Citizenship

Residence

Country information

Population: 123' 719.238 Hab Aprox.

Capital: Tokio.

Official Language: Japanese

Income percapita: $34.358 USD

To become a citizen of Japan, you must meet certain requirements, including living in Japan for a specified period of time, being of a certain age, and having good moral character. The overall process is called naturalization.

Japanese nationality can be acquired in one three ways: birth, notification, and naturalization.

Birth- Requirements may be met in one of three ways:

If the father or mother is a Japanese national at the time of birth.

If the father died before the child’s birth and was a Japanese national at the time of death.

If born in Japan and both of the parents are unknown or are without nationality.

Notification- Acquisition of nationality by notification is a system where those who meet certain requirements acquire Japanese nationality by notifying the Minister of Justice.

Individuals within the following cases may be eligible to attain Japanese Nationality:

　Acquisition of nationality by acknowledged children (Article 3 of the Japanese Nationality Act)

A child born before the marriage of a Japanese father and a foreign mother in principle will not acquire Japanese nationality upon birth, except when the child is acknowledged by the father. However, if the child is acknowledged by the father after birth, the child can acquire Japanese nationality by notifying the Minister of Justice if the following requirements are met.

　 The person is under 20 years of age at the time of the notification; (From April 1, 2022, the person is under 18 years of age at the time of the notification;)

The father who made the acknowledgement was a Japanese national at the time of the child’s birth;

The father who made the acknowledgement was a Japanese national at the time of the notification (When the father who made the acknowledgement was a Japanese national at the time of his death);

　 The person was never a Japanese national. *With the revision of Article 3 of the Japanese Nationality Act (effective on January 1, 2009), Japanese nationality can be acquired after birth by making a notification even if the parents are not married if they are acknowledged as Japanese.

Reacquisition of nationality by those who have not retained Japanese nationality (Article 17, Paragraph 1 of the Japanese Nationality Act)

A notification of intention to retain Japanese nationality must be made along with the notification of birth for a child born abroad who acquired a foreign nationality and Japanese nationality upon birth, or they will lose their Japanese nationality retroactively as of the time of birth.

However, a child who has lost Japanese nationality due to not retaining their Japanese nationality can reacquire their Japanese nationality by notifying the Minister of Justice if the following requirements are met:.

　 The person is under 20 years of age at the time of the notification. (From April 1, 2022, the person is under 18 years of age at the time of the notification)

　 The person has an address in Japan. This means that their place of residence is in Japan at the time of the notification (Those staying temporarily in Japan for sightseeing or visiting relatives are not acknowledged as having an address in Japan).

Acquisition of nationality in other cases

In addition to 1 and 2 above, there are cases such as reacquisition by those who lose their nationality by notification in the Official Gazette (Article 17, Paragraph 2 of the Japanese Nationality Act).

Those who do not fall under the above conditions must acquire Japanese nationality through naturalization.

Naturalization- Naturalization is a system that gives Japanese nationality, with the permission of the Minister of Justice, to those who wish to acquire Japanese nationality:

Domicile (Article 5, Paragraph 1 of the Japanese Nationality Act): The person must have been domiciled in Japan for five years or more consecutively and must have had a valid status of residence throughout the prescribed period of time.

Capacity (Article 5, Paragraph 1, Item 2 of the Japanese Nationality Act): The person must be 20 years of age or more, and of full capacity to act according to the law of his/her home country.

(From April 1, 2022, the person must be 18 years of age or more, and of full capacity to act according to the law of his/her home country.)

Conduct (Article 5, Paragraph 1, Item 3 of the Japanese Nationality Act): The person must be of upright conduct. The determination of conduct will be based on social conventions with ordinary individuals as the standard, considering the existence of a criminal record, their tax payment status and whether they have disturbed society.

Livelihood (Article 5, Paragraph 1, Item 4 of the Japanese Nationality Act): The person must be able to secure a livelihood in Japan. This condition will be judged on the basis of a family unit to make a living. Even if an applicant does not have an income, if a secure livelihood can be ensured through the property or skills of their spouse or relatives, this condition will be met.

Prevention of multiple nationality condition (Article 5, Paragraph 1, Item 5 of the Japanese Nationality Act): Those who wish to be naturalized must either have no nationality or, in principle, lose their nationality by naturalization. As an exception, in cases where the nationality of the country cannot be lost regardless of the intention of the person, naturalization may be permitted even if this condition is not met (Article 5, Paragraph 2 of the Japanese Nationality Act).

Constitutional compliance condition (Article 5, Paragraph 1, Item 6 of the Japanese Nationality Act) Those who have themselves or have formed or belong to an organization plotting or advocating the overthrow of the Japanese government will not be given permission to naturalize.

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