Procedures for applying for permission of ‘naturalization’ for foreign nationals to acquire Japanese nationality are basically done by the Legal Affairs Bureau.

 

And, in the case of the following conditions, I asked the Legal Affairs Bureau of Nagoya how to proceed with the procedure properly.

 

1. How far can I proceed as an acquaintance?

 

2. Is it possible to apply procedures at Nagoya Legal Affairs Bureau if the applicant himself is a resident of Gifu?

 

3. How may I consult with the Legal Affairs Bureau?

 

4. What are the things to bring when you first consulted at the Legal Affairs Bureau?

 

I would like to summarize the above four points based on the answer from the Nagoya Legal Affairs Bureau.

 

1. How far can I proceed as an acquaintance?

Basically, it is better to proceed by himself/herself because there may be the recent family status or history of immigration they only know.

 

However, it does not mean that it is prohibited.

If you make sure to figure out “the fact that you can only understand himself” as mentioned above, it takes time and effort, but there is no problem that someone else procedure with a certain extent.

Of course, the processes such as interviews or preparing documents that need to be created by handwriting cannot be done by others.

 

2. Is it possible to apply procedures at Nagoya Legal Affairs Bureau if the applicant himself is a resident of Gifu?

No.

You need to apply at the Regional Legal Affairs Bureau in the area where your applicant’s address (resident registration) is located. In this case, residents of Gifu must apply to the Legal Affairs Bureau of Gifu.

 

However, questions about general consultation or flow of procedures are accepted at Nagoya Legal Affairs Bureau.

Therefore, if you are applying for the first time, it is better to get the general information first at the Legal Affairs Bureau located in the most convenient place.

 

3. How may I consult with the Legal Affairs Bureau?

You have to make a reservation by phone.

Depending on the congestion situation of the Legal Affairs Bureau, although, next two weeks could be filled with the reservation, so it is certainly better to place a phone call for reservation with plenty of time.

 

The telephone number of Nagoya Legal Affairs Bureau is 052-952-8073.

 

4. What are the things to bring when you first consulted at the Legal Affairs Bureau?

· Residence card (Zairyu-card)

· Passport (if updated, a previous one is required as well)

· Birth certificate of the origin country

· Residence certificate in Japan (Juumin-hyo)

 

If you have other documents that might be necessary, you had better bring all of them so that the process could be easier.

If you have something else that can tell the composition of the family, it may be useful too.

 

If you are able to bring only copies of your passport, you need all the pages with records (stamps) of immigration, not just pages with facial photos.

Recently, it has become possible to enter and leave without stamps by fingerprint authentication. In that case, since there are no records left in the passport, it means that you have to state your travel history verbally.

 

 

 

 

This is the way of the first consultation of Naturalization permission application based on the answer of Nagoya Legal Affairs Bureau.