Expert: Ralph Salier - 11/5/2009

Question
Is this fair yes or no?
An American man has an 18 year old daughter in Japan with a Japanese mother, that he has only seen one time, when she is a baby, to officially register her as an American citizen. He says that if he was legally required to pay child support for 18 years like in America she would not be alive today, because he would never had sex with her mother. In Japan man do not pay child support and in most cases will never see that child ever. Her mother did not want child support from him and did not want him to ever see his daughter and he gave what the mother wanted 100 percent.

Answer
Does the girl want to claim US citizenship?  All they need to do is a paternity test and show proof that he is the father and this may be enough to help her gain US citizenship.  But the state department is a very goofy place when it comes to US citizenship for what appear to be foreign nationals with an American Father.  This is the same problem that children of American service personnel have when male service members have children out of wedlock in foreign places.  The US government generally does not recognize the citizenship of such children.  It is a real and tragic problem.  

Based on Japanese culture, yes this is fair.