My family is seriously considering moving to Japan permanently. We have been living in the US for a long time; I’m a US citizen and my wife was born a Japanese national. However, it’s complicated because a few years ago she accepted US Citizenship after many years as a US Permanent Resident. She hasn’t lived in Japan for 10 years.
She has *not* formally renounced her Japanese citizenship, or otherwise communicated with the Japanese Embassy/Consulate. She is still registered in her family’s Koseki. However, her Japanese passport has expired, with no apparent way to renew it since her US Permanent Residency card is expired. Her legal surname in Japan is different than her legal surname in the US. In addition, we have a child who is now 3 who only has US citizenship and passport. We also have another child who will be born in a few months.
We understand that this situation is messy and unfortunate, enough that an attorney is necessary to unwind the situation in a way that would give us the best odds of making it work.
**Can anyone recommend a Japanese Immigration Attorney** who could advise us?
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**Immigration Attorney Recommendation**
My family is seriously considering moving to Japan permanently. We have been living in the US for a long time; I’m a US citizen and my wife was born a Japanese national. However, it’s complicated because a few years ago she accepted US Citizenship after many years as a US Permanent Resident. She hasn’t lived in Japan for 10 years.
She has *not* formally renounced her Japanese citizenship, or otherwise communicated with the Japanese Embassy/Consulate. She is still registered in her family’s Koseki. However, her Japanese passport has expired, with no apparent way to renew it since her US Permanent Residency card is expired. Her legal surname in Japan is different than her legal surname in the US. In addition, we have a child who is now 3 who only has US citizenship and passport. We also have another child who will be born in a few months.
We understand that this situation is messy and unfortunate, enough that an attorney is necessary to unwind the situation in a way that would give us the best odds of making it work.
**Can anyone recommend a Japanese Immigration Attorney** who could advise us?
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I’m a dual citizen so not the same but for my Japanese passport the embassy allowed Japanese Surname (US Surname) on my JP passport
If your wife naturalized to US citizenship, she will no longer be entitled to Japanese citizenship, and unfortunately won’t be able to renew her passport.
She should still be eligible for an LTR visa however.
>She has not formally renounced her Japanese citizenship, or otherwise communicated with the Japanese Embassy/Consulate.
While she was obligated to file a notification of loss of citizenship, there certainly are no penalties for failing to do so. But it is important to know that Article 11 of the nationality law applies automatically, meaning she is not legally a Japanese citizen despite her inaction in filing the notification.
So if you wanted to relocate the family to Japan your wife would be able to apply for a child of a Japanese national visa and should be able to bring you all along with her as either long term residents or her dependents.
You can call the US toll free Visa Information Hotline to get more details – 1-202-499-1468 (details here) [https://www.us.emb-japan.go.jp/itpr_en/travel_and_visa.html](https://www.us.emb-japan.go.jp/itpr_en/travel_and_visa.html)
Child of a Japanese National visa details here: [https://moj.go.jp/isa/applications/status/spouseorchildofjapanese02.html?hl=en](https://moj.go.jp/isa/applications/status/spouseorchildofjapanese02.html?hl=en)
Long term resident for spouse: [https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/applications/status/longtermresident01.html?hl=en](https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/applications/status/longtermresident01.html?hl=en)
Long term resident for your children: https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/applications/status/longtermresident04_1.html?hl=en