Application for Naturalization in Japan

The application for naturalization should be submitted to the Minister of Justice at regional or district Legal Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of Justice.

It is necessary to sub­mit various types of document, and it is therefore advisable to consult with the Legal Affairs Bureau.
It should be stressed that naturalization is not necessarily granted，even all the conditions described earlier have been satisfied; fulfillng them only entitles you to apply.
A person who is granted naturalization and has thus obtained Japanese nationality must register at the municipal office of the city,town or village in which the person is living，or in the case the person is outside of Japan，at the Japanese consulate abroad.

Upon notification，he will be entered in the family registry as a Japanese national.

 

General conditions to be eligible for naturalization to Japanese

The Nationality Law of Japan literally stipulates those conditions to be eligible for naturalization to Japanese as below. But, just do interpret them as  “Conditions to be eligible for making application for naturalization” as I explained later below.

1.     Have been continuously having a fixed address(es) as residence for 5 years or longer
2.     Being 20 years old or older with competence under laws of your home country
3. “Being a good citizen*” without any criminal records
4.You or your spouse or relatives have sufficient assets or skills as to independently sustain your life in Japan
5. You do not have a nationality, or are to expatriate your home county’s nationality by acquiring a Japanese nationality
6. Having never attempted nor advocated to destroy the Japanese government
established under the  Constitution of Japan by violence, nor organized nor belonged to such political parties or any other organizations that attempted or advocated the same.

 

Documents to be prepared by you and/or an immigration lawyer

1) Application form
2) Explanatory document of why you need to naturalize  (Must be hand-written
in Japanese by
the applicant)
3) Resume
4) Affidavit
5) Description of relatives
6) Description of how you sustain your life in Japan
7) Description of how you operate your business in Japan
8) Map of your residence

Documents to be procured from public organs or others

9) Certificate of competence under the home country’s law

10) Working certificate
11) Diploma
12) Certificate of nationality (or in case CON is not available family
registration,
certificate of lost-nationality, birth certificate,
or in case all they not available passport)
13) Documents to certify your profile in your home country (birth certificate
/ marriage certificate / relative certificate in your home country, etc.)
14) Your family registration in Japan
16)  Certificate of residence of your Japanese family
17) Certificate of alien registration
18) Certificate of tax payments (withhold slip and certificate of tax filing
of last year etc.)
19)  Commercial registration (in case of business owner or board director of
company)
20)  Certificates of assets (Certificates of bank deposit, securities,
real-estate registration etc.)
21)  Driver’s license
22) Picture of face (2 peaces, 5cm x 5cm in size, taken within 6 months ago)
23)Snapshots of you & your family (a couple of peaces)
24)  Others upon requirement by the Ministry of Justice
Last but not least, all the a.m. documents must be prepared in Japanese and with Japanese translation for those ones’ original in foreign language.
If you are interested in applying for investor visa or manager visa, please contact us for further information.