# Proving you lived in Country X for the last 10 years **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 19, 2019, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proving-you-lived-in-country-x-for-the-last-10-years/838874 "2019-08-19T07:09:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2019, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proving-you-lived-in-country-x-for-the-last-10-years/838874/1 "2019-08-19T07:09:52Z")
If you had to prove to a court of law that you lived in a particular country, like, er Japan, for the last several years, what would be the best evidence you could get to prove that fact? I have a passport which shows me briefly leaving the country and always returning, but I can’t prove I don’t have another passport that I use. I can show tax receipts that show I paid taxes in Japan, but that just means I got paid in Japan. My bankbook shows me making regular ATM withdrawals in Japan - I think that would be good evidence, but costly to get each page authenticated. What else could I use that I haven’t thought of yet? ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2019, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proving-you-lived-in-country-x-for-the-last-10-years/838874/2 "2019-08-19T07:13:21Z")
Proof of residential address, if you had one - showing multiple examples of mail sent to you in Japan. Maybe a lot of written affidavits from people who knew you in Japan, testifying that you lived there a long time continuously, as well. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2019, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proving-you-lived-in-country-x-for-the-last-10-years/838874/3 "2019-08-19T07:17:57Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Proof of residential address, if you had one - showing multiple examples of mail sent to you in Japan. Maybe a lot of written affidavits from people who knew you in Japan, testifying that you lived there a long time continuously, as well. Ahh yes, affidavits thank you. Yes I will get a copy of my registered address from the city hall. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2019, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proving-you-lived-in-country-x-for-the-last-10-years/838874/4 "2019-08-19T07:23:36Z")
if you need ot hideout there’s a few places round here where you’ll never be found … ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2019, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proving-you-lived-in-country-x-for-the-last-10-years/838874/5 "2019-08-19T07:26:05Z")
Payments in your name regarding your address: taxes, utilities… Can you get a list of “withdrawals done in Japan” directly from the bank? I can download one from my bank’s website in a matter of minutes, or ask the bank to print it out and put their stamp on it for me. I don’t know whether Japanese courts would accept that level of notarization, but it may be easier and cheaper than having to get notarized copies of each page. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2019, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proving-you-lived-in-country-x-for-the-last-10-years/838874/6 "2019-08-19T07:28:29Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > if you need ot hideout there’s a few places round here where you’ll never be found … In Hell? 😛 I’m not quite that desperate yet. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2019, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proving-you-lived-in-country-x-for-the-last-10-years/838874/7 "2019-08-19T07:30:14Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Payments in your name regarding your address: taxes, utilities… > > Can you get a list of “withdrawals done in Japan” directly from the bank? I can download one from my bank’s website in a matter of minutes, or ask the bank to print it out and put their stamp on it for me. I don’t know whether Japanese courts would accept that level of notarization, but it may be easier and cheaper than having to get notarized copies of each page. Good thinking chief, I will ask them. I wish I kept utilities receipts but I never do because I’ve never paid my own taxes (Japan does withholding taxes for company employees). ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2019, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proving-you-lived-in-country-x-for-the-last-10-years/838874/8 "2019-08-19T07:37:11Z")
The utilities companies should be able to provide your payment records, if the bank can’t. My City Hall sometimes forgets to charge my taxes (they’re once a year and very small), but betcherass they can track my water usage. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2019, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proving-you-lived-in-country-x-for-the-last-10-years/838874/9 "2019-08-19T08:11:21Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > The utilities companies should be able to provide your payment records, if the bank can’t. My City Hall sometimes forgets to charge my taxes (they’re once a year and very small), but betcherass they can track my water usage. True true, I will find out if they can do that! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2019, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proving-you-lived-in-country-x-for-the-last-10-years/838874/10 "2019-08-19T08:18:36Z")
Do you see a doctor or dentist on a regular basis? This would produce a paper trail of medical records and show that you were physically present. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2019, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proving-you-lived-in-country-x-for-the-last-10-years/838874/11 "2019-08-19T08:24:18Z")
You can generalise this; how are you going to prove that you lived _anywhere_ for a given length of time, or between given dates, if your simple testimony to that effect is not sufficient? I doubt that the problem is hugely different if your particular “anywhere” happens to be in a different country. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2019, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proving-you-lived-in-country-x-for-the-last-10-years/838874/12 "2019-08-19T08:36:31Z")
Oh, it can be quite different. In my own case, I’ve been a physical resident of Spain (and of my address of record) for only very short periods, but the facts that I’m registered at that address; that I have voted physically in elections held in that town (while there are no records of who voted what, the names of voters get marked off as they vote and those lists are kept for several years); that I pay my taxes in that region; and specially that if you actually applied the rule of “must pay yearly income tax wherever you spent 180 days in that year” I would usually be paying taxes nowhere, mean that I’m considered to reside there no matter where my body actually happens to be. Utilities records actually show that I barely set foot in my own house: the opposite of **Isamu** ’s case. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2019, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proving-you-lived-in-country-x-for-the-last-10-years/838874/13 "2019-08-19T08:44:13Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > In Hell? 😛 I’m not quite that desperate yet. not hell but it can get close …😃[High Desert (California) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Desert_(California)) ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2019, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proving-you-lived-in-country-x-for-the-last-10-years/838874/14 "2019-08-19T10:58:58Z")
10 years? Do you really need to go back that far? US records only go back seven years. That’s how long you need to keep tax info; banks will purge records older than that - ie. you won’t be able to get a 9yo statement from your bank. > [@Isamu](#): > > In Hell? 😛 I’m not quite that desperate yet. It’s actually quite [nice](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell,_Grand_Cayman) ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2019, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proving-you-lived-in-country-x-for-the-last-10-years/838874/15 "2019-08-19T11:00:38Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > 10 years? Do you really need to go back that far? US records only go back seven years. That’s how long you need to keep tax info; banks will purge records older than that - ie. you won’t be able to get a 9yo statement from your bank. In Spain you can, although they need to ask Central Office for it. If the adagio about the length of timespans in Europe vs Japan vs the US holds true, the Japanese should be able to provide them for that long. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2019, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proving-you-lived-in-country-x-for-the-last-10-years/838874/16 "2019-08-19T11:25:58Z")
If you have been employed all of that time, a statement from your employer might work. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2019, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proving-you-lived-in-country-x-for-the-last-10-years/838874/17 "2019-08-19T11:41:48Z")
Do you have any family members living with you? Any children in school? ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2019, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proving-you-lived-in-country-x-for-the-last-10-years/838874/18 "2019-08-19T13:32:12Z")
I don’t need to prove this to the Japanese government - they have concise records and know exactly where I’ve been in Japan for the last 24 years. I need to prove to a different country that I’ve been in Japan for at least the last 10 years. I’ve had 3 employers over those 24 years in Japan, and I moved house a lot and just moved into a different prefecture three years ago. I have my wife living with me and our child but no children in school. Thanks all, I see my options now. I will submit all the persuasive evidence I can and on the balance I think it will prove my case. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2019, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proving-you-lived-in-country-x-for-the-last-10-years/838874/19 "2019-08-19T13:39:25Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Do you see a doctor or dentist on a regular basis? This would produce a paper trail of medical records and show that you were physically present. I don’t. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2019, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proving-you-lived-in-country-x-for-the-last-10-years/838874/20 "2019-08-19T15:00:01Z")
Do you work at an office? Can you get an affidavit from your employer? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proving-you-lived-in-country-x-for-the-last-10-years/838874.md?page=2)