What would be involved with a minor immigrating to Japan? -

I m not familiar with the rules regarding this type of thing. Well, I m writing a story which involves a fifteen-year-old girl moving to Japan after the death of her parents to live with her godfather. What would she have to do? I mean, it would be a permanent move, and she would be studying there, so would she have to get Japanese citizenship? A Visa? Would the godfather have to adopt her? Please tell me anything that I should know to make the story more realistic; I would be very grateful.

Is one of the girl s parents Japanese? If so, she can be a Japanese citizen. She doesn t need any visa. If both of her parents are not Japanese, it s quite hard to be a Japanese citizen. One tricky way is to set the godfather as one of Japanese goverment VIP or someone who have special authority and can take a foster child abroad using his influence to the goverment. Otherwise, you could set the godfather as one of Japanese mafia (Yakuza) who can smuggle people abroad into Japan. I m not sure if these settings could work well, though. Anyway, general japanese citizens never can do that kind of things as a matter of fact. Having blood of Japanese or special power is absolutely necessary in your situation.

as far as i know, you have to give up your citizenship in order to have japanese citizenship.......... Report Abuse

You should read up on the American Embassy in Japan but because the godfather is not a blood relative, he may not be able to sponser the child s visa. Japan is one of the countries with the strictest immigration in the world. Citizenship is VERY difficult to achieve and many people who have lived their life there never achieve it. Again check with the embassy but I seriously doubt he can sponser the girl. I hope she has relatives in the USA at least...