dual citizenship question

[Sepponite]

Here's the deal. My daughter is 20 years old and is... well, she's Japanese with Japanese citizenship, passport etc. etc. etc.. Grew up here, speaks some English but probably couldn't find out where the shitter is in a restaurant if it meant asking a waitress.

She's also an American citizen, complete with passport.

She will be graduating in march and wants to spend a few months living with my family (I'm an American) who is also her family. They're all excited and things couldn't be looking better. All except I have a niggilng worry about what to do when she goes through immigration. If she shows up in the states and shows her american passport, she is waved through without a visa and no problem. If she shows her japanese passport, she gets a 30 day visa, which isn't nearly long enough.

So she shows her american passport. All except when she wants to come back to Japan...

How does this work exactly?

 

[KirinMan]

My daughter is now 24, she has both passports. When leaving Japan the immigration official asked her only if she had another country's passport. She said yes. They did not ask to see it.

When she entered the US she showed her US passport. When she came back to Japan upon leaving the US she showed her US passport, upon entering Japan she showed her Japanese passport.

 

[Glenski]

I thought it was 90 days, not 30. Check again.

And, it's not a visa, it's a visa waiver.

 

[Sepponite]

My daughter is now 24, she has both passports. When leaving Japan the immigration official asked her only if she had another country's passport. She said yes. They did not ask to see it.

When she entered the US she showed her US passport. When she came back to Japan upon leaving the US she showed her US passport, upon entering Japan she showed her Japanese passport.

Thanks! That makes sense. And if they ask about the discrepancy between arriving and leaving, she can always explain the situation. I'm sure they see quite a bit of that. Probably why some people end up holding up the immigration line interminably whenever I'm waiting to escape an airport.

 

[Sepponite]

I thought it was 90 days, not 30. Check again.

And, it's not a visa, it's a visa waiver.

I haven't had to worry about that stuff for so many years, I don't plan on starting now. Nor should it matter to my daughter, who plans to spend more than three months in the states.

I'm actually not ready for her moving to teh homeland, but then again, I'm not ready for her to do a lot of things. Fortunately, she'll be staying with my brother who is allowed to own a shotgun, just in case one of her favorite korean boy band members decides to transform his front porch into what the military like to refer to as a "target rich environment".

 

[johnnyG]

(PART 1)... When leaving Japan the immigration official asked her only if she had another country's passport. She said yes. They did not ask to see it.

(PART 2)
When she entered the US she showed her US passport. When she came back to Japan upon leaving the US she showed her US passport, upon entering Japan she showed her Japanese passport.

I thought part 2 was how it worked, and am wondering if others have experience with the immigration officer's apparent question in part 1...?

Why would it need to be asked? >> On leaving?

And on return, tho it could be asked then, without any non-Japan arrival/departure stamps in the Japanese passport, the answer should be obvious.

 

[KirinMan]

johnny, part two is fine for "entering" the US. And technically speaking since the names on her passports are different she could have been asked the same thing when entering the US as well.

It's no big deal really, unless of course someone has something to hide.

 

[Petaris]

KirinMan,

Does your daughter ever have issues with immigration in Japan about her age and the dual citizenship? Our son is only 11 months old so I don't have to worry about this for a few years yet but I have heard of some situations where this becomes and issue.

 

[KirinMan]

@Petaris, actually no, there have been no problems.

She pays taxes, health insurance, has a driver's license here, the whole shot. I am guessing since she does the things expected of her as a young adult no one says anything?

 

[Petaris]

@KirinMan, Thanks for the info!

I was just curious as it is obviously in our son's best interest to be able to keep citizenship in both countries for as long as he can past the age of 21.

 

[hsakakibara1]

Thanks! That makes sense. And if they ask about the discrepancy between arriving and leaving, she can always explain the situation. I'm sure they see quite a bit of that. Probably why some people end up holding up the immigration line interminably whenever I'm waiting to escape an airport.

I know many with dual citizenship and they are never asked anymore. In fact, I have not heard of anyone being asked for the past few years.