Visit Visa

For a general visit, you will require the documents listed below to process your visa to Japan, specific visiting purposes will now determine the additional documents that you will prepare. The following are general requirements for a visit visa to Japan.

• Certificate of Eligibility (COE), if applicable

How long your visa processing will take will depend entirely on the Certificate of Eligibility. It is the number 1 document that you are required to prepare but you can’t do it from outside the country so you need to have someone who is a permanent resident or a Japanese citizen to help you out with it. In terms of study visa or work visa, the school or the employer will help them process it, but for individuals, your sponsor will do it for you.

• Japan Visa Application Form

Processing your Certificate of Eligibility can take up to three months, more or less but it will reduce the amount of time it will take to process the rest of the document. The next step would be to get your application form, you can get this at the Japanese embassy in your home country. The form must be duly filled and contain only honest answers.

• Your passport

Your travel passport. It must be expiring anytime soon. It is advisable for it to still be valid for months after the estimated date of your departure. You never know if you might need an extension for your visit.

• Passport-size picture

A very recent photograph of yourself, passport-size, colored with eyes and ears visible and with a white background.

• Flight itinerary

This is a document containing the proposed route for your travel and it includes details like the dates and times of your flight(s), the airport, etc.

• Daily itinerary

A similar document but this one contains information such as details of your proposed activities in the country. The where you will be at a particular and when will you be there, how will you get there, etc.

• Proof of accommodation

Whether you are being sponsored or you going by yourself, without proof of a place to stay, your visa will not be granted. If you are being sponsored, then your sponsor needs to provide evidence that they have a place for you to stay during your stay in the country and if you are going by yourself, booking a hotel is your best bet.

• Proof of financial solvency

This is evidence that you have enough money to take care of yourself during your stay. No country wants anyone who will come to cause a nuisance, even foreigners on a work visa need to provide proof of financial solvency. Your bank statement or any document that shows your income will suffice.

• Letter of invitation

If you are applying for a Japanese visa to visit a family member or relative, they should write you a Letter of Invitation, detailing your relationship, the reason you are visiting, etc.

If you are traveling for business, you need a Letter of Invitation from the company in Japan, which has to be stamped with the company seal and state the reason and purpose of the invitation. The invitation letter must be addressed to the Japanese Embassy where you will apply for the Japan visa. Your guarantor should also include a Letter of Guarantee if they will help finance your stay. Furthermore, if you are visiting friends or family members, submit the following documents along with the Japanese visa requirements:

For relatives/family members: Civil status documents, such as birth or marriage certificates while for friends: pictures together, receipts, phone call details, and a letter explaining your relationship.

• Proof of travel purpose

This is very purpose-specific. The documents to be presented here will depend entirely on your purpose of visit. For example; visiting will require you to present evidence of the illness and proof that a medical institution in Japan has agreed to help treat you.