What about international marriage procedures, spouse visas, and children's nationalities?

This time, I will talk about what happens to the nationality of the child if he gets married internationally.
As long as you live in Japan, if you are a foreign national,Grounds for residencewill be required, so be sure to check the procedures carefully.

Pedigree and jus soli

◆ Pedigreeism

inherited from parentsThe concept of acquiring nationality through blood ties.
Japan adopts this pedigree, and if either parent is Japanese, the child born will acquire Japanese nationality.

There are also two patterns in pedigree.
onePatrilineal priority pedigreeIt is called, and the nationality of the father is prioritized and adopted.
Another isParental pedigreeThe idea is to acquire the nationality of either the father or the mother.
Japan is a pedigree and adopts a parental pedigree.

◆ Fabric principle

The idea of acquiring the nationality of the country of birth, regardless of the nationality of the parents.
Representative countries of adoption are the United States and Canada.
For example, if a Japanese couple living in Japan gives birth to a child in the United States, they can obtain American citizenship.
However, since Japan adopts the system of descent, the child will have dual nationality between the United States and Japan, and will need to choose their nationality in the future.

Acquisition of nationality by birth

Article 2 of the Nationality Lawstipulates the acquisition of nationality by children born in Japan.

1. When the father or mother is a Japanese citizen at the time of birth
2. If the father who died before birth was a Japanese citizen at the time of death
3. If you were born in Japan, but both your parents are unknown or you do not have nationality.

As mentioned above, if one of the parents has Japanese nationality, it is possible to acquire Japanese nationality.
However, this does not mean that it can be obtained unconditionally, and there are some conditions.

1. The parents have a legal parent-child relationship.
2. The legal relationship between mother and child is determined by the fact of birth, so if the mother has Japanese nationality, the child will acquire Japanese nationality at birth.
3. A legal father-son relationship is recognized if the child was born out of wedlock during a marriage between the parents, or if the child is acknowledged by the father.
Therefore, if the mother is a foreigner and the father is Japanese, the child will acquire Japanese nationality by birth if the parent is married or the father knows.
3. Birth notification for a child with Japanese nationality must be submitted within 3 months.In particular, if the child has also acquired foreign nationality by birth, the child must not notify the birth and express his or her intention to retain nationality within XNUMX months. and lose Japanese nationality retroactively to the time of birth.
However, even after losing your nationality, you can still acquire Japanese nationality by submitting a notification to the Legal Affairs Bureau before you reach the age of 18.

*From April 4, 2022, the age has changed from 4 to 1.

A country where you can get nationality when you get married

◆ Marriage and citizenship acquisition

There are countries in the world where you can acquire the nationality of the other country by getting married.
Afghanistan, Iran, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Zimbabwe.
When marrying a man in one of these countries, the woman acquires the nationality of that country.
Obtain"can"not"To do".
When that happens, the womanDual citizenshipHowever, in the case of Japan,We do not allow dual nationality., "Up to 20 years old" or "two years after becoming dual citizen" must be selected later.
If this deadline is exceeded, the Ministry of Justice will notify you of the notification,If you leave it for a month, you will lose your Japanese nationality.

Impact of parental nationality on child nationality

◆ Dual nationality issue

The biggest problem for children when their parents are of different nationalities is their nationality.
As mentioned above, each country has different nationality laws, so some children will inevitably have more than one nationality.
As mentioned above,Japan is not a country that recognizes dual nationality.So the childYou will be forced to choose your nationality in the future..

When you give birth to a child abroad

◆ Giving birth in a fabric-based country

Countries such as the United States and Canada have adopted jus soli.
I mentioned that if a Japanese couple gives birth in the United States, they will also have American nationality, but what if an internationally married couple gives birth in a birth-oriented country?

For example, if the husband is Italian, the wife is Japanese, and the country of birth is Brazil, both Italy and Japan are pedigree and adopt parental pedigree.
Brazil also adopts jus soli, which means that the child will acquire Italian, Japanese and Brazilian nationalities.

Dual citizenship children

◆ Nationality selection

If a person with Japanese nationality becomes dual citizen, it is necessary to select the nationality for a certain period of time.
This is required by the current nationality law, which came into force since 1985.

To select Japanese nationality, you can either declare your choice of Japanese nationality at the government office in Japan or you can apply for withdrawal of nationality from the foreign country.
There are two ways to choose foreign nationality: one is to submit a notification of renunciation of nationality to the Legal Affairs Bureau, and the other is to submit a notification of nationality selection to the foreign country.

The period for choosing a nationality depends on the age at which you became dual citizen.

If you become dual citizen before the age of 18: From that day to the age of 20You need to make a choice.
If you become dual citizen after reaching the age of 18: Within 2 years from that dateMust be selected.

If you do not select your nationality by this deadline, the Minister of Justice will notify you in writing.If you leave it for more than a month, you will automatically lose your Japanese nationality.

Summary

What did you think?
The issue of nationality of children after international marriage is quite complicated, and one of the reasons is that each country has a different way of thinking about nationality.
I think the shortcut to understanding is to think about the customs, cultural differences, ways of thinking, and times of each country.
If you have any problems, please feel free to contact us.

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