national

Record 832 foreigners in Japan lose residency status in 2018

65 Comments

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

© KYODO

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

65 Comments
Login to comment

There were 80 cases in which the spouse or child of Japanese nationals were deprived of their family member visas, including those who had received them through fake marriages.

Outside of the fake marriages, divorces between spouses, thus possibly losing the "spouse" visa, those I understand, but yet I am curious to know more details on how the children of Japanese nationals had their visas taken away.

Excuse me "deprived", different than "taken away" or "stripped", as deprived to me at least, means that their applications were rejected.

How and why, I would like to know!

0 ( +9 / -9 )

There were 80 cases in which the spouse or child of Japanese nationals were deprived of their family member visas, including those who had received them through fake marriages.

Another thing, not written here directly, but "assumed", is that these "children" of a Japanese national are presumed to have one parent that is not a Japanese citizen, as there is no way any other "children" of Japanese "nationals" would lose their visa, because they dont have one!

Why would a child of a Japanese national need a visa in the first place? They are Japanese. Unless of course they made the choice to NOT take their Japanese citizenship, thus living here as a foreigner and NOT as a Japanese citizen, making them the same as any other foreigner in country, having to follow the immigration laws and having a residence status.

Which also means that the paragraph here is seriously LACKING in pertinent information,

7 ( +13 / -6 )

they should all get their status stripped if they don't follow the law. that's what the law is for...not to be flaunted but to be followed.

4 ( +10 / -6 )

No surprise exercise

4 ( +4 / -0 )

fake marriages.

Oh they should check around Roppongi for those.

9 ( +9 / -0 )

I am not sure how many of these cases would be affected, but Japan needs more visa options. As with Yubaru I am dumbfounded that a child of a Japanese National could possibly lose their visa or not just be handed citizenship. But I note there is no parent of Japanese National visa, which is madness, and sends foreign parents scrambling for other options in the event of divorce or death of the Japanese spouse. I wonder if any parents went for student or trainee visas?

2 ( +7 / -5 )

I am pretty sure that the "Child or Spouse of a Japanese National" is considered one residency status. So 80 people who were either a child or a spouse, but i bet that all 80 of them were here as a 'spouse'

Last time i was on the bus heading to the hell-hole in Shinagawa, i remember an older Japanese man with his (newly wed?) slavic wife, they were posing for pictures to be used as evidence of a real relationship for their marriage visa. Did they just marry 30 minutes earlier? how do you not have enough pics for that?

5 ( +7 / -2 )

I am not sure how many of these cases would be affected, but Japan needs more visa options.

more visa options? the fact that there,s no more visa options is what makes Japan, Japan.

1 ( +6 / -5 )

Norman, once you are married to a Japanese spouse, and especially if you have children, you can apply for permanent residency (which reminds me, i should do that!)

-1 ( +4 / -5 )

Good to hear that the Japanese government is stepping up their game, now they should speed up the procedure and deport these people as quickly as possible instead of putting them in detention facilities indefinitely.

but Japan needs more visa options.

I disagree, that would mean there would be more ways to abuse the system and it is already hard enough to detect certain things like fake marriages.

-1 ( +6 / -7 )

"foreign nationals ...can be detained at immigration facilities in Japan."

I assume they are also detaining the managers and owners of the agencies that are complicit in the scams. Just kidding.

12 ( +13 / -1 )

They are hiding actual numbers, and the reasons as well are not satisfying. I saw this news on Nikkei shinbun. I think the cases are double , triple then that number written in this post in the behalf of international student. If you want to know more about this. Ask to the vocational school or university students with majority of international students.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

I disagree, that would mean there would be more ways to abuse the system

Fewer fair options simply means more REASONS to abuse the system. People have a tendency to not be fair with those who are unfair and its no mystery why.

you can apply for permanent residency (which reminds me, i should do that!)

You can apply but it does not mean you will get it. And if anything happens in the inter-rim you will be seeking other options.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

I agree with japanese rules but not regulation. Somehow they giving a chance who overwork. The government and immigration can’t regulating . If they want to giving chances to somebody its not fare rule, why are they discriminating ? If your’s rule is perfect then regulate your rules. Why you giving some chances to student or trainee. Government should go yes or no , why medium way ? I am not happy and no surprise regarding reading this news and government policy. Either they ruling 100% nor rejecting who doing overwork. There is not clear vision ethically of japanese government.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Could "Child of a Japanese National" be a 45 year old born and raised elsewhere? Is there a special visa for those people, so that they can look after aging family, etc?

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Well, this is very interesting, as someone who is looking to move to Japan. And I’m going to do it via the JESP program, because I heard a lot of good things about it, by people who worked in Japan themselves. And yes, I know that it’s a language school that I would be going to, with part time work on the side. But hey, you got to start somewhere right?

This will obviously get me to pay much closer attention as to what ALL the visa requirements are, so that way I don’t, heaven forbid, end up in the same boat as these people.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

If stripped of their residency status, foreign nationals face deportation and can be detained at immigration facilities in Japan.

Good. Time to touch on those with SPR in the same manner, especially the ones with criminal records.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

afanofjapanToday  09:17 am JST

Norman, once you are married to a Japanese spouse, and especially if you have children, you can apply for permanent residency (which reminds me, i should do that!)

You don't need to be married to a Japanese or have a children to be eligible for permanent resident. If you are highly skilled and get enough points (salary,education,language ability, ...) you can get PR after only a year in Japan. Anyway if you plan to stay, you should apply. It takes quite a bit of time to be processed (6+ months)

1 ( +2 / -1 )

There were 80 cases in which the spouse or child of Japanese nationals were deprived of their family member visas

I highly doubt there were any children who lost their status. The official name of the visa category in question is "Spouse or Child of a Japanese National", so that's probably the only reason 'child' appears in the story.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

I wasn't going to comment but...

After all I've seen, I would prefer to give my children dual citizenship than making them live in Japan with any kind of visa.

Absolutely anything can happen in the future and you can even get your seemingly untouchable 永住権 perm residency and your decades-long life in Japan in a blink of an eye.

1 example:

Japanese salarymen working away from the family (単身赴任) = pretty normal, erai erai

Foreigner working away from the family for a couple of months = very suspicious, probably fake marriage etc...

10 ( +11 / -1 )

They need to crack down more on the people getting these visas. They also need to crack down on companies hiring foreigners and cheating them on their hours and avoiding the health insurance program. Most English schools are bad about that. Most of them are black companies.

8 ( +9 / -1 )

working trainees should have the legal option of switching companies. This might reward good employers and help them leave bad ones

4 ( +6 / -2 )

The immigration office has laws to follow and... its moods and its secret practices. People with rights to - like others - get refused their applications just because for that year/month the planned number of visas has just been released so they find any possible reason to refuse it. A child of a national Japanese may have his/her Japanese parent lost/dead with only the foreigner remaining. Not all the families are a paradise situations: if the child is under 18 year he/she is not Japanese and will still need a guarantor and a residency in Japan (not to mention money). I have been here twenty years, divorced the year I was planning to get the permanent visa and my economic and working situation has not changed, yet after changing the status, now I have to renew it every year, while before (in the same situation) I had it for 3 and 5 years. I repeat: nothing has changed in my work situation. Working trainee also is a sort of job. If the individual find a different solution he should be able to change the visa without problems.

Illegal stays, on the other side, are a different chapter and they should and are handled as they should.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

I totally agree with 'finally rich' opinion...

Thanks god I have no kids...

1 ( +2 / -1 )

A child of a national Japanese may have his/her Japanese parent lost/dead with only the foreigner remaining.

Read what you wrote! A child of a "Japanese" national! Means that they are Japanese citizens! A child HAS dual citizenship here until they become of age! That is the LAW!

CHILDREN who are Japanese have NO VISA STATUS!

3 ( +5 / -2 )

child of Japanese nationals were deprived of their family member visas

Unless you’re Naomi Osaka, even though you didn’t grow up here, don’t live here and don’t speak the language.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

taj

Could "Child of a Japanese National" be a 45 year old born and raised elsewhere? Is there a special visa for those people, so that they can look after aging family, etc?

A Japanese person can adopt you as their child (普通養子), no matter what your age. Question is, would this make you eligible for the child or spouse visa? Not sure, but i guess so? It isnt the easiest thing to do though (paperwork, and also informing your real parents), probably easier to find you a desperate middle aged woman to marry for that visa

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

People wondering how a child of a Japanese can lose its visa....

Guys this is just the name of this Visa that puts foreigner spouses and children in the same category for convenience purposes.. I have yet to see a child of a Japanese national (born overseas or in Japan) without Japanese nationality....... besides children in Japan can hold 2 or more nationalities so what's the point of being child of a japanese in Japan with only a foreigner nationality?

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Roger Jolly, “A child of a national Japanese may have his/her Japanese parent lost/dead with only the foreigner remaining. ...if the child is under 18 year he/she is not Japanese and will still need a guarantor and a residency in Japan”

I don’t think that’s correct. If the birth of a child born to a Japanese parent (mother or father) is properly registered with Japanese authorities (either in Japan or abroad) the child will have Japanese nationality, will not need a visa to be in Japan, and will not lose the Japanese nationality even upon the death of the Japanese parent. Obviously an underage orphan will need a guardian.

If the birth was not properly registered it’s possible that a child of a Japanese wouldn’t have Japanese nationality. Note, as we have seen in past articles on this site and elsewhere, that even a child born in Japan of two Japanese parents can be stateless if their birth was not registered.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

"Child of a Japanese National" means exactly that... Someone who is born to a Japanese National, but also no longer has Japanese citizenship. My wife, after living in the US for 25 years became a US citizen. When returning to Japan to help her aging parents the consulate performed rigorous checks and declared she was no longer a Japanese citizen. (A sad day, but that's the Japanese law as it stands now. If we could get that dual citizenship fixed in Japan it would be terrific, but that's another article.)

Anyway, she obtained a visa: "Child of a Japanese National". As her spouse I obtained a visa: "Long Term Resident"

If our marriage was a fraud the government would void both visas and send us packing. (30 years of marriage is anything but a fraud though, so I think we're okay! We both have permanent residence now.)

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

PS: An example of what I mentioned is that some foreign parents who do not have a spousal visa because of divorce or death, have special provision to live in Japan to raise their Japanese citizen children. The children obviously didn’t lose their citizenship when their Japanese parent died or divorced their foreign spouse. Can’t remember what it’s called at the moment and don’t have time to research it but I personally knew a couple of women who were in that situation.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

In Japan there is the tradition of adult child adoption, often connected to omiai, going back to the old days when it was a way of keeping families alive where there were no heirs.

Now there are matchmaking companies that recruit voluntary adoptees for Japanese corporations.

I have no idea if the system is being abused but 98% of "adoptions" are actually adult men, aged between 20-30 years old, see 'Sons and Lovers: Adoption in Japan" by Taimie L. Bryant for The American Journal of Comparative Law. 

Is it being used to import toy boys and workers/younger lovers from Asia?

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

For all the comments about children, the spouse or child of Japanese nationals is the visa for foreigners who married a Japanese citizen or if there was child over 20 that chose the foreign parents country for citizenship. A child born in Japan from an international couple is a Japanese citizen and doesn't have a visa, they are a citizen of Japan until they are 20. At 20 they can decide if they want to be a citizen of the foreign parents home country. Then they will loose their Japanese citizenship. Japan doesn't allow dual citizenship. The 80+ cases are most likely going to be the fake marriage people.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Can you imagine the backlash and outcries of racism and white supremacy if people said the same thing in regards to America?

Anyone who claims racism and white supremacy because of deported people breaking the law would just be uneducated useless people who don't understand how the law works. Usually known as SJWs.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

I am curious to know more details on how the children of Japanese nationals had their visas taken away.

Was scratching my head about that too. Afaik, it is only possible if these "children of Japanese nationals" did not have Japanese nationality, i.e. they either came with the non-japanese parent and were not biological children, or if they refused Japanese nationality at birth.

If they have Japanese nationality, they do not need a visa in the first place, so there is nothing to remove...

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Can you imagine the backlash and outcries of racism and white supremacy if people said the same thing in regards to America?

Yes, or Europe. And that is the reason that Japan will remain Japan, while the population replacement in the US and Europe means these civilizations have no future. Japan has common sense and the will to survive, the US and (Western) Europe have globalist ideology and PC.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Question: What is the legal residency status of a foreigner (US citizen) who is married to a foreigner with permanent residency status due to previously being married to a Japanese citizen, but now divorced? Can the US citizen obtain a legal residency status, and what type?

6 ( +6 / -0 )

@Yubaru

Outside of the fake marriages, divorces between spouses, thus possibly losing the "spouse" visa, those I understand, but yet I am curious to know more details on how the children of Japanese nationals had their visas taken away.

"Child or spouse of a Japanese national" is a Japanese visa category. It's entirely possible that 100% of those who lost their visas were spouses but that the available statistics didn't provide any further granularity beyond visa category.

Why would a child of a Japanese national need a visa in the first place? They are Japanese. Unless of course they made the choice to NOT take their Japanese citizenship, thus living here as a foreigner and NOT as a Japanese citizen, making them the same as any other foreigner in country, having to follow the immigration laws and having a residence status.

They would need a visa if they were adopted and had no Japanese biological parents, or if they had foregone their Japanese citizenship. "Child or spouse of a Japanese national" is a residence status.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

@Tom Johnston

> Question: What is the legal residency status of a foreigner (US citizen) who is married to a foreigner with permanent residency status due to previously being married to a Japanese citizen, but now divorced? Can the US citizen obtain a legal residency status, and what type?

His or her legal residency status should be "short term resident" from the onset. The spouse being a foreigner and a holder of a permanent resident status could guarantee in the interest of one's husband or wife just like any Japanese national, assuming he or she has a means to support. If the relationship goes smoothly, the US citizen can apply for a "Change of Residency" in about 3 years as a "long term resident" and eventually after 5 years, can apply for another "Change of Residency" as a "permanent resident". That's it!

In general, majority of foreigners married to Japanese nationals or not, who wish to reside here for the rest of their lives are being contented as permanent residents, but for those who choose to embrace the Japanese tradition and its society more than their own,

goes beyond the norm and renounces their citizenship to become a Japanese nationals, which is not as easy as most of us think of, to acquire.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

You say that Japan doesn't allow dual citizenship, yet it puts people through this official performance and, for those who just chose Japanese nationality, it is a dual national who walks out the door...

Once the person decides to chose to retain their Japanese nationality, they have to give up the passport of the other country and relinquish the the citizenship. If they don't then Japan will automatically revoke their Japanese citizenship. So no they won't be able to be a dual citizen.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

@wipeout

As for your "more accurate" description, you literally made the same points with different words. Congratulations, you did a great job of giving the same description. Although the bottom portion was just misinformation.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

The renewal of visas for foreign residents is done solely on discretionary power of Justice Ministry and outside the Constitution of Japan. The relevant Court or judicial precedent rulings clearly mention this , as having a child or Japanese spouse living in Japan even in genuine marriage isn’t a guarantee of resident status extension. Japan’s legal system isn’t a rigid system but a flexible and often arbitrary system.Its a country with “Daimyo”Lords type medieval and archaic legal system of confessions by hostage, coercion and mental torture used to convict someone and disregarding factual evidences and unfair trials. How can you compare US or European or advanced or actual democratic system with rule of law and free media to compare with medieval Japanese laws and vague visa system. Permanent residency and even Japanese nationality being cancelled and revoked isn’t uncommon.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Just like other people mentioned, 'spouse or child of Japanese national' is a single status worded like this in the certificate of eligibility, that's why it was mentioned like this in the article. We can only guess, but most, if not all, of those people are likely to have been spouses. As for children, there can be adopted children living with this status in Japan still as foreigners, and there can be biological children who were not assigned with Japanese nationality at birth, for example, if born outside Japan. Also, I know cases when, let's say, a foreign mother goes to a consulate of her country in Japan and applies for her to child to have the same nationality as her, then she returns to her country, and several years later, when the Japanese passport of her child expires, she goes to renew it and learns that her child is no longer a Japanese national, because the loss of Japanese nationality happens automatically when the mother's nationality is assigned to the child. Assigned here means that there is a procedure of application for nationalty, which is opposite to automatic assignation which requires no special procedure. I understand that if a Japanese father then would like his family to live with him, the child who lost the Japanese nationality would have this status.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Companies and schools should also shoulder the blame. They need to constantly prompt and remind these workers to renew paperwork and not just be complacent about it.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Login to leave a comment

Facebook users

Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday. By doing so, you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts.

Facebook Connect

Login with your JapanToday account

User registration

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites