Will Japanese lose their citizenship if they become US citizens?

[Sam Sloan]

Will Japanese lose their citizenship if they become US citizens?

A friend has lived in America for many years. He is eligible for US
citizenship. However, he says that if he becomes a US citizen, he will
lose his Japanese citizenship. Also, he worked for 15 years for a
company in Japan. He fears that he will lose his pension benefits if
he becomes a US citizen.

I think that America will not tell Japan if he becomes a US citizen,
and therefore he will not lose any benefits he has in Japan.

He says that I am wrong and for this reason Japanese NEVER accept US
citizenship. He knows of no Japanese person who has ever become a US
citizen.

Who is right?

[m***@netMAPSONscape.net]

Post by Sam Sloan
Will Japanese lose their citizenship if they become US citizens?

Not necessarily.

Post by Sam Sloan
A friend has lived in America for many years. He is eligible for US
citizenship. However, he says that if he becomes a US citizen, he will
lose his Japanese citizenship. Also, he worked for 15 years for a
company in Japan. He fears that he will lose his pension benefits if
he becomes a US citizen.

So don't tell them.

Post by Sam Sloan
I think that America will not tell Japan if he becomes a US citizen,
and therefore he will not lose any benefits he has in Japan.

That is the cas.

Post by Sam Sloan
He says that I am wrong and for this reason Japanese NEVER accept US
citizenship. He knows of no Japanese person who has ever become a US
citizen.

Limitted range of acquaintances. I know several who have dual
citizenship.

Post by Sam Sloan
Who is right?

You are. Still, if he doesn't want to be a citizen, it's hard to see
what he's losing out on.

Mike

[Cindy]

Post by Sam Sloan
Will Japanese lose their citizenship if they become US citizens?
A friend has lived in America for many years. He is eligible for US
citizenship. However, he says that if he becomes a US citizen, he will
lose his Japanese citizenship. Also, he worked for 15 years for a
company in Japan. He fears that he will lose his pension benefits if
he becomes a US citizen.
I think that America will not tell Japan if he becomes a US citizen,
and therefore he will not lose any benefits he has in Japan.
He says that I am wrong and for this reason Japanese NEVER accept US
citizenship. He knows of no Japanese person who has ever become a US
citizen.
Who is right?

After a Japanese person (older than 20) acquires US citizenship, he or
she is considered to have dual citizenship. Adult's dual citizenship is
illegal between the US and Japan; therefore, the person has to choose
one or penalized. Probably, he will have to declare to one of those
Japanese embassies for the decision. I assume many people won't do that
unless there is a good reason. Otherwise, you need to have two
passports -- does it sound right?

Regarding losing pension benefits, he must be talking about the
Kousei-nenkin. I am not sure about it.

Why do you have to be an American citizen? Just a Green card will do to
live in the US.

[a***@hpl.hp.com]

Cindy (***@att.net) wrote:
: After a Japanese person (older than 20) acquires US citizenship, he or
: she is considered to have dual citizenship. Adult's dual citizenship is
: illegal between the US and Japan; therefore, the person has to choose
: one or penalized. Probably, he will have to declare to one of those
: Japanese embassies for the decision. I assume many people won't do that
: unless there is a good reason. Otherwise, you need to have two
: passports -- does it sound right?
I know someone with dual citizenship who routinely travels between Japan
and the U.S. using both passports. This person was born in the U.S. to
Japanese parents and grew up in Japan. Evidentally dual citizenship is
allowed in some cases.

Albert

[Cindy]

Post by a***@hpl.hp.com
: After a Japanese person (older than 20) acquires US citizenship, he or
: she is considered to have dual citizenship. Adult's dual citizenship is
: illegal between the US and Japan; therefore, the person has to choose
: one or penalized. Probably, he will have to declare to one of those
: Japanese embassies for the decision. I assume many people won't do that
: unless there is a good reason. Otherwise, you need to have two
: passports -- does it sound right?
I know someone with dual citizenship who routinely travels between Japan
and the U.S. using both passports. This person was born in the U.S. to
Japanese parents and grew up in Japan. Evidentally dual citizenship is
allowed in some cases.

Children (juvenile) may have dual citizenship. But they have to choose
either US or Japanese when they become 21. If they don't make a
selection, their Japanese citizenship will be canceled -- this is what I
heard.

[Scott Reynolds]

Post by Cindy
Children (juvenile) may have dual citizenship. But they have to choose
either US or Japanese when they become 21.

I believe the age by which the Japanese government wants them to choose
is 22. Keep in mind that this "have to choose" business has nothing to
do with the US government.

Post by Cindy
If they don't make a
selection, their Japanese citizenship will be canceled -- this is what I
heard.

Their Japanese citizenship MAY be canceled, at the discretion of the
Minister of Justice. I have never heard of this actually happening,
however. I would be curious to know if anyone else on the list has heard
of such a case.

[m***@netMAPSONscape.net]

Post by Cindy
Children (juvenile) may have dual citizenship. But they have to choose
either US or Japanese when they become 21. If they don't make a
selection, their Japanese citizenship will be canceled -- this is what I
heard.

I can only point out that I know people who have both, and they're in
their 30s.

Mike

[m***@netMAPSONscape.net]

Post by Cindy

Post by Sam Sloan
Will Japanese lose their citizenship if they become US citizens?

After a Japanese person (older than 20) acquires US citizenship, he or
she is considered to have dual citizenship. Adult's dual citizenship is
illegal between the US and Japan; therefore, the person has to choose
one or penalized. Probably, he will have to declare to one of those
Japanese embassies for the decision. I assume many people won't do that
unless there is a good reason. Otherwise, you need to have two
passports -- does it sound right?

Yes, all dual citizens will have 2 passports. Most nations have some
sort of requirement that you enter the country on that passport, if
you are a citizen.


Mike

[Michael Cash]

Post by Sam Sloan
Will Japanese lose their citizenship if they become US citizens?
A friend has lived in America for many years. He is eligible for US
citizenship. However, he says that if he becomes a US citizen, he will
lose his Japanese citizenship. Also, he worked for 15 years for a
company in Japan. He fears that he will lose his pension benefits if
he becomes a US citizen.

Citizenship is irrelevant to his Japanese pension benefits. What he
should be more concerned about is that he lacks enough years of
contributions to be assured of full returns from the system upon his
retirement.

The best advice you could give your friend is to tell him to get in
touch with the appropriate authorities in Japan and find out the FACTS
of the matter rather than operate on assumptions and the conjecture of
well-meaning friends and random strangers on the internet.

Post by Sam Sloan
I think that America will not tell Japan if he becomes a US citizen,
and therefore he will not lose any benefits he has in Japan.

He wouldn't lose them anyway. What is his remains his, regardless of
his citizenship status. Or does he think foreign participants in the
Japanese pension scheme (such as myself) are not going to receive our
retirement payouts when we reach retirement age?

My understanding of the matter is that not only will he not lose his
benefits, but that the authorities will cut him a check each month and
mail it to him overseas if he so desires. Treat this info as
unsubstantiated hearsay.

Post by Sam Sloan
He says that I am wrong and for this reason Japanese NEVER accept US
citizenship. He knows of no Japanese person who has ever become a US
citizen.

That's an example of what I call "You must be drunk; I see two of you"
logic. I used to get that a lot from Japanese who see me driving a
truck in Japan. It goes...."I've never seen a foreigner driving a
truck in Japan before. Therefore, this must be the first day he has
ever done it. Accordingly, I will treat him like an idiot."



Michael Cash
Kiryu, Japan

[s***@rogers.com]

Post by m***@netMAPSONscape.net

Post by Sam Sloan
Will Japanese lose their citizenship if they become US citizens?

Not necessarily.

Post by Sam Sloan
A friend has lived in America for many years. He is eligible for US
citizenship. However, he says that if he becomes a US citizen, he will
lose his Japanese citizenship. Also, he worked for 15 years for a
company in Japan. He fears that he will lose his pension benefits if
he becomes a US citizen.

So don't tell them.

Post by Sam Sloan
I think that America will not tell Japan if he becomes a US citizen,
and therefore he will not lose any benefits he has in Japan.

That is the cas.

While the US does not directly report to a country that one of their
citizens has naturalized in the US, I was under the impression that
there was a publication produced by the US government where they listed
the names and original nationalities of people who naturalize. If a
country (including Japan) wanted to check whether any of its citizens
had naturalized in the US, could they not check this publication?

Not that I'm saying that they do. But, couldn't they?

[m***@netMAPSONscape.net]

Post by s***@rogers.com
While the US does not directly report to a country that one of their
citizens has naturalized in the US, I was under the impression that
there was a publication produced by the US government where they listed
the names and original nationalities of people who naturalize. If a

I've never actually heard of that.

Post by s***@rogers.com
country (including Japan) wanted to check whether any of its citizens
had naturalized in the US, could they not check this publication?

I dunno; why/how would they look to see if (eg) Isao Suzuki naturalized
in the US (or somewhere else) as Bill Suzuki?

Post by s***@rogers.com
Not that I'm saying that they do. But, couldn't they?

If such a list existed, I guess. If they wanted to, they could hire
PIs to follow everyone who went overseas, but why would they?

Mike