Apr 24 02:24 AM US/Eastern
(AP) - AMAGASAKI, Japan, April 24 (Kyodo) A city government in Hyogo Prefecture has rejected a resident's application to obtain newly instituted benefits designed to aid families with children after the man, a South Korean national, attempted to apply for 554 children who he said were adopted in Thailand, a city official told Kyodo News Saturday.
The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry issued earlier this month a notice detailing some conditions for children residing abroad and others to be eligible for the benefit such as being in the same household and individually approved by the local municipal government.
In it, the ministry cites a case of a foreign national who has adopted 50 orphans in their home country as an example of being ineligible.
The monthly allowance, to be disbursed from June, is set at 13,000 yen per child, which would come to just over 86 million yen per year for the 554 children.
The ministry said this is the first time that someone has tried to file an application for several hundred children at one time. The child benefit law enacted in March does not require residency in Japan for eligible children, generating concerns in some quarters about abuse.
According to the Amagasaki municipal government, the man, who appeared to be in his 50s, visited the city office on Thursday and applied for the child benefit by showing documents that he said were certified by Thai authorities, along with translations, that showed the names of the children and their birthdates.
The man said the children he adopted include those in a monastery in Thailand, where his wife comes from, according to the city.
Aware of the ministry's earlier notice, the city immediately consulted the ministry and decided not to accept the application.
The applicant also carried records showing that he has been sending money to the children, the necessary documents by a foreign resident to make an application, and his passport to prove that he visited the children. The ministry requires at least two child visits per year, supported by passport records, for foreigners who have children abroad.
The city official said they do not know if all the documents were authentic as they did not accept the application.
After being briefed and rejected by staff, the man requested the name of the division at the ministry in charge of the allowance and its phone number before leaving the office, the city official said.
On March 26, the Democratic Party of Japan-led ruling bloc enacted the child benefit law, one of the party's key campaign pledges for last year's general election.
The law applies to children until they finish lower secondary school. The DPJ aims to provide 26,000 a month from fiscal 2011 per child.
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