stangguy

The indivdual states hold about 5% as well as about the same amount being held by mutual funds. Another 4% is held by pension funds. The rest is held by banks, insurance companies, savings bonds, and private investors.

So, does this mean that China owns the US? Wow.

Not even close, of the total US National Debt only about 28% is held by foreign companies, nations, and individuals and China only holds about 40% of that. That equates to about 10% of the total debt being held by China. The largest holder of US debt is the US government. The US Government owns about 50% it .

I did this back in October. The process is pretty simple but requires you going to the US Embassy or Consulate and then going to the city hall where the Japanese citizen lives.

At the embassy you will need the Affidavit of Competency to Marry form kaffy linked to. It will need to be completed before you go to the embassy or consulate. They will want your passport and maybe your birth certificate, and if you have been divorced a copy of the divorce decree. The consulate will then notorize the Affidavit of Competency to Marry.

Once you have this form you can pick up the form to register a marriage at the city hall. You and your fiance will have to fill it out and you will also need two witnesses to stamp it with their hanko if they are Korean, Japanese, or Chinese or sign it if they aren't. Then take the form back to the city hall and turn it in. The city hall will want to see your passport and the affidavit. IF the city hall where the Japanese citizen lives isn't allso where their family register is located they might also want a copy of the family register. They will take some time to verify all the information on the form is correct then send you on your way as a freshly married couple.

It very much depends on your ex's family. My wife's parents were divorced when she was about 10. Because of the divorce and custody arrangement she took her mother's name after the divorce. She still had some contact with her father but it was discouraged by her mother. Her older sister didn't really have any contact with him. She also had occasional contact with her aunts and uncles from her father's side.

However, I would look at it from a more practical point of view. While it seems pretty clear that your ex doesn't have any interest in your daughter it seems that his mother did. Is your daughter entered on your ex's family register? If she is then she is part of the family regardless and they can't really change that and his mother will likely appreciate the updates. However, because he was involved with a westerner the expectations also change. If the child is on his family register the fact that he doesn't have custody would generally mean that he did something wrong. While it is very common for the woman to have custody of the child after splitting when both parents are Japaneses, when only the father is Japanese it is quite common for him to try and get custody. This fact could add a great burden to his mother.

If the child isn't on his register then she truly is a stranger and whatever reason he gave to his mother for your seperation probably also puts doubt on the paternity of the child. A child born out of wedlock in Japan isn't automatically the child of its father, only if he claims the child or marries the mother within 3 months of the child's birth is it usually considered his child. Even if it was to be proven by a paternity test, because he doesn't claim the child, it isn't his. In that case I would completely forget about his mother or anyone else from his family.

Thanks for the advice to download and print off of the website. I have filled out our official "practice copy" and have it all done and was waiting for the official packet.

My only question is - how will I receive my police report packet?

In Japan, you need an official note from the government to get it and that note is contained with the DS230 packet?

Before I knew that Japan required proof of being in the immigration process to recieve a police certificate, my wife went and tried to obtain it. They told her that they needed a notice or letter saying the police certificate was needed but if she had the case number then she could get the police certificate. So when we get approved for the NVC, I will forward her the email and also send her the case number as soon as I get it and she will go to the prefectural police department and request the police certifiate. I suggest you have your wife call or go to the prefectural police department and verify exactly what they want in order to issue a police certificate.

She just needs one. The NVC will forward their copy on to the Embassy.

The police certificate should come translated as a standard. Even the police department in my wife's backwater little prefecture in northern Honshu issued her a bilingual police certificate when she told them what it was for.

Thanks that is pretty much what I thought but with these things you never know.

I have a couple of question for those Japan filers that have allready been through the process. The Department of State website says that Japanese Police certificates are in a sealed envelope and if opened is not valid. How do you then make the copies of it that the NVC and embassy want? Also, how do you translate it like the Tokyo embassy site says they want done to all documents not in English?

Charles,

There are a couple things to consider.

Provided you meet the residency requirements to confer automatic citizenship to your daughter, your daughter is allready a USC.

You just don't have the consular report of birth. Think of it more like a second birth certificate.

If your child was born at your house in the states, it would be a USC but you would have no proof because no birth certificate.

This is the same situation.

Now, because your child is allready a USC and thus elligible for a SSN she is INELLIGIBLE for an IITN. The IRS won't know that, but it could cause problems in the future when you try to get the consular report of birth and a SSN.

Loooking at your timeline it looks like you are at the NVC or soon to be there. If your wife doesn't have her interview before April I would suggest filing a tax extension. If she does have her interview before then I would suggest you go to the interview and while you are in Japan file your daughter's consular report of birth, but even then you might need to file an extension.

It is similar to my plan for my wife. I hope that we have her interview by June. So I will file an extension and instead of getting an IITN we will have a SSN for her. I'm also hoping that we get the visa by then so my child isn't born in Japan and I end up having to go through the consular report of birth process. My wife is pregnant and due in August.