[Travel] Japan Visa? Don’t Sweat It! ( For Filipino Applicants )

Note: This entry had the most page views and comments on my other blog. I'm so glad this helped a lot of people. Once I finished moving everything here, I will update with information on how to get a multiple entry visa. 

Okay, so I’ll be the first to admit I did more than sweat. It took TWO Korean dramas in order to get my mind off of it. And if you’re acquainted with how addicting those dramas are, you knew what I had to go through. When I lodged my application with the agency, it took all of 5 minutes. No sweat! It was the waiting game that was hellish. I submitted my documents on a Friday an hour before closing time and I knew it will be processed the following Monday but you know how I like torturing myself and I thought I could use that extra two days waiting in agony. The agency would often set your expectation and tell you it would take five working days before you hear from them but I actually got the call on a Tuesday afternoon. Yup, took them TWO business days. Now why can’t our government offices be THIS efficient? I just had to throw that one out. Anyway, they told me my Japan Tourist Visa’s approved and that I can go and pick it up.

Looking back, worrying like I did was too much but my fear wasn’t exactly unfounded. The Japanese embassy is notorious for denying Visa applications and how it’s one of the most difficult Visa to obtain. I read that somewhere. But since The Land of the Rising Sun is the number one entry in my bucket list (yes, I have  one too lmao), I had to be there one way or another. Fact is, all my previous travels were only a prelude to this. I was trying to establish a good travel history so I set out collecting a few passport stamps. I don’t know if that helped but I’d like to think so. First time to travel abroad? No problem, my friend has a passport as clean as a kitty’s nose and she got hers: approved.

I got a LOT of help from bloggers and travel forums and this is my way of paying it forward. Please feel free to ask anything in the comment section down below if there’s anything I failed to cover. First off, I’d discuss the process for a Japan Tourist Visa application. The general consensus while I was discussing with some netizens was that a lot of people with guarantors and letter of invitations often get declined. Now, I don’t claim this to be true all the time but I didn’t really pay it that much attention since I have no family there. But anyway, let’s get down to business.

The Requirements: 

1. Application Form

2. Photo

3. Passport

4. Birth Certificate

5. Marriage Contract ( if applicable )

6. Tour Itinerary

7. Income Tax Return

8. Bank Certificate

Supporting Documents (not required but I submitted them anyway)

1. Certificate of Employment

2. Bank Statement for the last 3 months

3. Round Trip Plane Tickets

4. Hotel Booking Confirmation

List of Accredited Travel Agencies HERE. Selecting the right travel agency to go with really just depends on three factors: location, processing/handling fee, and feedback. I decided to entrust my fate to Friendship Tour since I’ve been reading a lot of good things about them and it’s only two metro stations away from where I work.

Now I’ll try to break the requirements down with tips and FAQs I can recall.

1. Application Form ( Get your copy here)

a. If you can, fill up the form before printing rather than accomplishing it with your own handwriting.

b. Do NOT leave anything blank. If it isn’t applicable to you, write N/A.

c. I wrote in block letters. I’m pretty sure it didn’t matter though.

d. In the field ” ID No. issued to you by your government”, write N/A.

e. Passport Type: Ordinary

f. Purpose of visit to Japan. You can be direct and simply write holiday or vacation or if you wanna touch the Consul’s heart subtly, you

can say you want to experience the autumn season.

g. Intended length of stay in Japan. Count the day you’re arriving even if it’s late at night as Day One.

h. Names and address of hotels or persons.. If you’re traveling as a tourist like me, just pick something off Agoda or Booking.com. The important thing about this is the address and telephone number. Please be careful and make sure it’s consistent with your tour itinerary. More on this later.

The rest are pretty self-explanatory.

2. Photo – one 4.5cm x 4.5cm with white background. Most established photo developing studios would know right away. Just say it’s for a visa application for Japan.

3. Passport – has to be valid for more than 6 months with no apparent damage or broken lamination and with at least two remaining blank pages.

4. Birth Certificate – those with old passports with a used Japan visa are exempted. The birth certificate has to be valid within one year. Keep the invoice attached.

5. Tour Itinerary. You can follow the format below. I can’t find the exact copy I submitted but you can simply write your full name where it says “visa applicant”. For my first entry under Activity Plan I wrote “ arrive via Cebu Pacific Flight XXXX at 19:55.” The second and succeeding entries pretty much outline my daily schedule and whereabouts while in Japan. Don’t be too detailed about it. For example,  for my first day I wrote ” arrive in Kyoto via train. Visit Nijo Castle, Kiyomizudera Temple, Higashiyama District , Gion, and Kodaiji Temple“.

The most important thing here are the contact numbers and accommodation. I won’t be on roaming when I get there so I had no choice but to indicate the number of the hostel I will be staying at. And that’s okay. Now, up to you since you can pretty much blindly pick out any hotels/guesthouse/ryokans off Agoda or booking.com, the embassy won’t be calling them anyway to confirm your booking. But anyway, while I was doing some mock booking, I realized that a few of the guesthouses I have shortlisted are already booked months ahead. So I opted to book places I can actually stay with rather than just choose any at random. I relied heavily on booking.com for this one since if a situation calls for it, I can easily cancel my booking without any obligation since 90% of the hostels listed there do not require your credit card information. Please do check the cancellation policy thoroughly.

6. Income Tax Return. I think this one has to be issued within the year. I got the original with me and the agency made a copy and returned the original to me.

7. Bank Certificate. I get the most query on this one. No one really knows how much weight this has on a person’s application. There are people with a million on their account who got denied, and there are those lucky few with only around 50k and made it. The general rule of thumb is to make sure your itinerary matches how much money is reflected in your bank certificate. You most certainly won’t submit a 15-day itinerary in Tokyo with only 50k nor would you draft a 4-day itinerary in Osaka with a million. I have a 6 day itinerary covering Osaka- Kyoto – Nara and my bank certificate shows Php1xx,xxx. My friend has a 7 day IT that covers Nagoya – Osaka with almost the same amount. Don’t get too hang up on this, if you have all the requirements, take your chances. There’s really nothing to lose. Well, okay, there’s time and the processing fee and the emotional investment. But it’s really a small price to pay imho. More than the financial capability though, it is just as important if not more to establish how rooted you are in the Philippines and thus would certainly go back. A lengthy tenure at work for example would definitely work to your advantage as well as a good travel history.

Really, I believe the embassy has significantly relaxed in terms of granting tourist visas and now’s a good time as any to visit. Never mind that last bit about travel history, I know a few people who are first time travelers abroad and they had no problem whatsoever. Sooo, I hope you found this post helpful. Gambatte!

After you've gotten your dream visa, it's time to draft your itinerary! Follow us on our instagram account, mieezu, and we'll try to answer all your questions about Japan!