, 1950, but the part of the law relevant to the current discussion was revised in 1984 and took effect as of Jan 1, 1985. Therefore it does make a difference whether one was born before or after 1985, as described in the 1984 addendum of the said law (Article 3 of 1984 Addendum). If he had multiple nationalities as of Jan 1, 1985, and didn't choose his nationality by Dec 31, 1986, he's considered to have chosen Japanese citizenship implicitly. This is exactly how Alberto Fujimori is considered a Japanese national in the eyes of Japanese gov.

But in the case of OP's husband, this is a moot point, as Mike Cash points out, since he was born to non-Japanese father in 50s. The exception is those born to Japanese mother between 1965 and 1984. They could ask for Japanese citizenship (Article 5 of 1984 Addendum).

Correction. after re-reading the OP, I realized that his mother was not married at the time of his birth. So the previous paragraph does not apply to him.

http://law.e-gov.go.jp/cgi-bin/idxs...47&H_RYAKU=1&H_CTG=1&H_YOMI_GUN=1&H_CTG_GUN=1

 

B

Betsy Ross Patriots

後輩

4 Feb 2008

15

0

• 3 Mar 2008

• Thread starter
• #12

Thank You for your replies and help.

Yes, I may be thinking of this too hard, but it may also be because of my life's work in immigration reform here in the U.S. I am deeply involved in anti-illegal immigration and therefore have a lot of info on OUR policies of citizenship. So naturally, I wonder how it was possible for my own husband to become an American citizen based on the family history.

Butakun, so are you saying that because Mama was unmarried at the time of his birth that he is in fact a Japanese citizen?

I'm so confused.