Turning Japanese : Paperwork

My family is currently in the very long waiting period to know if my husband and children will receive Japanese citizenship. It is a long process mostly because it takes time to get everything together and then for everything to be reviewed.　We started last year in August, turned all the paperwork in at the end of March, and now it’s July. 

 Application form (with 2 photos 5cm x 5cm)

Reason why you want to become a Japanese citizen (hand-written in Japanese by the applicant)

Resume

Written oath

Description of your relatives

Description of how you make your living in Japan

Maps of the vicinity of your residence and workplace

Description of your business (If you or your family member is a business owner)

Financial statements

Business license

Company registration

Diploma

Domestic family documents

Proof of citizenship (birth certificate)

Certificate of employment

Certificate of residence card

Certificate of tax payments (with hold slip, income tax returned record)

Certificate of your assets (bank deposit, real-estate, securities)

Driving record

Others upon requirement 

This is the list of documents I found when doing a small search online. Doesn’t look like too much at first glance, but if you begin the process of trying to collect everything it becomes almost daunting. But it’s not impossible. If you have had to go to immigration for a visa renewal, it’s about like that, however your caseworker is likely to be nicer than the immigration office staff. 

The troublesome part is collecting everything from other people. The ‘description of your relatives’ isn’t just writing down names, but also copies of birth certificates and contact information. If your family doesn't happen to live in Japan, or aren’t very cooperative, this can be extremely time consuming and difficult. You will have to go to the city hall, possibly multiple times and multiple towns depending on if you have moved or not. Because of our particular situation, we also needed documents from my husband’s ex-wife. Be prepared for a very large scavenger hunt. But once it is complete, the only thing you have to do is wait. Good luck on anyone else’s adventures and wish us luck on ours.