How I got my Japan Tourist Visa - 2018 post

 

My Dream Land

Japan is a very beautiful country. Hosting a Disneyland which both adults and children get excited about. Ride the Bullet Train. Oversee Tokyo area via the Sky Tree. Visit the famous Sensoji Temple in Asakusa. You will not run out of things to do.With Japanese people treating you with utmost respect regardless of your financial status back home. Every local you get to interact with bows to you as a sign of their respect and gratefulness. I could actually go on and write everything I love about Japan in this blog but I'd rather have a separate blog for that so we could focus on the purpose of this blog which is to give you guide on how to prepare for your japan Visa Application.

Being a Filipino Passport holder, we think that applying for a Japan visa could be intimidating- especially for those who are unemployed. But now that Japan have relaxed its rules on Visa grant to Filipinos, it is the right time to try and apply for that longed for Japan Visa- you pretty much have a good chance at this time.
There are several types of Japan visa. It is important to determine which one you will be needing which would depend on your travel purpose. But for the purpose of this blog, I will be focusing on Japan Tourist Visa without sponsor- which I had a first hand experience applying for.

Let us start.

Japan Tourist Visa

First. Check your passport validity. Your passport must be valid atleast six (6) months prior to your intended travel date.

Second. Prepare the requirements. The following documents are what I submitted when I applied for a Japan Tourist Visa in December 2017:

1. Philippine Passport
2. Accomplished Visa Application Form
3. Original Birth Certificate
4. Daily Schedule in Japan. Click here to view a sample.
5. Original Bank Certificate
6. Copy of my Credit Card Statement for the last three months
7. Roundtrip Airline Ticket. This is not required but I still included it since I got it several months before my intended travel date and I think it will help somehow.
8. A copy of my school ID
9. A copy of my official enrollment receipt to a Review Center
10. A copy of my official Review Center ID
11. A copy of my official graduation fee payment receipt
12. A copy of my official 2017 Examination Fee payment receipt
    
    I did not submit an ITR because I am not employed. I just graduated and finished taking a licensure exam. What I did was I also submitted a cover letter explaining why I did not submit an ITR. Click here to see a sample of my cover letter.
    
    Third. Submit the requirement to an accredited Travel Agency. After gathering and preparing all my requirements, I proceeded to decide to which Accredited Travel Agency should submit my application to. Then I chose Reli Tours SM Southmall. I paid around 900 pesos for the processing of my Japan Toursist Visa(without a Japanese sponsor) Application. A different rate is imposed for application with a Japanese sponsor.
    
    After 6 days I received a text message saying my passport may now be claimed at Reli Tours SM Southmall.  The message also says that the Travel Agency cannot will not disclose the result of the application via text message. It took 6 days before the result came out because of one Regular Holiday and the weekend -Saturday and Sunday. It actually took only three (3) working days for my application to be processed. The next day, I went to Reli Tours Southmall to claim my passport. Yes, I was granted a Japan Tourist Visa. 15 days stay. Single entry. You could be too. Take courage and gather all the requirements needed. Have a wonderful stay in Japan!
    
    If you have any question regarding my application experience please feel free to ask.