Japan Visa Application

As mentioned in my previous posts, I worked in a travel agency and it gave me an opportunity to handle different types of visa application.  When I was transferred to our Documentation Department, the country that I first handled was Japan that's why I am kind of familiar with the requirements in applying for Japan visa.

In 2007, Japan Embassy only receives visa application from their accredited agencies and our company is one of them.  Come 2009, the Japan embassy retains only those agencies who have Japanese employees and sadly, we are not included.  Just to give you an idea, here are the requirements in applying for a Japan tourist visa (without guarantor):

-Filled-out application form
         Don't leave any blank.  If you do not have a hotel booking yet, just search online for a name, address and telephone number of a hotel in the city you'll visit.  If you'll visit multiple cities, it's okay to just put one hotel details.

-Original passport
       Passport must be 6 months valid. Include your old passport if you have previous used Japan visa

-2 pcs. 2x2 photo, white background
       The Japan embassy is not as strict as U.S. Embassy that you must have a neutral facial expression and wearing collared shirt.  The photos I submitted were taken in 2013, just wearing a shirt and with all my upper teeth shown. LOL

-Birth Certificate/Marriage Contract from NSO
        These must be issued within a year, which means, if you availed your NSO birth certificate in September 15, 2014, you can still use this in applying for a visa until September 8, 2015.  Yes, it is advisable to put at least a one week allowance before it expires.  To give you an idea on how to check when your NSO birth certificate was issued, check the bottom left of your NSO copy and look on the last 11 digits below the barcode.  Format is mmddyy.  This also applies for Marriage Contract.  Only married women are required to submit.

*If your birth is late registered, additional requirements are: Baptismal Certificate and Form-137

*If the applicant has been to Japan and his old passport with used Japan visa issued in the Philippines is in his possession, he is exempted from submitting the birth certificate and marriage contract.  He only needs to submit the old passport.

-Bank Certificate
         There is no specific amount the embassy requires in submitting a bank certificate. What we usually advise, an applicant must have at least 100k in his account.  Japan is really expensive!

-Certificate of Employment
          This should be issued within the last 3 months prior your application

-Photocopy of ITR

-Day-to-Day itinerary
       If your agency is as generous enough as our company, they'll provide this for you.  But if not, there is Mr. Google to help you. :)

The visa fee for tourist is GRATIS, which means you will only pay the service fee of the agency.  This varies, there is an agency who will only charge you P800, while others range from P1,000-P2,000.  Processing takes 5 working days, but in my case, it only took 3 days.  Day 1-submitted to the accredited agency, Day 2- They forwarded it to the embassy, Day 3- released from the embassy.

The accredited agencies will tell you that the visa processing takes 7 working days but you may follow-up on the 3rd or 4th day.  If it is not released by then, there might be verifications with your documents.

Japan is one of the countries that is easy to apply for a visa, especially now that they're inviting tourists. :)