I apologize beforehand if there is another post about this and if you can guide me to another thread I would appreciate it.
My wife (Japanese Citizen) and I (dual citizen – US/Japan) have moved here and have acquired our 住民票 and filed a marriage license (my previous post asked about this and many said no, we can’t marry twice including US/Japan, but we do have to file for marriage again. I had to translate my US marriage certificate WORD FOR WORD – pain, I know. Process took 5 hours. I guess many Japanese have to do this.). Anyways, in Japan we have to have the same last name, so I decided to take on my wife’s last name.
The problem I am having now is that since I had my name changed, Mizuho bank wouldn’t take my passport as a photo identification because my name doesn’t match to prove this is me (which makes sense). So I am going to update my passport to my new last name. That’s okay.
Although, when it comes to traveling, should I purchase the plane ticket using my Japanese passport name or US? Should I use my Japanese passport when I enter/exit Japan, and US passport to enter/exit US just as I did before?
I am reading conflicting information so some help would be great.
Thank you in advance!
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2 comments
> when it comes to traveling, should I purchase the plane ticket using my Japanese passport name or US?
I thought you were going to update your US name so it’s the same either way?
Generally I’d say use the name on the passport you’re going to use for the place you’re going to, so if you’re in Japan buying tickets to the US then the one from your US passport. But either way should be fine as long as you register a consistent passport with the airline and show them that.
> Should I use my Japanese passport when I enter/exit Japan, and US passport to enter/exit US just as I did before?
Yes
I’m in this situation where my US and Japanese passports have different names. Frankly I just use my US name for booking everything and show my US passport at check-in with the airline. If there are visa questions that come up I just show my Japanese passport to the check-in clerk and that clears everything up. The airline is just concerned about whether immigration will let you into Japan or not.
But yes, use the Japanese passport for entering and exiting Japan immigration, and the US passport for entering and exiting US immigration.
I also joined my wife’s koseki so my passport doesn’t match my official name. I have a mynumber card and driver’s license with my official name so I just use those for banks and the like.