I’m a Japanese citizen and became a naturalized US citizen in few years ago. I have three kids – all of whom were born in the US. Two were born before I naturalized, and those two have Japanese citizenship – it was no problem. My third was born recently and after I became American. Can she have Japanese citizenship if I register her with the consulate? I still have a valid koseki and Japanese passport, but do not use it.
I haven’t gone down the rabbit hole of Japan’s rules/enforcement of its prohibition on dual citizenship, so I’m unsure if I was ‘automatically’ stripped of my Japanese citizenship when I became American or whether I can still be considered Japanese for my newborn.
Anyone have experience or thoughts?
https://www.reddit.com/r/japan/comments/14xw7ii/can_my_us_born_baby_have_japanese_citizenship_if/
6 comments
Legally no, practically, well, how well can you lie that you haven’t adopted US citizenship?
If you were to get your citizenship stripped I wonder if it would act retrospectively to having your children’s citizenship stripped…
I can’t answer the question, but one thought it, would it be less risky to do it in Japan?
as far as I have understood it, once you choose, you can’t go back. a friend is half Japanese and has dual citizenship, but her Japanese mom only became American after she was born, and now her mom only has an American passport etc. She was complaining that during the pandemic, my friend could visit Japan bc she still had a valid JP passport, but the mother could not since she was now a US citizen w US passport, and her JP passport was no longer valid.
You may want to ask the consulate themselves about the details though, or try to scour their official websites for enough info.
Pretty sure Japan doesn’t allow dual citizenship. You are either Japanese or you aren’t. The only exception is that children can be dual until they turn 18 and then they’re forced to choose. So if they find out you got american citizenship then there’s a very good chance you are about to lose your japanese citizenship. But don’t take my word for it.
Reference the post by the Japanese woman who married a Canadian man. She returned to Japan and they told her she’s no longer a citizen.
Article 11 of the nationality act strips you of your Japanese nationality. The only reason you have a valid Koseki is because Japan have not found out you triggered article 11 yet.
So, no, your new child has no claim to Japanese nationality. Because you should no longer be one.
And trying to obtain it for them would likely come with additional repercussions for the day that Japan hopefully find out you’re illegally holding Japanese nationality too
You lost your Japanese citizenship automatically when you naturalized. That is how the nationality act works. You could try to register the child but their citizenship will also be void from the start. Perhaps nobody will notice but that’s how Japanese authorities will see it if they find out and you should assume they will or already know.
Note it will also be a criminal offense for you to apply for or use a Japanese passport.