Passports

Yesterday I “chatted” with Takumi online and discovered he may have some problems that he didn’t know about.

As you know, Tetsu is Japanese. I am American. Our kids have dual citizenship. The U.S. gives citizenship to children born of American parents regardless of whether they are born in the States or not (both kids born in Japan). Of course they have Japanese citizenship because their father is Japanese. Both Takumi and Leiya have two passports, a Japanese one and a U.S. one, and until the kids were 22 it hasn’t mattered which one they use when entering or leaving either country.

BUT... by Japanese law, you are not allowed to have dual citizenship past the age of 22 and Takumi this year turns 23. This causes an interesting situation. At some point, the Japanese government is going to ask Takumi to renounce one of his claims on citizenship... if they find out. Please believe me that I am not endorsing doing anything illegal or under the table. Japan has certain regulations that they don’t really enforce.

Here is what Japanese law says.

Persons holding both foreign citizenship and Japanese citizenship (dual nationals) must, before reaching age 22 (or, if having acquired dual nationality after age 20, within two years of acquisition) choose a single nationality. If you do not choose a nationality, you may lose your Japanese nationality. Because of this, it is important to consider this issue carefully.

And here is what U.S. law says,

The Supreme Court of the United States has stated that dual nationality is "a status long recognized in the law" and that "a person may have and exercise rights of nationality in two countries and be subject to the responsibilities of both."

A solution to this dilemma well known to people with dual citizenship in Japan and/or parents of children with dual citizenship like us, is if you have two passports to just show your passport belonging to the country you happen to be entering or leaving. This way, at least the immigration officers aren't even aware that the person holds two citizenships. Even at the government offices they encourage you make a decision but the officers can't do much else.

The problem for Takumi. He forgot to renew his Japanese passport. (He could have done it at the Japanese embassy.) I think someone's going to ask all sorts of questions as to how he’s been living in the States without a valid passport if he goes to the Japanese embassy now. So he is in the States now as a U.S. citizen with no Japanese passport which is fine until he tries to enter Japan on his U.S. passport and they want to know if he is coming in as a tourist or what. He can’t say he lives here because they will want to see his Japanese passport and then want to know why he has dual citizenship when he was “encouraged” to give up one of them.

It would have been so much easier if he’d just kept his Japanese passport valid!