Children’s Nationality and Status of Residence in International Marriages
The number of international marriages is increasing in Japan, but it is surprisingly little known how the nationality of children born to such marriages is determined. Here, we will explain the nationality, dual nationality, and status of residence of children born to international marriages.
Nationality of Children
If an international marriage takes place in Japan and one of the spouses has Japanese nationality, the child born to the couple may acquire Japanese nationality. Also, even if the child is born abroad, if one of the parents has Japanese nationality, the child can acquire Japanese nationality.
In other words, in Japan, regardless of the country of birth, as long as one of the parents is Japanese, the child can acquire Japanese citizenship.
In the U.S., on the other hand, a child born in the U.S. can acquire U.S. citizenship regardless of nationality. This is called the “fabric principle.
The problem here is dual citizenship. For example, a child born to Japanese parents residing in the U.S. will have two nationalities, American and Japanese. In this case, the child must submit a “notification of reservation of nationality” to the Japanese embassy or other authorities in the U.S. within three months of birth. If this is not done, the child will not be able to acquire Japanese citizenship.
The child will be treated as a Japanese citizen even if he/she returns to Japan, since he/she has acquired Japanese citizenship even if he/she has dual citizenship. However, as a general rule, the child must choose one of the two nationalities by the age of 22.
What are the cases in which Japanese citizenship cannot be acquired?
As mentioned above, if one of the parents is Japanese, the child can acquire Japanese nationality, with the following two exceptions.
The first is when a foreign mother and Japanese father were not married before the child’s birth. If the mother is Japanese, the child may acquire Japanese citizenship even if they were not married before the birth.
The second is when a “marriage notification” has been submitted prior to the child’s birth, but has not been accepted. Even if the marriage notification has been submitted, there are cases where the Legal Affairs Bureau examines the acceptance of the marriage notification due to the relationship with the other country. In this case, when the child is born during the examination stage, the child cannot acquire Japanese citizenship because the marriage has not yet been officially consummated.
As in the first case, this is only the case where the mother is a foreigner. Note that if a formal marriage notification is received after the child’s birth, the child may acquire Japanese nationality.
Resident status of the child
If one of the parents residing in Japan is Japanese and the child has not acquired Japanese citizenship for some reason, the child may acquire “Spouse or Child of Japanese National” status of residence.
Also, if both parents are foreigners and one of them has “status of residence”, the child can obtain “family stay” status of residence.
Conclusion
In Japan, if one of the parents is Japanese, the child can basically obtain Japanese nationality. However, if a foreigner is the mother and the marriage notification has not been accepted at the time of the child’s birth, the child will not be able to acquire Japanese nationality at the time of birth.
