U.S. Citizen born in Japan

Michael_USA9 · 2 Mar 2005

Hello.
I am a 29 year old here in the U.S. needing some help. I was born in Japan at a U.S. military base. A birth certificate was never issued because my father wasn't a U.S. citizen long enough for me to carry U.S. Citizenship. My Mother was still a Dominican national at the time. So the only birth document that existed was one produced by the city of Tachikawa that registered my birth. My problem is that I lost that document. Can anyone refer me to someone or to some agency in Japan that may have records stored somewhere that can send me a copy?
Thank you for your attention.

DoctorP · 2 Mar 2005

I realize this doesn't answer your question, but if you were born on a US Military installation abroad, the US Consulate should have issued a Consular Report of Birth (same as a birth certificate)...Have you tried contacting the consulate close to where you were born to see if they have any record?

Leroy_Brown · 3 Mar 2005

Here's one for ya.

What about the daughters of the deserted Army soldier Jenkins?

They were born in N. Korea to an American (who might have had his citizenship technically stripped after the desertion) and a Japanese.

Mike Cash · 3 Mar 2005

CC1 said:
I realize this doesn't answer your question, but if you were born on a US Military installation abroad, the US Consulate should have issued a Consular Report of Birth (same as a birth certificate)...Have you tried contacting the consulate close to where you were born to see if they have any record?

Those are Consular Reports of Birth of United States Citizens Abroad. Unless citizenship derives through the legal principle of jus soli even on overseas military bases, he wouldn't have one. A quick google search seems to indicate that birth on overseas military bases does not enable a jus soli claim to citizenship, meaning he is limited to a jus sanguinus claim, which he has already indicated he was not eligible for.

I've just been all over the Tachikawa City homepage, and I must be getting stupid, because I can't find an address for the city office on there anywhere.

Mike Cash · 3 Mar 2005

Leroy_Brown said:
Here's one for ya.

What about the daughters of the deserted Army soldier Jenkins?

They were born in N. Korea to an American (who might have had his citizenship technically stripped after the desertion) and a Japanese.

Why would you think Jenkins might have had his citizenship technically stripped from him? Especially prior to a trial? You've never heard of a little thing called "due process"?

PaulTB · 3 Mar 2005

mikecash said:
Especially prior to a trial? You've never heard of a little thing called "due process"?

Some of us out here are a little worried that the US might be getting forgetful about that ...

Mike Cash · 3 Mar 2005

PaulTB said:
Some of us out here are a little worried that the US might be getting forgetful about that ...

Count me among them.

I sort of figured I would a reply like that. But let's remember that Jenkins' problems were from an earlier, more enlightened era.

PaulTB · 3 Mar 2005

mikecash said:
I sort of figured I would a reply like that. But let's remember that Jenkins' problems were from an earlier, more enlightened era.

Actually I just got round to Googling his case.

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Jenkins starts new life in Japan

"He cannot speak Japanese, and he has admitted he was fired
from teaching students English when he was in North Korea,
apparently as a result of his thick Carolina accent."

... harsh.

Michael_USA9 · 4 Mar 2005

mikecash said:
Those are Consular Reports of Birth of United States Citizens Abroad. Unless citizenship derives through the legal principle of jus soli even on overseas military bases, he wouldn't have one. A quick google search seems to indicate that birth on overseas military bases does not enable a jus soli claim to citizenship, meaning he is limited to a jus sanguinus claim, which he has already indicated he was not eligible for.

I've just been all over the Tachikawa City homepage, and I must be getting stupid, because I can't find an address for the city office on there anywhere.

Thanks MIKECASH. For doing what you can.

calsonic · 14 Mar 2005

I would contact the consulate as the best bet.

Bob in Iowa · 14 Mar 2005

Michael --

Another way to approach this might be to trace back through the documentation that you had to enter the US, unless that document that you lost was it. Twenty nine years ago, I was stationed at Yokota Air Base, just down the road from Tachikawa, and I seem to recall that military members had to obtain passports for children born in Japan prior to their being transfered, but that was a long time ago and I could be mistaken. If that is the case, then you might either have an expired passport from that time or you might be on a parent's passport.

At some time in the mid 1970's the hospital at Tachikawa was closed and the personnel and records were sent to the newly built hospital at Yokota. You might try contacting the hospital at Yokota to see if they have birth records or if they can assist you in contacting the appropriate city office in Tachikawa.

Also, it might be a good idea to inquire on the message board of the Yokota High School Alumni Association . Someone there might have experienced the same thing, and be able to help you.

Good luck.

U.S. Citizen born in Japan

Michael_USA9

Registered

DoctorP

先輩

Leroy_Brown

後輩

Mike Cash

骨も命も皆此の土地に埋めよう

Mike Cash

骨も命も皆此の土地に埋めよう

PaulTB

Manga Psychic

Mike Cash

骨も命も皆此の土地に埋めよう

PaulTB

Manga Psychic

Michael_USA9

Registered

calsonic

先輩

Bob in Iowa

Lurker

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