For context: I’m an American and my mom was a Japanese citizen when she passed.
I am still in contact with my maternal grandparents. I speak Japanese okay, not the best, but I am looking for ways to improve.
I don’t know if I can apply for citizenship or if it’s too late for that. If I can’t get citizenship, can I get a passport or is there a visa for people with a Japanese parent?
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Your mom would have needed to register you as a citizen within 3 months of your birth in order for you to also be a citizen. I’m guessing she didn’t.
You would qualify for a child of a Japanese national visa however. You’d need proof of your mother’s citizenship (a recently issued copy of her family registry) as well as proof of your relationship to her. Plus you’d need a guarantor in Japan (your maternal grandparents would be ideal). It’s pretty straightforward.
You can’t get a Japanese passport until you’ve lived in Japan a few years and naturalize, at which point you’d need to renounce whatever other citizenships you’ve got.
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Get a copy of your mother’s koseki. If you’re on it, you can get a passport. If not, child of a Japanese national visa.
Go talk to the Japanese consulate near you
“I don’t know if I can apply for citizenship or if it’s too late for that. If I can’t get citizenship, can I get a passport”
You can only get a Japanese passport if you have Japanese citizenship.
How old are you?
Sorry about your loss
I can’t offer any help that anyone else hasn’t offered, but you have my condolences about losing your mom. That must be incredibly tough.
Nope you can’t