embassy, as A did not have any documents to indicate Vietnamese nationality of A’s parents.158 Thus, A does not have any documents proving A’s parents’ nationality, has not undertaken any procedure to register with the embassy of Vietnam, and is unable to prove the possession of Vietnamese nationality. Therefore, A may possibly have been a stateless person who was not considered a national by any State under the operation of its law. (3) Administrative response by Japan The “nationality or area of origin” column of A’s previously-issued alien registration certificate or the subsequently-issued foreigner residence card stated “Vietnam”. Furthermore, when A visited a legal affairs bureau in the Kansai area to consult it about a naturalization application, A emphasized to the officer in charge of the case that the Japanese Nationality Act contained a provision to facilitate naturalization of a stateless person born in Japan. However, the officer in charge of A´s case judged A to be Vietnamese and not stateless. While A was a graduate student at that time, the officer refused to receive A´s naturalization application, stating that A was not qualified to apply for naturalization as A lacked financial stability, which is required for normal naturalization applications. As demonstrated in this case, children of Vietnamese refugees in Japan, while they have not been registered with the Vietnamese authorities and have not received treatment as nationals, they have nevertheless been treated by the Japanese authorities as Vietnamese nationals. (4) Nationality acquisition A subsequently gained employment with a private company and applied for naturalization at a legal affairs bureau in the Kanto area. A was exempted from submitting the normally-required certificate of having lost Vietnamese nationality by providing instead a written statement explaining the reasons why A cannot acquire such a certificate from the Vietnamese authorities. A’s naturalization was granted in 2014.159 3. < Case 8 > Refugee admitted through resettlement All refugees admitted through third country resettlement to Japan so far are originally Myanmar people. The birthplace of such admitted refugees can be Myanmar or a refugee Based on a hearing of A by Ms. Mai Kaneko (16 April 2013). Since A’s birth was not registered with the Vietnamese authorities and A was unable to confirm her nationality, the prerequisites might have been missing for acquiring a certificate for loss of nationality. Considering the fact that A had submitted a certificate of residence record (teijukeireki shomeisho) issued by Refugee Assistance Headquarters, which is affiliated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and had provided evidence about her inability to obtain proof of nationality, it would have been excessive to demand A to produce a certificate for loss of nationality. 158 159 73