[Nyororin]

Originally Posted by Koroshiya

We have looked at numerous website weighing the difference between naturalization and permanent residency. We have decided that naturalization will best coincide with our future plans.

Although this may be a personal question - what are your reasons for deciding that naturalization would be superior to permanent residency in your case?

I`ve started, and (temporarily aborted due to financial constraints) the naturalization process, so will add what I know to the requirements.

1) Live there five years.

Five conscutive years as a self sufficient adult (supporting yourself financially) with a steady job on a visa other than "student" or a dependent of anything other than a citizen. You can technically get by with 3 years as a dependent of a citizen.

2) Be over 20 years old.

If you are too young to have the 5 years of self sufficiency, you pretty much have to be a dependent of a citizen.

3) No criminal record.

Not quite - you can have a minor record. It is the type of record that matters - apparently minor offenses don`t count against you.

4) Proof of financial stability/ability to support one's self.

If you did okay for 1, unless you have lost your job, you should be fine with this one.

5) Competency in the language.

I have always heard this one as more to do with lifestyle than straight language ability.

6) Relinquish citizenship in country of origin.

A big point to remember with this one - if they don`t think that you are likely to give up your other citizenship/s, they will not grant you Japanese citizenship.

However, is it really as easy as it appears?

Fortunately, and unfortunately, it is not. Those are the requirements for being eligible to apply. The actual process after you apply is a different matter entirely.

Being married to a Japanese citizen, having Japanese ancestry, having children who speak only Japanese, only being able to speak Japanese fluently, owning property in Japan, etc, are things that seem to make a difference. You prior visa history also seems to make a difference - someone who has gone through, say, a student vise → work visa → permanent residency visa is more likely to be looked on favorably than someone who has just been in Japan on a work visa. You don`t technically have to have a permanent residency visa, but there is no doubt that it goes a long way toward showing your commitment to remaining in the country.
Another big factor that comes into play is how likely they think you are to leave Japan (a big reason for keeping a previous citizenship, for example) - something that goes hand in hand with how likely you are viewed to vote with interests other than those of Japan in mind. You may find this a significant wall - if you and your wife are both from another country, the roots you have laid down in Japan are likely to be considered more shallow than the roots of family and past you have left in another country.
They also judge how likely you are to use your acquired citizenship as a foothold to bring others in your family (who now have direct blood ties to a citizen) into the country.

Is it really so ambiguous?

When it comes to non-Asian, not-born-in-Japan applicants... there are only a handful of applicants a year. I recall reading that there are less than 20 applicants a year, and only 5 or so are granted. It is a very individualized process. It is completely case by case.

Also, friends with friends/family in Japan (so this is second hand information) tell me that one must have USD $90,000 worth of assets as part of qualifying for this process.

I have never heard this, and it was never mentioned in my case.

Based on context, it appears that you must simply have the skills necessary to acquire/already have a job that can support a family adequately.

More like "have the skills, the job, and proof of stability in that position".

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The big bottleneck for me has been the required documentation and paperwork dealing with the US side. This requires multiple trips to the US - something that we can`t really afford.
You need a LOT of documentation. You have to create a family record that is as detailed as those for the rest of the population... Some of this documentation simply doesn`t exist in other countries.

I have to prove that I am a first child, that my parents were not married and divorced prior to my birth. I have to prove birth order for my siblings (as they go on the record too) and I have to prove that I have no additional siblings. I have to provide records of the birth of my parents, and records of their marriages and divorces. I also need detailed records of all of my addresses from birth to present....

The list goes on and on. Thank god I am not an only child as there is NO WAY to prove you are an only child based on US records.

My parents are divorced and my father is, well, I don`t really know where. Scraping together records of his marriage/s and divorce/s, and proof of no other marriage/s and divorce/s is NOT easy. It`s virtually impossible with family I do still have contact with.

Even with the easy ones, a lot of these records you have to be present to obtain.

The costs of documentation and paperwork caused the process to jerk to a halt in my case.