The next question I needed to answer was how would my family and I stay in Japan? I read on the Japanese immigration website that it was possible to get permanent residency in Japan after having lived in the country for five years consecutively. I thought that was ticket and went down to the immigration office. I told the immigration official that I wanted to apply for permanent residency. He asked me a few questions to determine my eligibility but was stumped, so he got out the book and asked a few colleagues. Another official was familiar with my case and said, "You are not married to a Japanese woman so your case is business. You have to live here for ten years. It's still early for you." It didn't say that specifically on the website but I didn't argue but rather thanked them for their time and left. I came back the next day and talked to the same official I had talked with the day before and told him that the Ministry of Justice's website says that you can apply for citizenship after five years. He got the book out and read it, sometimes aloud and said,"You're right." I said okay I want to do that and then asked if I could do it there. He said that citizenship is not handled by immigration. It's a different department called "homu kyoku". He wrote down the phone number and told me where it was. It turned out to be in the same building where I had registered my land.

I went to the citizenship office and met with an official. We talked for two hours in Japanese. He asked me why I wanted Japanese citizenship and whether I was willing to give up my American citizenship. He asked me to take a test that measured my ability to write in Japanese. After I finished the test, he told me I had a third graders proficiency in written Japanese and therefore I could apply for citizenship. He told me that since my case is that of a person without a Japanese spouse, everthing would be based on me, not my family. He told me to prepare my tax records in Japan, my birth certificate, my sister's birth certificate, my parent's divorce papers, an earnings certificate from all workplaces, a snapshot example of my monthly earnings, a certificate of citizenship issued by the U.S. consulate for me and my children, my children's birth certificates, our family registration certificates from City Hall, additional forms with photos of the family and asset information, an essay about why I wanted to be Japanese - everthing not in Japanese has to be translated into Japanese; this can be expensive if you can't do it yourself - and finally everything has to be submitted in duplicate form.

It took me a year to get all the required information collected and submitted. After many sessions with the immigration official he told me to bring my wife and children to his office. I did and he asked her in surprisingly well spoken English whether she cared if I, and the children, became Japanese without her. She didn't mind because her proficiency in Japanese wasn't good enough. He told her that she could apply when she felt ready to pass the written test I had taken a year before. The immigration official told me that the only things left do were to have a hearing before a judge and for immigration officials to visit my house and take a look at things. They will decide in June; until then I have to wait.

The following are Ahmad's previous articles for the magazine:

• Buying Property in the Philippines & Japan - The Steps To Buying Real Estate
• Living In Japan ~ Restoring A Home In The Japanese Countryside

Return To Magazine Index