Thinking about the future, I had long since decided to adopt my wife's child.
If the child is a Japanese citizen, adopting the wife's stepchild is as easy as filing a report at the city office.
If you are a foreign national, you cannot adopt a child, even if it is your wife's biological child, without the approval of the family court.
So far, I knew this by calling the family court and researching on the Internet.
As for the necessary documents, I submitted (1) the petition form, (2) a copy of my family register, and (3) the original and Japanese translation of the child's birth certificate. I thought that all I had to do was bring the necessary stamps (800 yen for one person) and stamps (10 84 yen stamps and 10 10 yen stamps) to the court, so I brought these to the family court counter.
At the counter, after checking the documents including the petition, the attendant said that there were other documents needed.
Well, I was expecting that, so I asked "What kind of documents do you need?" and she said he needed the residence certificates of my wife and children.
My wife lives in Japan, so it is easy for her to get a resident card, but my child lives in the Philippines, so of course she does not have a resident card in Japan.
In other words, if you do not reside in Japan, you cannot petition for adoption itself.
This kind of information could not be found on the Internet, so I was honestly surprised.
The reason why the family court will not approve the adoption if the child does not reside in Japan is apparently because after the petition is filed, the family court officer needs to actually visit the home to make sure that there are no problems with the child's upbringing.
Therefore, they cannot allow the adoption of a child by a wife who lives abroad.
I'm not sure how to explain it, so I'm going to try to find out what the law says about it.
