What do I need?
 

I will be moving to Aomori next year, and I was wondering what was required to become a Japanese citizen?

Also any other information would be very helpful. I know that it will be a very fast and difficult change (part of the reason I am doing it.) and even though I have done much research I am still unsure of what is required of me when I enter the country.

It would also be helpful if anyone here is from Aomori, so that I would have the insiders view. XP

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but thanks anyways.

Why do you want citizenship? Isn't having a visa and eventually a permanent residence status not good enough?

Are you going there on a work visa? Student visa? I'm hoping you're not planning on moving on a tourist visa.

It'll be easier to get help if you explain your situation a bit more.

Answer: No point in trying.

As far as I understand it.

This is why I needed help, because I know little to nothing about residency status in Japan, or the difference between visas...

I plan on moving to Japan to live, I have no particular reason other than personal reasons.

If that's the case, you should live there first, see if you actually like it enough to stay. You shouldn't just jump right into something without seeing it fully through first.

Anyway, if you live there on a Visa and turns out you do enjoy it, then it'd be easier to just become a permanent resident. From what I've read, there are a load of procedures and such to become an actual citizen, one of which includes living there for a certain number of years.

Well you could either find an employer there to sponsor a work visa. Go to school and be sponsored on a student visa. Get married to a Japanese national and be there on a spousal visa. Go there on a tourist visa but that only lets you stay for 90 days.

You can't just up and move there. You have to give them a reason for wanting you. After 10 years of being there on a visa (5 if you're married to a Japanese national) then you could apply as a permanent resident.

Check out the United States Embassy in Japan's website.

ETA: How old are you? Do you have some sort of degree?

I am 18, and have no degree, nor am I attending a university atm. =_=

I could go for school, but then I know absolutely nothing about how that works, and as far as work goes, I haven't been able to find any listing online, especially for me as I am more suited to physical jobs (IE hard labor)

What about this Alien Registration card thing? (Note the technical term there.)

Thanks for the patience and help all. =P

18, no degree and no current schooling. Yeah...your chances are slim to none. No one would want to hire you and most labor jobs require you to be completely fluent in Japanese for safety reasons. And think about it, why should they do the paperwork to hire you when they could just hire a Japanese citizen without hassle?

The ARC is for those who have a visa. It's kinda like your ID card sorta thing while living in Japan. Shows proof of your legal status in Japan.

Best thing for you to do is to go back to school, get a degree and try again. Or maybe go through an exchange program within the school and do a semester or two in Japan.

Browse around on the forum's archives. There's many threads like this.

You should really check out the topics stickied in this particular forum, especially this one:

http://www.japanforum.com/forum/livi...ive-japan.html

Were you talking about college or high school for the degree. I assumed you were talking about college to clarify. -_-

Yes I meant college. 4 year. 2 years don't really count for much.

Hey, do you think you could answer the question I had in this post in the college topic since you seem to be very well-informed on this particular topic.

Just wanted to make sure you didn't think I was a high school drop out.

=P

Does it matter what the degree is for? Because I'm really only interested in music and art... =_=

"And so did he flood him with questions..."

Haha nah, didn't think that.

That I can't quite help you. Go to the link that SSJup81 gave you and read the archives. The others can go into detail.

Will do, and thanks for the great advice.

That's a college degree.

You'll never get citizenship, but you probably mean you want permanent residency.

You said you did a lot of research. What did you discover?

Yeah, permanent residency was what I meant.

Out of all my research, including Japans Ministry of Foreign affairs website, I couldn't find out any more than, "If you plan on staying in Japan for longer than 90 days, an Alien Registration card must be acquired. You must have a ARC before you are allowed to rent an apartment or sign up for other services (phone, bank account, so on.) "

That was why I came here. =P I didn't find out about the different visas until I posted this thread.... *XO

I agree that one should be an asset to the country, but I didn't imagine that Japan would have something so reminiscent to an entry exam.. -_-

I don't know anything about residency really, but if and when you do move, remember to bring some peanut butter with you. I hear it's really hard to find over there and that's a total drag when you really want a PBJ at 5am. ;D

The proper way to become a permanent resident of Japan would be to get a 4 year college degree, and apply for a relevant job in Japan. If you are hired and sponsored for a visa, you have taken your first step. If you remain in Japan with the same employer for 5 or more years, pay your taxes, and stay out of trouble, you can try applying for permanent residency. YMWV immensely in this process. Some people get PR within 5 or 6 years, with others its taken 10 or more years.

The quickest way to PR is to marry a Japanese national. To to Japancupid.com, meet someone, and get married. You can usually get PR within 7 years after getting married.

You either have to marry someone who a Japanese citzen or has family in Japan or get a job in Japan with and have your company be the sponsor on your visa. Im not sure but I think Japan will allow you a visa if you wanna go over there for an internship in special area. Another idea would be to go to college in Japan but its expensive.