Marriage between American/Japanese

I'm an American citizen (born and raised in the USA) and my boyfriend is Japanese (born and raised in Tokyo.) He proposed to me and I want to marry him and live in Japan with him but I've heard that you can't have a duel citizenship in Japan. So if I marry him, will I have to give up my American citizenship? What will happen with visa status and all that stuff? Thanks.

Only if you were to acquire Japanese citizenship, would you have to give up your American citizenship. But you can live in Japan without acquiring Japanese citizenship. In fact, you cannot acquire Japanese citizenship until you have lived in Japan for many years.

You can easily move to Japan on a spouse visa, and after a few years become permanent resident without giving up your American citizenship:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2221.html

No you don't give up your citizenship when you marry someone. You keep your citizenship, you just live in Japan under a SPOUSE VISA. Which allows you to work etc.

You can later on decide to get Japanese Citizenship after living in Japan after a while, however it is all voluntary and you don't have to if you don't wish to. Same for your soon to be husband if he marries you and you go to the United States he remains a Japanese Citizen, and comes over under a spouse visa to the US, if at a later point he wanted to become a US citizen he can do so, but its not obligated to do so.

As John wrote, you don't loose your nationality when you marry somebody. You keep your US passport and he keeps his Japanese passport. But after your marriage is it much easier for the partner to live in either Japan or the USA. The law recognizes international marriages and they have made provisions so the couple can live together. In your case you'll need to get a Spouse Visa to live in Japan after your marriage and this visa also allows you to work in Japan. Have a look around the MOFA webpages for more information ab out this visa: http://www.mofa.go.jp/j_info/visit/visa/index.html

I am married to a Japanese and have no plans to ever give up my own citizenship. It is actually a long complicated process to obtain Japanese citizenship and you are also required to take a Japanese name.

In a couple of years I will be eligible for permanent residency which allows me to stay in Japan without having to renew my visa all the time, but does not require me to renounce either my citizenship or my name.

If you plan on living in Japan the rest of your life there are benefits to picking up Japanese Citizenship (ie. you can vote in elections/run for office or do other things that are exclusivly available to Japanese nationals), when you pick a Japanese Name you can modify it close to your actual name.

As for giving up your old citizenship but still hold two passports, there are lots of threads on that matter so I won't get into it.

http://www.debito.org/naturalization.html very helpful =) but... I'd suggest you live with your husband for at least a decade IF you do decide to relinquish your citizenship... you don't wanna marry him for five years, relinquish your American citizenship, and then go.. darn, wish I hadn't done that...But if you really don't have any business in American anymore (maybe just visit relatives every now and then) and you can totally make a living in Japan, then wouldn't be too bad of an idea to be a Japaenese citizen.

I realise there are benefits but I am proud of my own nationality (New Zealand) and would never give it up. I would rather be able to vote in my home country's elections than vote here, and I can see my parents being upset if I changed my nationality or name.

I don't look Japanese and therefore will never really *be* Japanese anyway, and that's fine with me.

So much bureaucracy to go through as well, from what I've read.

you don't give up your US passport when you get married unless you want to become Japanese. If you have kids, they can dual up to age of 18

This isn't an answer to the first question. It's been answered already. It's another one, if a child is born on an US military base in Japan to 2 USA citizens can this child claim both American and Japanese citizenship?

Amanda,

I believe the answer would be no, because Japanese citizenship at birth is determined by the parent's nationality. (I hear in the US it is deteremined by the place where you were born; in an extreme example, if a baby was born to any national on an aircraft while it was flying over USA, the baby could claim US citizenship.)

So a baby born to two US nationals, though in Japan, would be an American. Besides, I believe that a US military base would be considered almost as part of US.

Amanda, the answer is no.

Japanese citizenship by birth means that one of the parents is a Japanese citizen.

So even if the child was born in a Japanese hospital outside of the base, but both parents were not Japanese, the baby can not claim Japanese Citizenship.

When you are on a spouse visa how long exactly does it take to get a permanent visa? And do you have to give up this visa in case of divorce? One more question: How long does it take after you are allowed to change citizenship?

There are many many discussions on that topic, sometimes it takes about 5years if you are married to a Japanese national, if you are lucky maybe earlier, if not lucky it takes up to 10years. Same for citizenship change.

You don't have to give up your nationality when marrying a Japanese citizen. You can apply for a spouse visa in order to get into Japan and then change your status of residence to stable resident or permanent resident. If you live in Japan on a spouse visa and your spouse dies or you get divorced, you must leave Japan immediately so you really should change your status when you are in Japan.

If you want, you can get a Japanese citizen after being married for one year and having lived in Japan for three years or vice versa. What is written at www.debito.org is *not* an argument against taking Japanese citizenship. In fact, the author who does neither look nor think like a Japanese decided to take Japanese nationality - and he has never regretted it.

It's up to you how you think about nationality. You might get a Japanese citizen and have the legal status of a Japanese citizen and live with the fact that native Japanese still consider you as a foreigner. Or you are proud of your nationality, you are required to renew your visa from time to time, carry an alien registration and apply for a re-entry permit whenever you travel abroad and vote in a country you haven't lived in for more than one decade or more.

There are arguments for both points of view.

If you retain your American citizenship, your kids can be dual citizens until they get 22 years. After your last kid is born, you can apply for Japanese nationality, of course.

Thanks for you replies. I thought that's how it was. Here's what brought it up a friend of mine who was in Okinawa said her son that was born there has dual citizenship. Is Okinawa different?

The rules concerning nationality are the same in all of Japan including Okinawa. A child that has both a Japanese citizen and a foreign citizen as parents can have dual citizenship.

There is no reason to give up your US citizenship and every reason to live in Japan to taste this fabulous culture ... enjoy both worlds ... and let love set the course.

I was born in Okinawa (Kadena AFB) Ryuku Islands. Both my parents are US Citizens. I was naturalized when I was 3. I AM A DUAL CITIZEN of both Okinawa (Japan) and US. This affords me benefits like free and excellent health care. Will be helpful when I get old and can't afford health care in US!
Cheers-

dve - were you born pre-1972 during the American occupation of Okinawa? This could be why you were able to get citizenship, while today you wouldn't be able to.