Should I get US citizenship for kid’s future?

[rwethereyet]

- The kids can have dual nationality till 20 and they can decide which one they want to keep ?

Absolutely not. The rules for children born with two more more nationalities, and children who acquire a second nationality post-birth are completely different.

If your children acquire US citizenship they will immediately lose Japanese citizenship with no recourse.

Thank you. This is very helpful. I need to find out if I take US citizenship, do kids automatically get it as well? Or they can stay in green card as long as we live in US and keep their Japanese citizenship or worth to give them US citizenship and give up Japanese..

[rwethereyet]

- Yes , the Asian angle is not an advantage but given than very few Japanese students are not applying , do they get any advantage compared to other Asians? I see a similar challenges applying from US as I live in NJ/NY where there is huge population of high achievers Asians applying to colleges. Also that’s impacting in state college admissions as completion among Asian students is very high ( despite huge state taxes that we pay here)

My impression is that the New Jersey schools are relatively more expensive for in-state students than New York schools are (if you have any way to be in one state over the other). My eldest son attended Hunter College in NYC as an out-of-state student but tuition was relatively low (around $7500/semester) and he had a number of foreign students as roommates because that is also the rate they were charged. As you know New Jersey taxes are a mess but my tax rate living in Tokyo is actually higher than it would be if I were in New Jersey, even accounting for the sky high property taxes in NJ. (Although the government in Japan functions better than in NJ in my opinion.)

- I don’t have data to support but I heard that Japanese Gov have tie ups with good universities in US and also sitting on significant funds / scholarships that are not being used by Japanese students. In my days in Japan, I have met number of people who went to good colleges esp for post grad education

I don't have any information on this as my kids were not able to receive that support.

- Japanese education loan will be cheaper than the college loan in US?

Right now (US) federal loans to the student are at around 8% and federal loans to parents aound 9%. Private loans in the US can have lower interest rates than that but not by very much and they will be loans to the parents. I don't have any information about using loans from Japan for education in the US.

Thank you! Not to side track the discussion and probably worth to discuss some other time but one of the reason I am thinking to move back is due to the cost of living , housing ( I am priced out in my town) and taxes in US even though I earn descent income compared to US standards.. I always joke with that the property tax is equivalent to fees for one kid’s international school in Tokyo.

I have lived in 3 different countries and with the globalization and competition, I think it’s better to give / have options for kids ( a luxury that not many can afford). Looks like I need to review all scenarios and make a plan. Thanks again!

[rwethereyet]

- as far as I know, there are no such schools offered in Northeast. There are 100 percent Japanese schools ( no English education) but

Looks like there's one in New York and one in New Jersey. You've got two out of four! Here's the website (in Japanese).

https://www.mext.go.jp/a_menu/shotou/cl ... 02/002.htm

These are not bilingual schools and focus is on education in Japanese.

[rwethereyet]

Some google results, which seem to say that green card holders may be able to get in state tuition (depending on the state, something to check on for the state where you live), along with some other benefits.

This is correct as long as I live in US. I am thinking to go back to Japan while my kids are still in schools. Unless I maintain a residence in US / pay local taxes , utilities while living in Japan, they won’t be eligible for the in- state fees AFAIK.

[adamu]

- as far as I know, there are no such schools offered in Northeast. There are 100 percent Japanese schools ( no English education) but

Looks like there's one in New York and one in New Jersey. You've got two out of four! Here's the website (in Japanese).

https://www.mext.go.jp/a_menu/shotou/cl ... 02/002.htm

These are not bilingual schools and focus is on education in Japanese.

I did not say they were bilingual. I believe they are for supplementary education? You mentioned you were posting to benefit your kids, so while the thread is about US Citizenship, I thought you may be interested in the schools that let them keep in touch with their Japanese roots, in case they wanted to go the other direction and move to Japan. The same reason I pointed out getting US citizenship would forfeit their Japanese citizenship - keeping options open for their benefit.

[rwethereyet]

Thanks and appreciated.

[captainspoke]

One of our kids has been in the states now for three years. She has two kids, 5 and 7, who are in kindergarten and second grade. They have two more years (it's a secondment) but it could go longer if there's no replacement at the right time.

Tho the kids do go to saturday school for japanese reinforcement, and both parents are native japanese, our daughter is worried about reintegration when they do come back to japan. She'd like for the older one to have two years of elementary here before the challenges of JHS. The kids' verbal japanese seems good enough at this point, but as you'd guess, the older one's j-literacy is not at grade level. Our daughter thinks that for the older one it'd be best to have two years in elementary here (5th & 6th) to insure literacy is at a normal level by the time they start JHS.

[rwethereyet]

Sounds like a plan. This needs lot of effort on parents part to maintain kids's keep J proficiency. Apparently there are J Gov sponsored schools in Japan for returnees (Kikokushijyou). When I lived In Japan, our challenge was how to teach them English and now our challenges is how to keep up their Japanese lol..