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Japan's parliament passed an amendment to the country's nationality law that will expand citizenship to thousands of mixed-race children. The change, which the upper house approved this week after it passed the lower house last month, is restricted to out-of- wedlock children of Japanese fathers and non-Japanese mothers. The revised law will allow children up to the age of 20 to apply for citizenship provided a Japanese man acknowledges fatherhood. At present, a man has to admit he's the father during pregnancy to allow for a future application. Today's vote comes six months after the Supreme Court ruled the previous legislation was unconstitutional. The new law includes a penalty of up to one year in prison for filing a false claim. A separate Diet resolution will “strongly seek” a submission of a photograph of the child with the Japanese father. “We are aware of the concerns about false claims,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura told reporters in Tokyo today. “We will do all we can to strictly enforce the law.” The Supreme Court ruling focused on the case of 10 children living in Japan who were born out of wedlock to Filipino mothers and Japanese fathers. According to the Justice Ministry, the government has received 129 citizenship applications since the ruling. Further information
pdf: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601101&sid=a.20cHKeYMP0&refer=j...Association: Bloomberg.com