british and japanese dual nationality

I hear that the law recently changed!. Is it true that children born to a british mother and a japanese father can now both keep both nationalities, even after they reach 20 or 22.

Children born to a British mother and a Japanese father can keep both nationalities, even after they reach 20 or 22, and it was always so for at least more than 25 years.

Article 14 doesn't exactly force you to chose one nationality. It only "encourages" you to do so. Bottom line, they can't arrest you or punish you for keeping dual nationality, and neither have I heard of anyone getting in major trouble for that.

Ask your Embassy or Immigration Control for more details.

Uco, just wondering if you have any more info. regarding this. Is it just to a British mother and Japanese father or the other way round as well? What about other nationalities?

thanks

http://www.japan-guide.com/forum/quereadisplay.html?0+4...

: Is it true that children born to a british mother and a japanese father can now both keep both nationalities, even after they reach 20 or 22

It's not true. Since 1 January 1985 under Nationality Act of Japan, choice of nationality has been a legal duty of a person holding Japanese and non-Japanese nationalities (#1).
- If a person who came to hold the nationalities by the time he/she reached 20, the choice shall be made by the time he/she reaches 22.
- If a person who came to hold the nationalities after reaching 20, the choice shall be made within two years.
Though it seems there have been no cases (#2) where Minister of Justice gave notice that a person shall make the choice, legally a person may lose Japanese nationality if he/she doesn't make the choice after the notice.
http://www.moj.go.jp/ENGLISH/information/tcon-01.html

#1: A person who was holding the nationalities at the time when it turned 1985 and didn't make the choice later is considered to have chosen Japanese nationality exclusively.
#2: A chief of Civil Affairs Bureau replied so, in April 2009 at a lower house committee meeting in the Diet.

: I hear that the law recently changed!

A revision of Nationality Act (promulgated on 12 December 2008) became effective on 1 January 2009.
A child of non-Japanese woman and Japanese man is legally not considered to have been born to a Japanese national if borne in the situation as follows: the couple were not married, the man was alive at the time of the child's birth, and the man didn't acknowledge the child while unborn.
In such a case, the child needed to be acknowledged and the parents needed to get married for the child to get Japanese nationality through notification. The revision was to lift the condition of marriage and introduce a penalty for false notification in such cases.

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Correction on grammatical errors:
- NOT: "If a person who came __ by the time he/she reached"
BUT: "If a person comes __ by the time he/she reaches"
- NOT: "If a person who came __ after reaching 20"
BUT: "If a person comes __ after reaching 20"

Japan stands on the principle provided by Nationality Act of only one nationality.

The chief of Civil Affairs Bureau explained that the Ministry of Justice thinks they need to be discreet about dual nationality issue because loss of Japanese nationality has extremely grave effects on things like living not only of the person itself but also of those who are concerned such as its relatives. He added that in future they should take into account necessity of the urging notice if a case occurs where dual nationality really has bad influence to harm national interests of Japan. (on 17 April 2009, at Meeting No. 6 of the Committee on Judicial Affairs of the House of Representatives in the 171st Diet session.)
Source (in Japanese):
http://www.shugiin.go.jp/itdb_kaigiroku.nsf/html/kaigir...

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