Fake Japanese Babies

[Mulboyne]

Asahi: Chinese woman 'married' to gain Japanese nationality for baby, work in Japan
A pregnant Chinese woman registered a bogus marriage with a Japanese man to gain Japanese nationality for the baby and to continue working here, Tokyo police said. After the "marriage," the woman continued living with the baby's biological father, a Chinese man suspected of violating the immigration control law, while the Japanese "husband" received 540,000 yen as a reward, police said...The Metropolitan Police Department suspects many children are living in China who acquired Japanese citizenship through similar methods...According to the Justice Ministry, if Jiang is found guilty of falsifying the marriage, her child's family registration will be corrected and he will lose his Japanese nationality. But if the fake marriage is not confirmed, the boy will keep his citizenship. An immigration official said that out of concerns for the baby, it is generally easier for a foreign mother to gain a long-term resident visa if the child has Japanese nationality, even after she divorces her Japanese husband from a fake marriage...And if the mother marries the biological father of the child after her divorce, the father often receives special permission for residence -- even if he is living illegally in Japan -- to help support the child with Japanese nationality, according to the official. Immigration officials are concerned that cases of "false paternity" will rise because foreign women seeking long-term stays in Japan can simply pay a Japanese man to recognize a child as his own without going through the fake-marriage process...more...

[Mulboyne]

Mainichi: 3 Chinese arrested over paternity scam to get child Japanese citizenship

An unmarried Chinese couple and another Chinese woman were arrested Friday for using the name of a Japanese man in a paternity recognition document in a bid to obtain Japanese citizenship for the couple's child and acquire permanent residency for themselves, police said. Wang Zong, 29, and Shen Nan, 28, both unemployed, and company worker Guo Qingqing, 34, are accused of forging private documents. "I thought this would let our child and us stay in Japan as a family. We wanted our daughter to be educated in Japan," Wang was quoted as telling investigators during questioning. According to the revised Nationality Law that went into effect in January, children of unmarried Japanese fathers and foreign mothers can obtain Japanese citizenship if the father recognizes paternity. The suspects submitted a paternity recognition form to the Higashikurume Municipal Government in Tokyo in January last year for Wang and Shen's 1-year-old daughter, which indicated the father as a 56-year-old Japanese man, investigators said. Guo masterminded the crime, using the name of a Japanese acquaintance who was in prison at the time and was not in on the scam, according to the Metropolitan Police Department. Shen paid Guo an 800,000 yen fee.

[Mulboyne]

Yomiuri: 3 held over false nationality claim for baby

A Japanese man and two foreigners have been arrested on suspicion of conspiring to arrange for a baby born to foreign parents to be granted Japanese nationality by falsely attesting that the baby was the Japanese man's child before the birth, the police said Friday. According to the Kanagawa prefectural police, those arrested were Hiroshi Masaki, a 33-year-old welder, from Atsugi, Kanagawa Prefecture; Salazal Morales Silvio Martin, a 30-year-old Peruvian from the same city; and Iglesias Laura Marcela, a 30-year-old Argentine, from Zama in the prefecture. Masaki and the couple are reportedly acquaintances. According to the police, Masaki falsely submitted documentation to the Atsugi municipal government claiming the baby born to Marcela and Martin, a common-law couple, was his child, in conspiracy with the two. If a Japanese man recognizes a foreigner's baby as his child before his or her birth, the baby can obtain Japanese nationality. The police believe the suspects tried to help Marcela obtain residential status based on the legal precedent in which a foreign woman obtained a special residential permit to raise her child who was granted Japanese citizenship after being recognized before birth by a Japanese man as his offspring.

According to investigative sources, the three had the male baby born to the common-law couple obtain Japanese nationality by submitting a document on Sept. 26 to the Atsugi municipal government reflecting Masaki's recognition of the baby as his child before the birth in December, according to the police. They then allegedly submitted birth registration paperwork to the municipal government on Jan. 19, falsely stating that the baby was Masaki's child. Marcela has been indicted for illegally overstaying in Japan in violation of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law, while Martin was convicted of the same charge and other violations and was already being held at the immigration bureau's detention facility. Marcela was quoted by the police as saying, "I thought I could obtain residential status if my child was granted Japanese nationality." Masaki reportedly told investigators he had been deceived by the woman. In April, the police searched Marcela's home on suspicion of violating the law, where they found the baby. As the investigators checked the family registry for information on the baby, they suspected the child might have been falsely recognized by a Japanese man as his offspring. A DNA test confirmed the baby to be the child of Marcela and Martin. The baby is being held in protective custody at a children's facility.

[Mulboyne]

Yomiuri: Laotian couple held over fake birth registration

A Laotian married couple and an acquaintance, all from Ayase, Kanagawa Prefecture, were arrested Tuesday on suspicion of making false statements in notarized documents after the couple registered the acquaintance's baby as their own to obtain special residency status, police said. The husband illegally obtained special residency status under the pretext of raising their child. The husband and wife are suspected of passing off the baby girl of their female acquaintance as their own and submitting foreign resident registration documents to the Hiratsuka municipal office around Sept. 18, 2007. In April 2007, the husband was detained at an immigration facility to be deported after a hit-and-run accident in Hiratsuka involving the suspect led to the revelation that he was staying in Japan illegally. In May 2007, the couple got married and the husband claimed that his wife was pregnant with their child. He subsequently obtained special residency status in July the same year. The wife has permanent residency after she was recognized as a refugee.

[Mulboyne]

Yomiuri: 3 held over registering Peruvian boy as Japanese

A 30-year-old Japanese man of Atsugi, Kanagawa Prefecture, and a Peruvian couple were arrested Tuesday on suspicion of falsely registering the couple's boy as the Japanese man's child, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned. A revision to the Nationality Law in January means that marriage is no longer a prerequisite in bestowing Japanese nationality on a child provided one of the parents is Japanese and that the Japanese parent acknowledges the child as his or her own after birth. Taking advantage of this revision, the three suspects apparently were able to acquire Japanese nationality for the child. According to the Justice Ministry, this is the first detected case of a forged paternity declaration since the revision came into effect.

There is a strong visceral sense of the Yomiuri journalist spitting blood as he wrote this.