Originally Posted by
GUWonder
Another example of this "international standard" creating hassles is that many millions of non-US passports list as "place of birth" a place that is not the place of birth of most such non-US persons.
Like Japan for instance. The place where it's "place of birth" is actually called "registered domicile" in a Japanese passport.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanes...formation_page
Japan, doesn't really keep track where each individual Japanese citizen was born because they do not have a jus solis system like the US (born in the US, you're American). Instead, they go by jus sanguinis where it's the blood of father and/or mother that matters to be Japanese (i.e. father Japanese, mother American, born in Vancouver, BC, child is legally Japanese, American, and Canadian).
Since Japan's citizenship system doesn't care where the child is born so long as either dad and/or mom is Japanese in the place of birth place, the Japanese consulate in Vancouver doesn't list the child's birth place as "British Columbia, Canada," rather, it just wants "dad is Japanese, newborn child is Japanese. List child under dad's family register in Tokyo, Japan."
Pretty much, by nature of so many different cultures, languages, dating systems, even to how one keeps track of "who is by law (differs from country to country) a citizen of ___________" it makes things very complicated unless there is some kind of uniformity.
By that, the best thing we have today is a passport. Unless of course everybody else in the world conforms to the "American way" of writing everything in the Gregorian calendar (in MMDDYYYY format
), using English, adopting jus solis, adopting birth certificate system, etc. which I don't see happening.
Originally Posted by
GUWonder
The US accepts Japanese Shusshou Todoke Kisai Jiko Shomeisho or Koseki Tohon for CRBA purposes -- a lot of Americans born in Japan even off US military bases have these things. If good enough in this day and age for US Department of State to handle, perhaps US DHS can pony up money for something useful beside a fingerprinting and photographing system for most foreigners but happens to miss formally inadmissible foreigners previously turned away from a US port of entry.
Would a koseki shohon be enough for a Japanese person entering LAX or crossing the US-Mexican border at San Ysidro? After lots of hoops and bounds and eventually yes, but it'll take forever to call Washington, see if it's allowed, find a person that can read Japanese to see that it's an authentic koseki shohon, etc. Overall, it's simpler for the Japanese person to get a Japanese passport to enter the US.
I'd imagine the same being for an US citizen visiting Japan just with a birth certificate. A typical immigration officer in Tokyo Narita would hardly have ever seen an US birth certificate and has by no means knowing if it's authentic. It would mean making lots of calls, having an expert to come over to Narita and verify that it's an authentic US birth certificate, etc. Overall, it's simple for the American to get an American passport to enter Japan.