Yeah, permanent residency looks like the path I'll go on now. Thanks for the details!

and for you to achieve that you need

if not married to a japanese national - minimum 10 years of living in Japan and of course Japanese fluency is a must

if married - minimum 5 years

that is only the time requirement, the other requirement well, you need to inquire about it when you get to the Japan.

I think citizenship and permanent residency time requirement MIGHT be the same..


but good luck though..:ywave:

so, 5 years if you are married to a Japanese citizen, and 10 years if you aren't. But, if you are married to an American citizen, would that be ten years?

Alex, the soccer player, was there since a kid and only got his citizenship last year.

well obviously and american citizen is not a japanese citizen :rolleyes:

the time you stay in japan is one of the requirement but it does not guarantee a citizenship, heck even if you are married and have a kid with a japanese national does not even guarantee a citizenship :vsign:

I know that an American citizen isn't a Japanese citizen, but I was trying to ask if already being married would change anything.

Why would it? It makes no difference unless you are married to a Japanese citizen, and even then they usually won`t even talk to you about citizenship until you have a child - proving that it`s a valid marriage, and not just a paper one. (I know this from personal experience)

Applying for citizenship is a pain. There are good reasons to do so, but 99% of the time, people who ask about citizenship just want a way to live in the country. You don`t need citizenship for that.

well it does make things a bit more difficult. at least in many cases, because if you're married to an american, that would result to having american children in japan. promoting your culture.

when mum moved to america, we couldnt move together, so my dad had to stay behind in russia, and mum had to marry a citizen in australia to get permanent residence. although its less complicated if you and your spouse both fluent at jap and both work in japan.

but i dont know the details of japanese citizenship sorry xD i'm planning 10 years ahead before moving to japan. Establishing the right degree and career and working a a famous studio in L.A. with much higher rating then the anime companies I'm dedicating my life to xD so it'll be much easier to get to Japan with a high expectancy and something to present to Japan instead of just taking you should think of giving something to Japan. What skill will you bring into it?

If Japan "needs" you and will think you are useful to its economy or status, you have a much better chance. Otherwise your best shot is work, language skills or marriage.

ciao

if you want to become japanesse citizen ofcourse you are required to live in japan fo a couple of years maybe consecutive years.....but before that short term visa is the first step to begin your journey here.....its not easy to do...patient is important.....:pandahurray: :marusmile:

This is all heresay but...

Marrage only will get you a spousal visa, having a spousal visa will make getting the citizenship a little easier (because those are 10 year ((5??)) visas and it will take you that long to get the citizenship)

Being Fluent, like REALLY fluent in Japanese will help since there is assloads of paperwork involved and while they will have someone to help you, you make one little mistake because they couldn't explain it right, you start back from square one. (And Government traslaters, as far as I've seen so far in dealing with them, really suck.)

I believe you have to have resided in Japan for 3 or 5 years before your eligable for the citizenship, and you have to give up citizenship to your birth country (so no dule visa's)

The downside of all this is even if you become a Japanese citizen, you, your children and your grandchildren, will always be "Gaijin" or somewhere down the line if your grandchildren are lucky they'll be "Halfs"

As much as I love Japan I'm not even going to bother trying to become a citizen, too much of a hassle and I'll never be treated equil anyway.