Greetings, all. I’ve searched the forums and the wiki for the answer to the following, but my situation is somewhat unique and seems not to be covered yet.
I’m SOFA, have been here for quite a while (20+ years), married to Japanese national (15+ years), preparing to retire and continue living here (spousal visa, maybe/probably/eventually PR).
Difficulty: 25-character-long (in romaji) full name, nearly half-of-which is my middle name.
This issue (IYKYK) has already created a number of issues w/ Japanese paperwork over the years; and I learned the broad strokes about 通称名 on here.
In preparation for the mountain of paperwork that lies ahead (visa, zairyu, MyNumber, etc.), I went to city hall to inquire how to setup the “alias” without my middle name. I was told by them that, as SOFA, I cannot register one yet (because I don’t yet have a zairyu). Okay, cool.
So, my questions begin with:
Does the 通称名 work as an affadavit to *supplement* other forms of ID? That is to say, would my other “identifying” paperwork have my full name, but I could present the 通称名 certificate when trying to setup things/accounts with services that don’t like/can’t accept long names?
Or, is it instead that (please say no, please say no!) would I hafta go thru and complete all the visa/zairyu stuff FIRST (using my full name), and THEN file the 通称名, and then GO BACK and RE-FILE, under the “new” name, for (at least) the visa/zairyu?
Any insights/recommendations (even if it’s just for a good immigration lawyer in the Yokohama/Yokosuka area) would be greatly appreciated.
8 comments
I don’t know about aliases, but if you renew your passport and leave off your middle name, you won’t have it on your residence card (they follow whatever is on your passport). If the problem is that your middle name is extremely long, that might be an option.
You may want to just legally change your name now before switching over. Zairyuu card will always have your passport name as will your myna card (myna card is what will list your alias seperatly from your full). Afaik most, but probably all, government paper work will have your full name except maybe NHI card. Iirc you should be able to use your alias with most other things.
You don’t get a certificate, just register it officially and you can start using it. For banking, post office, work, stuff like that. Unless you change your passport, your official documents will contain your real name.
I advise going to the shiyakusho with your Japanese spouse so they can validate you need tsushomei because you’re married.
It’s not a mountain of paperwork, just one simple paper you sign and write the reason. They handle it within 15 minutes and then put an annotation to your My Number (still under your real name but with a small note containing your alias). This is your certificate for banks etc.
Zairyu and visa will always be under your real name, the one you have in your passport.
You need to be issued a visa and zairyu card first with your name that matches your passport. Then, you go back to city hall to apply for the alias.
But, you’re not reissued a zairyu card with your alias because your zairyu card name must match your passport’s name.
I think the only place my legal alias was recorded was on my jyuminho and my myNumber card.
ETA: my alias was on my driver’s license too.
An alias is instead of your name on file, if they check it it leads back to your real passport name. So yes, you need to register your real name first to be able to have an alias.
The function of what you want can only happen if you change your real name.
I think the finer details vary by city so double check with your city hall, but when I did it I needed to have some form of proof that I was using the alias name.
My city didn’t accept hand written letters (so no post cards from friends or whatever), so I changed the name on one of my utility bills to my desired alias (hubby’s kanji last name with my katakana first name, no middle name).
Then they approved it and I got a residence certificate (住民票) that has my alias printed on it. I then used that to change my Japanese drivers license name to be my alias. Once I had that changed it was super easy to change my name on everything else because nobody questioned my license as proof
Now that the other info is out of the way……nothing about this is unique. It’s quite definitely covered by all of the information about SOFA, 通称名, visas, zairyu cards, MyNumber, etc. The only thing “unique” about it is that you’re currently SOFA and thus can’t have an alias. Once you are no longer SOFA, you can, and you get to enjoy all of the same complications as the rest of us.
I queried at my local municipality because my name is particularly difficult, so I use an alias day to day. I was told that with a utility bill plus employee ID it can be changed. Most of my employee stuf at work is under the alias. I just haven’t bothered with the utility bill.
May differ by city.