I Became a Japanese Citizen After a Decade-Long Paperwork Ordeal
I Became a Citizen of Japan
Derek Wessman recounts his long, bureaucratic path to Japanese naturalization, from a 2012 consultation that demanded birth certificates for his parents and six siblings to a successful 2024 application. He describes the opaque, document-heavy process—tax records, family statements, maps, and handwritten motivations—and credits his eventual success to better organization, a cleaner driving record, and a more stable life.
Intentionally, the Government of Japan has designed the process of obtaining Japanese citizenship to be opaque, demand extensive documentation, take at least a year, and have an outcome based partly on subjective judgment.
- sonar_un
Stopped when he said he waited forever to get naturalized, skipping 6 years, and then saying he never got his permanent resident card, so he was just living off renewed visas, and they thought it was strange.
It is strange. A lot of the things he said he needed, would have been done in the permanent residence portion of his time in Japan. Just as it is in any country.
- United857
Japan is one of those countries that doesn’t allow dual citizenship and they require proof of renunciation. Something to think about for those from other “strong” countries who want to go down that route.
- precommunicator
I'm pretty sure this is more data than what's required for security clearance.
- gcanyon
> every address you've ever lived at, and the dates you lived there.
Well cross Japan off my list. I would not be able to produce that residence list under any circumstances.
- scelerat
Why is the word 'interrogation' (appears at least twice) interleaved with unprintable characters?