[Nyororin]

Originally Posted by Sangetsu

You should never willingly limit your options, or those of your son. The bureaucrats at the embassy are little different from those who work at the Department of Motor Vehicles or Post Office. They are small people who have much in life to resent, and they often take it out on others (and each other), as you have probably seen in frequent and often sensational news stories.

You might be able to cope without American citizenship for your son, but he would do better to have it.

You seem to have taken a very specific part of what I said and interpreted it as the sole reason my son does not currently have US citizenship. That bit was nothing more than insult upon injury.

The real reason is that there was no feasible way to pull it off. Please read my message again - We were basically given 3 options -

1) Bring him in, along with a medical team to keep him alive for the trip to Osaka and back. 2) Bring in 3 doctors to verify that what we were saying was true - along with a translator certified by the embassy ($$$$$) if they couldn`t speak fluent English.

or 3) pay triple fees, along with additional late fees if we were unable to pull that off within the first 90 days after birth. It appears that now they are not even willing to make that much of an exception these days. If you can`t bring your child in, then they do not receive citizenship. It`s that simple.

Fees, well, they`re painful but something that can be dealt with. Risking the life of my son for citizenship is not.
I didn`t specifically choose not to get my son citizenship. I had no option to get him citizenship in the first place. The choice was made for me by the inflexible laws in place.

As for why we haven`t applied for citizenship after he was released from the hospital... Well, THIS -

What good would getting an American citizenship do her son, if he lives in Japan, speaks Japanese, is being raised in Japan, etc.?

Exactly how am I limiting the options of my son? (And, as implied, limiting my own options by choosing Japanese citizenship over US?) Especially as this

If her son grows up and wants to go to the US, live there, then I'm sure he can go through the procedure of getting a citizenship there

is true.

There is nothing in his future preventing him from receiving US citizenship. Other than the fact that he will have to be considered of "sound mind", which is quite a wall in our case, but that`s really beside the point. He can make that choice on his own, later, when he is ABLE to make that choice. At this point, there is absolutely NO advantage that I can see. In fact, there are quite a few disadvantages. As my son is small, underweight, and bruises easily, I find it extremely easy to imagine a situation in which a trip to the US could lead to him being taken away from me on suspicion of abuse. I was already interrogated about it at the airport, but non-citizens aren`t exactly given the same priority. In Japan, I have medical records to back me up and show that it`s due to health issues. In the US, nothing.
This also opens the window for my less-than-desirable mother to challenge my husband for custody in the case that something happens to me.

If he grows up and has the mental capacity to make such a choice, then it is up to him. For now though, I honestly see no particular reason to bother with it. Anyone that feels I am doing my son a disservice is invited to tell me exactly what amazing advantage having US citizenship would be for my son. Keep in mind that A) We have no plans to make anything but short trips abroad. B) We plan to live exclusively in Japan. C) My husband does not speak English, and we use only Japanese in the home. D) My son is officially recognized as having a developmental disorder that will likely later be classified as mental retardation. E) My son will likely require some level of support/care for the rest of his life - he has a projected adult developmental age of 12.... And F) He is unlikely to ever be fluent in *any* language, let alone be bilingual.

He does have a citizenship. He's over three years old, isn't he, and he was born in the country to an actual Japanese.

He will be 4 next Sunday. He didn`t receive Japanese citizenship due to being born in the country, he received it because his father is a Japanese citizen. He has a Japanese passport, and we have visited the US with it.

And finally - to Paul11;

Thank you. That is exactly how I feel. Japan is my home, and it is the country I love and want to spend the rest of my life in. It`s not that I dislike the US - it`s just that I do not really consider it my country at this point. As I consider Japan my home and my country, I think it is only natural to want to be a citizen and be an official part of the community.