Hello! First time poster here. I’m looking to get some insight into my situation and I’m hoping this would be a good place to ask:)
Basically, I am a Canadian citizen only as I was born there. I grew up in Canada but currently live in Japan under the ‘child of a Japanese national’ visa because my mother is a Japanese national (never gave hers up despite living in Canada). I unfortunately never had both Canadian and Japanese citizenship at birth because I was never registered in Japan, though my siblings all have one. I do not currently have Japanese citizenship and I want to get it, but I am now 23 so I know that I have to go through the naturalization process. I’ve had my first citizenship interview already and know what documents are needed for the next one that is coming up. Because my mother is a Japanese citizen, I was told by my case manager that the requirements needed to naturalize are softer, in which I know that the time needed to domicile in Japan is much shorter, but I am not sure about any other requirements that may be looser.
My main question is in regards to renouncing my Canadian citizenship. I know that Japan does not allow dual citizenship, and I unfortunately don’t have the luxury like those born with both to be able to have the Japanese government turn a blind-eye to me and have both. However, I have also seen on previous Reddit threads that because of both Canadian and Japanese nationality law, Canadians may not have to explicitly renounce previous citizenship even after gaining Japanese citizenship (unlike, say, if one were American) because neither country can make you stateless, though I’m not sure if this is actually the case. So I am confused as to which to believe. Are Canadians able to secretly keep their citizenship even after gaining Japanese citizenship as long as they declare on the oath that they choose Japanese? As long as I don’t use my Canadian one while in Japan, of course. Do Canadians have to explicitly renounce or is the Japanese government okay with just being told that I choose Japanese citizenship?
I feel hesitant about giving up my Canadian citizenship, and would like to keep it if I can. I’m wondering how easy or hard it will be to get away with not officially renouncing (with a certificate of renunciation) despite having Japanese citizenship too. How easy/hard is it to have both Canadian and Japanese citizenship as a naturalized Japanese national? Would being a child of a Japanese national allow me to keep both?
If it came down to it, I would choose to keep my Japanese citizenship over my Canadian one. But if possible, it would be really nice to have both. I should mention that I don’t plan on living in either Canada or Japan in the future though (I actually want to live in the US, where I’d be easier to go there as a Canadian), but I do want to be able to visit Japan often which is why I want my Japanese one (and since my siblings have one). It’d be easier to get a green card as a Canadian than a Japanese national, so I want to hold onto the Canadian one until then at least, then switch my green card to Japanese if I get told I have to choose between the two. But then I’ve also heard that things are becoming more digitized so that is freaking me out a bit too. Any suggestions or advice from people in a similar situation is very much appreciated!
by princesscherrypeach