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Naturalization and renunciation of foreign citizenship

anomouse

先輩
17 Jun 2008
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Why did this debito guy retain his US nationality for a while after he became Japanese? Wasn't it a requirement to renounce his original nationality? (In the English version of the Japanese nationality law, it's vaguely stated, so I'm a bit confused.) How does the nationality law work in Japan?
 
My understanding is that Japanese law does not recognize the double citizenship, however, there are some countries where it is impossible to renounce one's citizenship.
If they make renouncing one's citizenship as "an absolute requirement" for becoming Japanese citizen, that would cause problems for those who are from such countries.
 
First, you obtain Japanese nationality, then you renounce all other nationalities, that is the sequence. Else you might end up with no nationality at all, if something in your application process turns sour, after you returned your other passports. Renouncing your nationality can take an undefined amount of time, depending on the heaps of paper, that you have to throw over an unknown (to Japan) number of bureaucratic hurdles. The Japanese government cannot enforce or speed up bureaucratic processes elsewhere in the world.

Result is a "grey zone".
 
I thought that the wording stated that you must be willing to renounce your current citizenship.

Currently I don't think the J-Gov actually requires proof that you've renounced your old citizenship. But this may change, especially as the immigration computer systems of various countries become interconnected.

Incidentally, the UK has an official procedure whereby you can renounce your citizenship for up to 6 months and then reclaim it. This procedure exists solely to assist people who want to gain an additional citizenship from a country that doesn't allow dual-citizenship! Thus the UK and Japan could not be further apart on the issue of dual-citizenship.
 
I always wondered about the process for this, and honestly I was shocked when I found out that you couldn't have double citizenship actually.

I took a look at Debito's log about it. Looks like a freaking nightmare and I honestly wouldn't ever want to give up my US citizenship. Just too valuable (even on the black market!) Plus, even with citizenship, you'd never be accepted in to Japanese society in the end simply due to the racism that still exists in Japan.
 
My understanding is that Japanese law does not recognize the double citizenship, however, there are some countries where it is impossible to renounce one's citizenship.
If they make renouncing one's citizenship as "an absolute requirement" for becoming Japanese citizen, that would cause problems for those who are from such countries.
Thanks, so just quickly reading debito's site, it seems it's actually difficult to renounce citizenship. If you renounce, you are treated like a tax dodger.
 
The way it works is this:

OFICIALLY when you are in Japan on a J passport you are ONLY JAPANESE. You could have 5 other passports from 5 other countries, it means zilch. When you take Japanese citizenship, you must renounce your other citizenships at the ward office, but this has no meaning other than for the Japanese government (i.e. other governments don't give a SHITake mushroom).

I have heard (but cannot verify) that some consulates in Japan do give citizenship renunciations, but they do not file it. In other words, they give you the paper to show the Japanese government but the paper is meaningless. Rarely does the Japanese government ask for the paper from the consulate, though.

So YES, you can have dual citizenship. I have heard that the DPJ will move to allow J citizens to have dual passports (perhaps like the US "don't tell cos we don't care policy") but this I am not sure of. In any case, such a move will be good for Japan, allowing its citizens to better work abroad and allowing more badly needed labor to remain permanently here.
 
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