4 ms·

Huh, TIL... Looking at some sources the issue seems to be fairly complex, however it does indeed seem fairly easy relative to other countries like Canada to ga

Huh, TIL... Looking at some sources the issue seems to be fairly complex, however it does indeed seem fairly easy relative to other countries like Canada to gain Japanese citizenship (though very few apply). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_to_Japan#Immigrant_integration_into_Japanese_society https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_to_Japan#Immigrant... Looking at this and other citizenship guides, the main requirements seem to be that: 1. You live and work in Japan for 5 years (not counting student visas) 2. Are the age of majority in your country and over 20 3. Have not broken any laws while in Japan 4. Are able to support yourself financially and are willing to renounce other citizenships It seems that about 90% of people that apply for naturalization are accepted. Yet less than ~10,000 are accepted every year, so applying for citizenship seems unpopular relative to other G7 countries. Neat. I wonder why I was so certain that immigration was next to impossible and only visas were granted?

novok 5y ago
Sometimes in immigration, what is written down and what is reality is two different things. Ex: In panama I've heard of legit citizenship applications just rotting on the desk for many years. In a country like japan where it's more by the book, I'm not sure although. To get PR it takes 10 years to 1 year, so that might be a barrier, or maybe it's just a place that doesn't pay well + language barriers and thus wasn't that much of a draw to immigrate to? https://allabout-japan.com/en/article/7143/ https://allabout-japan.com/en/article/7143/
bluepizza 5y ago
When requesting naturalization, you have to go through interviews in Japanese, and send a handwritten letter in Japanese as well. That puts a lot of permanent residents off - why go through that when they can already stay indefinitely anyway?
- slim 5y ago
  I find this selection process fair and efficient
walrus01 5y ago
In addition to the points above I have heard that you need to pass the Japanese reading/writing/verbal equivalent of a TOEFL test with a fairly high score.

novok 5y ago

Sometimes in immigration, what is written down and what is reality is two different things. Ex: In panama I've heard of legit citizenship applications just rotting on the desk for many years. In a country like japan where it's more by the book, I'm not sure although. To get PR it takes 10 years to 1 year, so that might be a barrier, or maybe it's just a place that doesn't pay well + language barriers and thus wasn't that much of a draw to immigrate to? https://allabout-japan.com/en/article/7143/ https://allabout-japan.com/en/article/7143/

bluepizza 5y ago

When requesting naturalization, you have to go through interviews in Japanese, and send a handwritten letter in Japanese as well. That puts a lot of permanent residents off - why go through that when they can already stay indefinitely anyway?

slim 5y ago
I find this selection process fair and efficient

walrus01 5y ago

In addition to the points above I have heard that you need to pass the Japanese reading/writing/verbal equivalent of a TOEFL test with a fairly high score.