canasia.org

Out of curiousity, does he have dual citizenship? No.  I don't think the US allowed that in 1962, and I am not sure what the Japanese position was or is. It's my understanding that dual citizenship isn't typically confered upon adults, as someone immigrating to the US intending to become a citizen must renounce foreign allegiances. Obviously, that wouldn't apply to newborns who cannot make such a choice. Don't really know if having a single Japanese parent is sufficient to being Japanese, but between that and having been born there, it's certainly possible. I wouldn't pursue it if there might be a demand for back taxes or con_script_ion...

Out of curiousity, does he have dual citizenship? No.  I don't think the US allowed that in 1962, and I am not sure what the Japanese position was or is. It's my understanding that dual citizenship isn't typically confered upon adults, as someone immigrating to the US intending to become a citizen must renounce foreign allegiances. Obviously, that wouldn't apply to newborns who cannot make such a choice. Don't really know if having a single Japanese parent is sufficient to being Japanese, but between that and having been born there, it's certainly possible. I wouldn't pursue it if there might be a demand for back taxes or con_script_ion... Which is exactly what the Navy lawyer in Japan told us, and why he said it was important for my son to go to a US court and assert his US citizenship.  He raised the possibility of our son be drafted into the Japanese military (should Japan instate a draft and he was in Japan at the time

Out of curiousity, does he have dual citizenship? No.  I don't think the US allowed that in 1962, and I am not sure what the Japanese position was or is. He should. A child-hood friend of mine was born in Canada in that same year - two month preemie from an emergency C-section while his parents were on vacation - and has dual citizenship. Not sure there is any advantage in holding Japanese citizenship.  In any case, I am not sure Japan allows it.  Japan is very racist culture, and my understanding is that even persons of Korean ancestry who were born in Japan and whose families have been in Japan for several generations are not eligible for full Japanese citizenship.  The fact that my son has a non-Japanese father might disqualify him from Japanese citizenship.  But I am just speculating. Merritt

Merritt Mullen < This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it wrote in message The last time I went to Mexico (about five years ago?), I simply got on a passenger train in Campo, CA, rode across the border to Tecate, Mex (no formalities at all in that direction), took a tour of the brewery in Tecate, got back on the train are rode back to Campo.  At Campo, we all had to sit on the train while it was inspected by immigration (for stowaways).  When we de-trained, we simply walked pass an immigration officer, but no questions were asked. No wonder they're trying to tighten things up.  I can see being that loose with Canada since there's not much net migration, but Mexico is a different story. Well, in the Campo-Tecate case, there was no net migration.  Everyone had a roundtrip ticket, and the same people who rode into Mexico were the same people who rode back.  As I said, once back in the US, they did check the train for stowaways before they let us de-train. Merritt

Except as has been mentioned, the new policy had not been cleared through George Bush, and when he heard about it, he did not like it.  So maybe it won't happen. Mr. Bush needs to read legislation before he signs it. As president, he cannot claim ignorance of the law or intent of Congress, given that his administration lobbied for this law. Not sure it was a law, but only a policy of the State Department.  In other words, apparently the State Department makes the rules determining the circumstances under which a passport or visa is required to enter the US. Merritt

must renounce foreign allegiances. A renunciation is only required upon actually becoming a US citizen, not simply on immigrating or having the intention to become a US citizen. Plus, because the renunciation is made to US officials , it will very often have no effect on the person's original citizenship (because those countries have specific procedures to renounce citizenship, and making a statement of renunciation to foreign offiicials, has no effect under their laws.)  For example, a person from Britain who becomes a US citizen will not lose his British citizenship because British law requires that a renunciation be made to British officials in order for it to have any effect.  The person ends up being both a US citizen and a British citizen (ie. a dual citizen).  There are many countries that have similar positions on this. Stephen Gallagher