How to become a citizen or naturalize?

[brianypopmusic]

My fiancee and I both want to move to Japan, and we have done alot of research, but are coming up blanks on trying to move to Japan. My questions keep coming up with very few answers.
I know that to become a citizen, you have to live in Japan for 5 years, but still be considered American until you are accepted as a citizen over there.
Now, I also know that you have to be considered a good citizen, but i have a misdemeanor on my record for something small and wasn't my fault...(please no jokes)..
Do we live there five years, then apply, or do we apply first in order to live there, then live for set amount of years, then apply for final citizenship? How does it all work?

What is the difference between becoming a permanent resident vs naturalization?

finally, how does one "Demonstrate" proper american culture to the japanese...we were told by a friend this.." Jack applied for this right after college and got turned down because they didn't feel he represented American Culture strongly enough (too interested in Japaneese Culture apparrently)....is this true? can they turn you down because of this?

finally, how does one demonstarte proper contribution to society in life over there? Do i have to be a teacher or write contributions to medical journals or things like that?

[kenmei]

just gunna touch on a few things...

1) permanent resident is what you're referring to, which is the equivalent of a United States Green Card (resident alien)
2) becoming a citizen is extremely difficult and nearly impossible in your situation
3) in order to become a permanent resident; unless extreme circumstances inwhich you can demonstrate you're a benefit to the country, you need to have lived there for 10 or more years with 5+ consecutive years holding a working visa.


here's a good site that lists applications for permanent residency to kind of get your head around of what you're going up against (both acceptances and if you scroll down it shows denials as well):

Permission for Permanent Residence


4) in order to live in japan in the first place, you must need a reason (visa) to do so.

5) this all doesn't apply to you if you are married to japanese citizen

other exceptions:
Special requirements for 10-year residence in principle

(1) The person is a spouse of a Japanese national, special permanent resident or permanent resident, and has been in a real marital relationship for more than 3 years consecutively and has stayed in Japan more than 1 year consecutively. Or, the person is a true child of a Japanese national, special permanent resident or permanent resident, and has stayed in Japan more than 1 year consecutively.
(2) The person has stayed in Japan for more than 5 years consecutively with the status of long term resident.
(3) The person has been recognized as a refugee, and has stayed in Japan for more than 5 years consecutively after recognition.
(4) The person has been recognized to have made a contribution to Japan in diplomatic, social, economic, cultural or other fields, and has stayed in Japan for more than 5 years.


found here: Permission to Engage in an Activity Other Than That Permitted by the Status of Residence Previously Granted

[kenmei]

and back to step one, if you want to become any sort of resident you'll need to live in japan.. in order to live in japan you'll need a reason/visa to be there and i suggest you read MMM's thread Graduate from college if you want to live in Japan.

[brianypopmusic]

Ok..so I am finishing my bach degree, and my reason for wanting to live there is the culture..I love the culture, and I basically am tired of the downside of my own country's wrongdoings with war and everything..second, what do you mean by this:

(2) The person has stayed in Japan for more than 5 years consecutively with the status of long term resident.
(3) The person has been recognized as a refugee, and has stayed in Japan for more than 5 years consecutively after recognition.
(4) The person has been recognized to have made a contribution to Japan in diplomatic, social, economic, cultural or other fields, and has stayed in Japan for more than 5 years.

does this mean 1) i stay in japan for 5 years as a "citizen" without leaving,
2)refugee?
3) How do i make a contribution to their society in the field of counseling or healthcare administration?

[kenmei]

have you been there before? i'd highly suggest at least visiting before making such a huge jump.



as for youre questions, i was just copying and pasting the exceptions to the rule from that website (which is why it says refugees, obviously this isn't your case) ...to get an exception is very difficult, look at that first website i posted ( Permission for Permanent Residence ) and see what types of people they accept. Honestly I canot comment because I have no experience. However I do know a few things, if you want to work in the medical field in Japan you have to pass JLPT level 1 (japanese proficiency test) ...and to live in japan working in the medical field you'd have to have your employer sponsor your working visa. Thennnnnnnnnn you can talk about making significant contributions toward society.

Basically you're biting off more than you can chew right now. Concentrate on getting there first as a worker (not at all an easy task), see how you like it and go from there.



Hope this helps.

[brianypopmusic]

oh definatly..one step at a time, cept my fiancee is one who is very future oriented...and will do what it takes to get where she wants to get to..

[kenmei]

i admire the determination, just wanted to let you know it's not the walk in the park it can be made out to be

[RickOShay]

Originally Posted by brianypopmusic

oh definatly..one step at a time, cept my fiancee is one who is very future oriented...and will do what it takes to get where she wants to get to..

You guys are still getting ahead of yourselves. In any case a dislike for ones own country/culture and an infatuation with another country's culture especially having never lived there at least a year or two is really bad reasoning for wanting to move. How do you know Japan will be so much better? One thing for sure you will find is that your standard of living will not nearly be as high here. I have lived here for 7 years, it has its good parts and bad parts just like anyplace else. I will be moving back to the states this year with my fiance. Japan is nice but it is not the place i would prefer to spend the rest of my days.

I think you and your fiance are trying to plan things out very well, but sadly you might be setting yourselves up for disappointment, since you may think you know Japan, but if you have not been here I assure you that you do not. I think you should come here with the plan of "temporary visitor", if you can manage to get here, and then decide if this is how you want to live the rest of your life.

[tenmins]

Originally Posted by RickOShay

... I think you should come here with the plan of "temporary visitor", if you can manage to get here, and then decide if this is how you want to live the rest of your life.

I strongly second this comment.
I think most of us will agree that the first year and even the second year in Japan just blows your mind and you feel like you want to live there forever. But once most of the novelty wears off it starts to grind a bit on your soul. A large part of this is because doing normal everyday things such as applying for a bank account, shopping for specific ingredients at a supermarket, sorting out insurance policies, superannuation, etc takes much more effort especially if you don't have a native speaker to assist you.

[GoNative]

Living in Japan as a foreigner does have it's challenges. After nearly 8 years here my wife decided she wants to move back to Australia. This was mainly brought on after we had a child and she would really like some family support. Personally I think I could have continued living here forever. I live an amazing lifestyle working at a ski resort in one of the snowiest parts of the country. We live in a small town that has a very relaxed way of life. We don't earn much money compared to what we earned in Australia but living costs are very low here and we already had accumulated significant financial resources before moving here. I wouldn't want to come here if you are just starting out as it would be pretty hard to really get ahead financially, especially without a Japanese spouse.

The hardest thing about moving here is getting your initial sponsored working visa. Most people do this through teaching english as it is one of the easiest ways to get sponsorship. Once you have the visa it is pretty easy to start moving onto other things as it's a lot easier to get your visa extended than getting the initial sponsorship.

You can apply for citizenship after 5 continuous years here. You would need to be fluent in Japanese and have a very compelling story as to why you want to become a citizen. You would also be expected to give up your US citizenship. Most people just go for permanent residency which is a long haul if you are both foreigners (like my wife and I). You need to be here around 10 years and even then it's no guarantee they'll grant it. If you have made close ties within the community you live and can show a certain amount of integration and contribution to Japanese society then you have a reasonable chance. Can depend greatly on the individual immigration officer and what mood they are in on the day.

Moving to another country to live is a big move. As others have pointed out Japan may seem like an amazing culture from afar but after years of living here there are many aspects of it that can really wear you down. It is a very different culture to what we are used to in the west and not all of it for the better. I would suggest travelling here a bit first. Get a feel for the country and work out which part of it you would like to live in. I for instance couldn't live in places like Tokyo. You could triple my income and I still wouldn't live there. Anyway good to have the dream but if you are serious about it you need to be very practical. Living standards in Japan for many are not that great and life here isn't all easy.