I have caused myself a big headache.
I didn’t realize that you could write an alternative non-romaji name on a Japanese passport.
My daughter is currently only a Japanese citizen.
We wrote her name as (say) ‘Risa’, because that’s the romaji.
We obviously would have preferred Lisa.
Now we have her passport, her spelling is Risa…
I want to apply for her Australian citizenship in future, but I am nervous that this spelling will be a hinderance.
I want to change the spelling on the Japanese passport, but I am thinking it’s too late; it’s not like I am legally completely changing her name, just the spelling.
I can’t even say it’s a spelling error since this is the first time we have officiated her name in English lettering. I am stressed.
I will talk to the city hall about it, but I doubt they will be able to help.
Edit: thank you all for your responses! Ultimately I’ll be happy as long as her name can be registered as Lisa in Australia, (even though she has a legal Japanese document that is spelled Risa) so even if the passport issue isn’t resolved in Japan, it’s not the end of the world.
As some of your have mentioned, I’d need to get her Aussie citizenship to have some proof of the spelling ‘Lisa’, so I’ll get onto that this weekend. Thankfully we aren’t traveling any time soon.
Hopefully I can get the preferred spelling the next Japanese passport.
Update: the city hall called the passport center and they said once the name is registered, there’s no way to change it unless it was their system’s fault. I believe there is a way to change due to some of the comments here, so I hope to find someone who is willing to take it on at the passport center some day.
by Professional_Risk935