RetireJapan

Well, I can't argue with you as to the letter of the law, but I know several people in real life who started out Japanese, obtained a second nationality, and continue to maintain both. Obviously, none of these people voluntarily informed the J-govt of their acquisition of the second nationality. I'm from a city in Canada with a fairly sizable Japanese expat population, and as it's relatively easy to obtain Canadian citizenship after having residence for a certain number of years, a lot of people within the Japanese-Canadian community end up with both.

I do agree that it can be a potentially precarious position to be in, but unless you're in a line of work that has specific nationality requirements (ie. J-government employee, politician, law enforcement), the reality is that they can't be bothered to investigate. In fact, at least in Canada, they are willfully turning a blind eye to obvious cases. I know several children of Japanese nationals that obviously have Canadian nationality (by virtue of being born there), but the J-embassy/consulates issues new J-passports to these people without even inquiring asking about the status of their Canadian citizenship.

mighty58 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 11, 2021 4:13 pm In fact, at least in Canada, they are willfully turning a blind eye to obvious cases. I know several children of Japanese nationals that obviously have Canadian nationality (by virtue of being born there), but the J-embassy/consulates issues new J-passports to these people without even inquiring asking about the status of their Canadian citizenship.

Under the law, being born a dual national is different from acquiring a different nationality of your own volition as an adult.

Tony wrote: ↑Thu Mar 11, 2021 9:23 pm Under the law, being born a dual national is different from acquiring a different nationality of your own volition as an adult.

Absolutely. I've seen multiple cases in both scenarios IRL is all I was saying.

Gareth wrote: ↑Tue Feb 02, 2021 12:14 pm Applied for my PR yesterday at Tachikawa on Tokyo. I asked the chap at the desk how long it would take to receive an answer and he said 7 to 8 months. The wait begins.

I can't seem to find any application documents to print in any of the links on this thread. Did you have to pick them up, fill them out, and then bring them in?

UpDown wrote: ↑Wed Jun 16, 2021 2:55 pm

Gareth wrote: ↑Tue Feb 02, 2021 12:14 pm Applied for my PR yesterday at Tachikawa on Tokyo. I asked the chap at the desk how long it would take to receive an answer and he said 7 to 8 months. The wait begins.

I can't seem to find any application documents to print in any of the links on this thread. Did you have to pick them up, fill them out, and then bring them in?

The forms are in the link Gareth posted on the other thread.

Beaglehound wrote: ↑Wed Jun 16, 2021 3:20 pm

UpDown wrote: ↑Wed Jun 16, 2021 2:55 pm

Gareth wrote: ↑Tue Feb 02, 2021 12:14 pm Applied for my PR yesterday at Tachikawa on Tokyo. I asked the chap at the desk how long it would take to receive an answer and he said 7 to 8 months. The wait begins.

I can't seem to find any application documents to print in any of the links on this thread. Did you have to pick them up, fill them out, and then bring them in?

The forms are in the link Gareth posted on the other thread.

Thanks. (I hadn't noticed the notification for that when I posted this. Hopefully, I've got this site down now.)

Hi all,

I will be applying for Permanent Resident status soon. Thanks to this forum and the excellent RetireWiki.jp by adamu, I think I have most of the documents I require but I am a little unsure about some of the requirements so I hope I can get some help here.

About myself

• lived in Japan for 3 years and 8 months
• 3 year work visa (engineering humanities one) that expires November 2022
• married to non Japanese for a little over 2 years
• standard full time permanent employee for a Japanese company all this time so taxes, health insurance etc automatically deducted from monthly salary

I will be appyling via the HSP route. I have double checked and I have exactly 70 points now and had 70 points 3 years ago so I think I'm fine on that regard.

What I have so far

• application form with photo
• points calculation form x 2
• managed to get standard references from most of my previous employers to prove 10+ years employment history (one company is proving difficult but I'm hoping that payslips and copy of contract will be enough)
• Certificate of Employment for current Japanese employer
• Certificate of Salary for current employer
• bank statements to show current funds
• copy of university degree certificate
• from my local City Hall I obtained 1 x Juminhyo, 3 x nozei shomeisho, 3 x kazeishomeisho (for the last 3 years)
• lucky enough to have a good Japanese friend who agreed to be my guarantor so I have the necessary docs for that
• working on the accompanying letter

Questions

1. Regarding the pension payments, I have registered with the Nenkin website. Which bit exactly do I need to provide a screenshot of? Is it that grid showing which months I paid and which that I didn't pay? It doesn't show the amount each month, just red box or blue box...
2. Regarding health insurance payments, I have always been enrolled through my company so payments deducted automatically. What documents do I need to provide? Will a copy of my insurance card be enough?
3. I have PDFs of my monthly payslips for the last 3 years. They detail all my deductions. Would it help if I print out and submit them or would that annoy the person reviewing my application?
4. Do I need to provide anything related to my wife? Only I am applying for PR. We have been married less than 3 years and she has been in Japan for less than 3 years so she will apply if and when mine is approved.
5. Have I missed anything obvious?

Thank you!

I think the best thing you can do is take your list of questions to the immigration office and ask them directly.

This information is from my experience, so may be different in your case:

SZQ wrote: ↑Sun Aug 08, 2021 10:55 am Certificate of Salary for current employer

I think you will need a 3-year ago version of this too. The same goes for other date-sensitive documents that certify you had 70 points at that time. I guess you could give them all your payslips, but maybe a certificate would be better. Or maybe your tax certificate would be enough? Could be worth confirming.

SZQ wrote: ↑Sun Aug 08, 2021 10:55 am copy of university degree certificate

You may need the original, at least to show them.

SZQ wrote: ↑Sun Aug 08, 2021 10:55 am Regarding the pension payments, I have registered with the Nenkin website. Which bit exactly do I need to provide a screenshot of? Is it that grid showing which months I paid and which that I didn't pay? It doesn't show the amount each month, just red box or blue box...

It's not on the list on the website, but when I applied they (Fukuoka Bureau) gave me a printed list and the inspector said the best was a couple of documents you can get from the pension office: 被保険者記録照会回答票 + 被保険者記録照会（納付 Ⅰ). You can get an electronic version of 被保険者記録照会回答票 from Nenkin Net, but I think 納付 Ⅰ is only available over the counter, so you may as well get them both in person. 納付 Ⅰ seems to be a list of unpaid periods. But maybe the screenshots would be fine. The 納付 Ⅰ just shows paid/unpaid too - no amounts.

SZQ wrote: ↑Sun Aug 08, 2021 10:55 am Regarding health insurance payments, I have always been enrolled through my company so payments deducted automatically. What documents do I need to provide? Will a copy of my insurance card be enough?

For me the insurance card was enough (I asked them about this beforehand and they confirmed that).

adamu wrote: ↑Mon Aug 09, 2021 8:13 am I think the best thing you can do is take your list of questions to the immigration office and ask them directly.
...

Thank you adamu. Always appreciate your help.

I was trying to do as much as possible remotely but you're right, visiting them directly will be easier. I had my 2nd covid vaccine shot last week so I'll go in a few days.

Thanks for the other feedback as well, helps me a lot, especially the Japanese names of the pension documents.

Cheers!

Submitted my PR application today. They took about 10 minutes to check everything but no problems.

Now the wait... fingers crossed

Thanks to all that have helped, especially adamu! I'd be happy to answer any questions anyone may have if they are unsure about something.