American having a child in Japan
 

I am in need of some advice regarding proper paper work and or proof of documentations. I am an American citizen living in Japan. My wife holds both an American and a Japanese passport. We are expecting our first child this June.

From what I have gathered on the net, our child will have dual citizenship? As far as providing proof of her status to the US embassy, she should show her Japanese passport rather than her usa passport to apply for our child US papers (passport, SS card, birth certificates)? Will the US find out that she is also a US citizen as well?

The forms to receive US citizenship for your child are available on the US embassy site. There is also a fairly detailed list of the things you will need, and answers to the most common questions.

Something that they do not seem to make clear is that you will NEED to do the application within 90 days of your child`s birth, or will be charged incredible fees and have a very very difficult time getting citizenship for your child.
If your child is born with complications preventing travel within the first 90 days (I very much hope that this does not happen!), expect to be unable to obtain citizenship. They will not make any exceptions for the "in person" rule, even if the child is in intensive care. (Happened to me, so I caution people on this.)

Thanks for the reply. I have briefly looked at the embassy site. I can provide most of the docs but I am not sure what passport to provide for my wife since she has both. I understand Japan doesn't allow dual status. She happened to have both because our intention was to lived in USA. However, she decided not to and we have moved here.


One of the doc requirements is to show proof of us citizenship. It listed several items like passport, naturalized paper, citizenship certificate, birth certificate. Am I require to show all of then or just one? It wasn't clear to me. I ask because I may have misplaced my naturalized paper and I only have my passport.

My best guess is to show our USA passports to the embassy to do our USA citizenship for the baby and our Japanese citizenship for the baby with her Japanese status?

Seriously? My baby is about to be born and I'm glad I read this. Thanks for the info!

This was my experience when my son was born 6 years ago.
I probably would never have known had he not been in the hospital for 5 months after birth.
When I contacted the embassy, I was told that there was no way to receive citizenship without his physical presence (understandable), and that if I couldn`t get him there in the next 3 months then I would be out of luck. It was suggested that I consult with the hospital to take him to a distant city with full medical support staff.

After discharge, we contacted the embassy again and were quoted some incredible additional fees. And it isn`t like it is cheap to begin with! (Something like $500? I recall the additional fees being something like $800 and another $500 or close for processing...) We were also told that they could only begin the processing if we were able to present proof of the reason we couldn`t bring my son to the embassy earlier - and a witness to the birth and my son`s later care. (So... a doctor from the birth, and a doctor from intensive care - plus a verified translator, and records of the doctors` authenticity.)

None of this was feasible, so my son does not have US citizenship.

question
 

so wait, your child is not a US citizen. Ok, well if I got married and my spouse is japanese but I'm american can I instead get my child a japanese citizenship instead of american?

BTW how's your son now? Is he doing ok? And how are you?

Personally I think your son is better off without it. But that's just me.

I wonder how you feel about the situation?

Dude, having a US passport is great if you also have one of a first world country like Germany or France. The US is very powerful, nobody wants to mess with a dude with an American passport when he's abroad.

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Exactly~ When I travelled around Asia, I saw people getting hassled precisely BECAUSE they had American passports.

Looks like somebody has never seen National Geographic's "Locked up Abroad"...

My son would be a US citizen if there had not been such a horrific mess and fees involved in getting said citizenship.
If your spouse is Japanese, your child can get Japanese citizenship. It doesn`t matter where the child is born.
On the other hand, even if your child is born in Japan, if neither of you is Japanese the child will not receive citizenship.

He is fine now. I am also just fine.
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Better off without it is a bit of a stretch.
I do still have relatives in the US, and even if I am not close, should something happen to them I would feel quite obligated to travel there. My son not having a US passport makes things MUCH more difficult. I have to carry around tons of documentation proving he is my son, proving I have permission to have him with me, proving that I plan to take him back into Japan, etc etc.
Regardless of anything political, it is an incredible pain. And on a trip to show him to my grandmother (who raised me) on her death bed - I was shown just how incredibly frustrating these things could be. There is a large difference between the official treatment of US citizens in the US and non-citizens.

Really, all political concerns can be tossed out the window in the face of convenience and comfort. Attachment or loyalty to country is not the issue - it`s all down to paperwork and legal pains.

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For a child, there is no "one or the other". Until 20-something, if you are born with it, you can indeed have dual citizenship in Japan. I would have preferred just to have both, as there are advantages to either. But if pressed to say one is better, I would indeed choose Japanese over US as we live in Japan. There is no reason to insist on having citizenship in a country we do not live in, and have no plans to live in.
If only one was an option - the benefits to having Japanese citizenship are everyday things - no hassle with visas, etc.
The benefits to having US citizenship are... less profound in daily life. Ease in travel is really the largest I can come up with. And not because the US is somehow feared and puts other countries in awe - Japan isn`t exactly a country that isn`t respected. More because *I* carry a US passport and travel using it. It`s just a pain having a minor child with you who does not have the same nationality.

may god bless this child. you will be a great father.