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Should I get US citizenship for kid’s future?
Posted: Tue Feb 18, 2025 11:43 pm
by rwethereyet
First of all, thanks to Ben and this growing community for this forum.
I have Japanese PR and I am a green card holder currently living in US. My kids and spouse hold Japanese citizenship and have green cards.
My kids are young ( elementary and middle school) and never went to Japanese school so local Japanese school is not an option for me.
I will be eligible to apply for US citizenship soon and my kids will get US citizenship if I naturalize. I am planning to return to Japan/ retire in Iapan after working fr few more years either in US or Japan. I have no intention plan to live in US after retirement. Saying that I think Us citizenship will give me more options in terms of jobs even though I live in Japan e.g. remote iobs ( feel free to correct me).
My questions are for my kids and appreciate fellow Americans/ parents can give some advice.
- Does Japanese students ( as Japanese citizens) applying for US universities have better chances of getting into good colleges as not many Japanese are going abroad and this is kind of advantage for students who want to go to US universities ?
- Does having US citizenship give them advantage as they are US nationals and applying from abroad?
- Any other pro/cons for kids and me for taking US citizenship (this question about jobs, education, opportunities and not for investments/taxes/ exit tax / personal finance etc. - I am aware of various pitfalls like PFIC, 401 K taxation, tax filing etc). Thanks in advance!
Re: Should I get US citizenship for kid’s future?
Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2025 1:59 am
by adamu
I'm not sure about the questions and I am not American but this stood out:
rwethereyet wrote: ↑Tue Feb 18, 2025 11:43 pm
My kids and spouse hold Japanese citizenship
...
I will be eligible to apply for US citizenship soon and my kids will get US citizenship if I naturalize.
If your kids get US citizenship, they will automatically lose their Japanese citizenship.
Also, having a US Green Card / Citizenship comes with US tax reporting obligations that makes investing in Japan impractical - you basically have to stick to investing in the US.
I believe the Japanese government runs schools abroad for kids like yours, do you know about those?
Re: Should I get US citizenship for kid’s future?
Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2025 8:03 am
by TokyoWart
- Does Japanese students ( as Japanese citizens) applying for US universities have better chances of getting into good colleges as not many Japanese are going abroad and this is kind of advantage for students who want to go to US universities ?
Short answer is "no." If your kids are not US citizens and apply to US universities while living in Japan they are handled as international students who face an expectation that they will pay full costs for college (in fact are charged at a much higher rate than in state students at public universities) and they will not have access to federal aid programs. At highly selective universities (think of Harvard or Yale) there are a few spaces for international students and they do offer need-based aid even at relatively high income levels but those schools are swamped by outstanding applicants from Asia especially India, China and Korea. In general students of Asian heritage are penalized rather than helped by diversity efforts at universities in the US because they are already a disproportionate fraction of the student body at the top schools. If you plan on having the kids go to US universities, US citizenship will help in that you have access to federal student aid programs but if you apply from outside the US there are no states that will give you the lower "in state" tuition rates.
- Does having US citizenship give them advantage as they are US nationals and applying from abroad?
The advantage is that they are not applying as international students and have better access to federal student loans and need-based institutional funds but the biggest cost savings in the US comes from attending an in state public school instead of an out of state school. Many private colleges do offer aid but that generally gets the tuition bill down from a published $60K (which almost no one pays) to around $30K.
There is a large Facebook group called "Paying for College 101) which is a good forum for information about financing college education in the US as well as the concerns related to what schools kids can reasonably expect to get accepted into.
Re: Should I get US citizenship for kid’s future?
Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2025 8:57 am
by rwethereyet
adamu wrote: ↑Wed Feb 19, 2025 1:59 am
I'm not sure about the questions and I am not American but this stood out:
rwethereyet wrote: ↑Tue Feb 18, 2025 11:43 pm
My kids and spouse hold Japanese citizenship
...
I will be eligible to apply for US citizenship soon and my kids will get US citizenship if I naturalize.
If your kids get US citizenship, they will automatically lose their Japanese citizenship.
Also, having a US Green Card / Citizenship comes with US tax reporting obligations that makes investing in Japan impractical - you basically have to stick to investing in the US.
I believe the Japanese government runs schools abroad for kids like yours, do you know about those?
- The kids can have dual nationality till 20 and they can decide which one they want to keep ?
- yes I am aware of the tax reporting obligation but does advantages that come with the citizenship balance out tax filing overhead?..
- as far as I know, there are no such schools offered in Northeast. There are 100 percent Japanese schools ( no English education) but
Re: Should I get US citizenship for kid’s future?
Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2025 9:09 am
by rwethereyet
TokyoWart wrote: ↑Wed Feb 19, 2025 8:03 am
- Does Japanese students ( as Japanese citizens) applying for US universities have better chances of getting into good colleges as not many Japanese are going abroad and this is kind of advantage for students who want to go to US universities ?
Short answer is "no." If your kids are not US citizens and apply to US universities while living in Japan they are handled as international students who face an expectation that they will pay full costs for college (in fact are charged at a much higher rate than in state students at public universities) and they will not have access to federal aid programs. At highly selective universities (think of Harvard or Yale) there are a few spaces for international students and they do offer need-based aid even at relatively high income levels but those schools are swamped by outstanding applicants from Asia especially India, China and Korea. In general students of Asian heritage are penalized rather than helped by diversity efforts at universities in the US because they are already a disproportionate fraction of the student body at the top schools. If you plan on having the kids go to US universities, US citizenship will help in that you have access to federal student aid programs but if you apply from outside the US there are no states that will give you the lower "in state" tuition rates.
- Does having US citizenship give them advantage as they are US nationals and applying from abroad?
The advantage is that they are not applying as international students and have better access to federal student loans and need-based institutional funds but the biggest cost savings in the US comes from attending an in state public school instead of an out of state school. Many private colleges do offer aid but that generally gets the tuition bill down from a published $60K (which almost no one pays) to around $30K.
There is a large Facebook group called "Paying for College 101) which is a good forum for information about financing college education in the US as well as the concerns related to what schools kids can reasonably expect to get accepted into.
Thanks.
- 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)
- 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
- Japanese education loan will be cheaper than the college loan in US?
Re: Should I get US citizenship for kid’s future?
Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2025 9:31 am
by RetireJapan
rwethereyet wrote: ↑Wed Feb 19, 2025 8:57 am
- 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.
Re: Should I get US citizenship for kid’s future?
Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2025 10:12 am
by Tkydon
RetireJapan wrote: ↑Wed Feb 19, 2025 9:31 am
rwethereyet wrote: ↑Wed Feb 19, 2025 8:57 am
- 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.
Yes, Article 11-1 of the Japanese Nationality Law...
https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.j ... 66#je_at11
国籍の喪失）
(Loss of Citizenship)
第十一条日本国民は、自己の志望によつて外国の国籍を取得したときは、日本の国籍を失う。
Article 11(1)If a Japanese citizen acquires the nationality of a foreign country at their own choice, that Japanese citizen loses Japanese citizenship.
A parent or legal guardian acquiring the nationality of a foreign country for their child is considered to be at their own choice...
A recent British case was reported last year. The parent acquired British Citizenship for the adopted Japanese Child...
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/ ... ty-ruling/
Re: Should I get US citizenship for kid’s future?
Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2025 10:20 am
by adamu
rwethereyet wrote: ↑Wed Feb 19, 2025 8:57 am
- 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
Re: Should I get US citizenship for kid’s future?
Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2025 11:04 am
by captainspoke
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.
Re: Should I get US citizenship for kid’s future?
Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2025 11:17 am
by TokyoWart
- 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.