I’ve been considering moving to Japan for a while, but I figured without a Bachelor’s degree that I would have had a very difficult time getting a work visa. I work a fairly specialized role in an IT company, and I have been considering switching employers to work towards an intra-company transfer. As well as finishing up my degree. I had thought that this was the most obvious way forward, to get a working visa.
Recently, I have found a visa category that I didn’t know existed. I am the grandchild of a deceased Japanese national (My mother’s mother). She had married an American citizen, and moved to the USA well before I was born. But even if she had to automatically renounce her citizenship, she is still a Japanese national, right? I wanted to see if I am understanding this visa correctly, because it’s not mentioned in the Visa Wiki much.
[https://www.juridique.jp/visa/nikkei.php](https://www.juridique.jp/visa/nikkei.php)
[https://www.japanvisa.com/visas/long-term-resident](https://www.japanvisa.com/visas/long-term-resident)
[https://www.isa.go.jp/en/applications/procedures/zairyu\_nintei5.html](https://www.isa.go.jp/en/applications/procedures/zairyu_nintei5.html)
From what I’m understand, all I really need is my family’s koseki, and birth certificates to prove that I am directly related to a Japanese National. And that alone would qualify me for a visa with no working restrictions. With how difficult getting working visas can be, I would imagine a long-term resident visa should be harder to apply for. Of course, there is still all the difficult parts of learning japanese, finding housing for foreigners, and finding an employer to guarantee for you. But this visa almost seems too easy. Is this really right?
3 comments
>With how difficult getting working visas can be, I would imagine a long-term resident visa should be harder to apply for.
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>But this visa almost seems too easy. Is this really right?
The biggest thing you’re missing is that all of the Nikkei/descendent visas require a guarantor in order for you to successfully get the visa.
That guarantor generally needs to be a family member who is a *Japanese national living in Japan.*
So you will need to track down your grandmother’s koseki (Which is a non-trivial task unless you already know which city it’s registered in) *and* find a surviving family member to sponsor you.
Your first step should probably be to contact an immigration attorney. While a 3rd generation visa is (relatively) straightforward, the documentation and guarantor requirements make it tricky enough that you’ll want professional assistance.
If you can’t find the koseki you’re SOL.
> But even if she had to automatically renounce her citizenship, she is still a Japanese national, right?
I am pretty sure the answer to that is no. But I’m assuming your grandmother had become a dual citizen long before the nationality law of 1985 so she had never needed to choose. Right?