The Foreign Ministry will create a document in English to explain to immigration officials overseas Japanese passports having both maiden names and married names printed on them.
The ministry aims to prevent such passport holders from having trouble during immigration procedures by providing them with the explanatory material to bring on their travels.
Japanese passports allow the inclusion of maiden names in parentheses if holders wish to do so. However, only the name legally registered in Japan is recorded in the IC chip inside the passport. Thus, some people with maiden names printed in their passports have trouble answering when asked to explain the reason during immigration procedures abroad.
Foreign Minister Taro Kono instructed ministry officials to address the issue after a female follower of his Twitter account made a request.
The ministry decided to create the document in a size that can be placed in passports to explain in English the inclusion of maiden names, among other issues. The document will be distributed to those who wish to have it.
In 2018, of the about 4.3 million passports issued, about 33,000, or 0.76 percent, of them had holders' maiden or other such names printed in them.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
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