DESK REVIEW ON POPULATIONS AT RISK OF STATELESSNESS have been recognized by the DOJ-RSPPU as stateless have been successful in their shuuseki petitions in Japan. The court gives weight to this official Philippine government recognition.239 PNLSC is aware of 1,275 PJD (among its statistics) who have acquired Japanese nationality. With around 350 assisted, the rest have acquired Japanese nationality on their own. PNLSC has a set of internal categories among clients to designate the strength of their evidence: • Category A: koseki of father identified; with entry of secondary descendants of birth (can prove connection) • Category B: koseki of father identified, but without entry of secondary descendants own birth (embassy can issue a Nikkeijin visa, the person is considered stateless, but the children can travel to Japan) • Category C: koseki of father is still unidentified, and no nationality obtained, there is a lack of evidence PNLSC also asks that the person be a member of the Nikkeijin-kai. Each Nikkeijin-kai has an investigation committee. They visit homes and talk to neighbors and identify or clarify if they are Nikkeijin or not. PNLSC states that they do double and triple investigations to confirm. A staff member takes a long-history statement covering their separation from their father, their marriage and birth, educational background, and their presence before and after the war. After the evidence collection, the Nikkeijin-kai will collect documents and forward them to PNLSC and a lawyer will make a petition to the family court in Japan. Based on interviews with the PNLSC, the longest case processing time required 13 years to process; many case-filers have died before seeing results. Shuuseki registration will still benefit subsequent generations even after the death of the principal applicant due to the availability of Nikkeijin visas up to the fourth generation, but citizenship cannot be conferred posthumously so the process for the second generation must be completed while they are alive. The Nikkeijin visa will still require proof of their Japanese ancestry. This is why the organization emphasizes urgency, and advocates for the importance of inter-governmental cooperation to create a list. See for example: 広島家族裁判所 (Hiroshima Family Court), Judgment, 25 March 2020 (令和元年 Reiwa Gen-nen) Ra 103, referring specifically to recognition as a stateless person by the Philippine government (“フィリピンの政府から無国籍者と認定さ れている…”). (Japanese only). 239 80 UNHCR / April 2021