Getting a Japan Tourist Visa – Our Experience

Early this year, we were already planning about our son’s first birthday celebration. One thing was certain – we would be celebrating his birthday abroad. My wife and I listed several countries for some possible destination to go to. And after some weeks of ‘deliberation,’ we decided to head to Japan on Eldric Marcus’ birthday. And, yay! it is Autumn in the Land of the Rising Sun.

The first thing we did was to study the different types of visas Japan has to offer. We found ours – Tourist Visa. The Embassy of Japan in the Philippines has a Visa/Consular Services page which has more than enough information about visas.

Next was to determine the requirements for our Tourist Visa Application. The Visa for Tourism PDF file details the requirements needed. Since we will shoulder the entire trip, here our submitted documents (by the way, we were applying as a family):

NOTE: ALL documents SHOULD be ORIGINAL, unless otherwise stated.

Philippine Passport

Well, each should have a valid passport, not broken, has at least two blank visa pages. The passports must be signed (page 3 of the passport). Since Eldric Marcus is still a minor, we left this page unsigned in his passport. Passport should be valid for at least 6 months. Need to apply or renew your passport? Follow this link.

Filled-out Visa Application Form

You can download the Visa Application Form from the Embassy of Japan in the Philippines website. I suggest filling the form out on your laptop and printing the applications from it. Leave no blank entries. For certain information that does not apply to you, you can put N/A or Not Applicable in the blank provided. A sample of the filled out visa application form is also available for download at the embassy’s web site.

Photo

Photo should be 4.5 cm x 4.5 cm (2 in x 2 in), white background. We got our photos taken at Kodak in Glorietta (ground floor going to Landmark). For each of our photos, we wrote our complete names and birth dates at the back. Then pasted the photos to our visa application forms. The complete specification for the photos is found here.

Birth Certificate

The Birth Certificates should be issued within the year of your visa application. This document must be issued by the Philippine Statistics Office. Where did we get our copies from? We went to SM Makati’s Business Center and requested for the birth certificates there. Five (5) days after, I called up SM Business Center, and inquired if I could already get our Birth Certificates. The agent at SM confirmed that we can obtain the copies from them already – and I hurriedly went there after office hours. My birth certificate has a “Delayed Registration” mark in it, and so I have to obtain two (2) additional documents: Baptismal Certificate and Form 137 (mine was from High School). Portion of my wife’s birth certificate is barely legible (hand written too!), and so she needed to obtain a Certified True Copy of her birth certificate from her province’s Local Civil Registrar.

Special thanks: To my family in Zamboanga City for having requested my Form 137 on my behalf, and my wife’s family in Bulacan for having requested her Certified True copy of her birth certificate from their Local Civil Registrar.

Marriage Certificate (if married)

Since we were applying as a family, only my wife Mary Rose was required to have one. Same thing as the birth certificate, this must be issued within the year, and from the Philippine Statistics Authority.

Daily Schedule in Japan (Taizai Yoteihyo)

This piece of document should show the daily activities for the entire duration of your trip in Japan. There is also a prescribed format for this. Please refer to this link. Details should not be that complicated, roughly the places to visit and its contact numbers if applicable. The first day should be the arrival in Japan and the last day should be your departure. Again, since we were applying as a family, we only need to submit one. TAKE NOTE: Make it as simple as possible – PLEASE!

Bank Certificate

Both my wife and I submitted our bank certificates. Make sure that you have enough money to finance your trip. There is no “base amount” of money actually. From what I read online, the Embassy will have its own way of determining if your bank account could really support your trip – so you have to plan this out carefully. Take note that bank certificates have a validity of 3 months from its date of issuance. By the way, one can obtain this on the same day the request is made. I paid P100.00 for my BPI Direct Account.

Income Tax Return

Since I am the only one working in the family, I am the only one who submitted this document. Since I am an employee of a company, I requested this from our HR. Our HR gave me the latest ITR.

Certificate of Employment

To prove that I am employed (and that I am not looking for a job in Japan or even stay there for so long), I also submitted my COE. This too was requested from our HR. Your COE should contain the letterhead of your company, your name, your current position and your monthly salary.

Special thanks to Ms. Gen Calub (Head) and Ms. Jovy Jalmasco (Asst.), both from our HR Department, for the latest ITR and COE.

Now that our requirements are ready, we needed to select an accredited travel agency by the Embassy of Japan in the Philippines. This link lists registered and accredited travel agencies by the embassy. We chose Friendship Tours and Resorts Corporation which is the nearest travel agency from us. They are located at 3rd floor of the Dusit Thani hotel in Makati City.

In the morning of September 18, 2018 (c. 11:00AM), we headed to the travel agency. Beforehand, we triple and quadruple checked everything, especially the information in the Visa Application Form. Every information should be filled out correctly. We got a queue number at the travel agency, and waited for our turn. Once called out (the number), we hurriedly went to the counter and handed over our documents to the travel personnel.

What I liked most about this travel agency is that each document is checked carefully. We also submitted our old passports (which had lots of travel stamps from our previous travels). These were returned as these aren’t needed (unless there are used Japan Visas in them). My wife, Rose, also submitted a letter of explanation since she does not have an ITR. This too wasn’t needed anymore, since according to the agent, she is a housewife and that I am the main guarantor of the trip. I was also asked to fill out a Letter of Guarantee for my son. After having verified all documents, we paid Php 1,200.00 each, for a Single-Entry Visa Application (by the way, travel agencies have different rates).

Now, the waiting game! THIS IS THE HARDEST PART IN THE VISA APPLICATION TOO! After two days (September 20, 2018 c. 4:27PM), we received a text message from the travel agency. Portion of the message reads as follows:

The result of the application is not revealed in the text message. One will know the result upon receiving the passports from the travel agency. So I immediately headed to Friendship Tours at Dusit Thani Hotel. Waited for our passports, and voila!

AND TO OUR EXCITEMENT, OUR VISAS WERE ALL APPROVED!

It is now safe to book our flight and hotel accommodation without worry. Scouting for the cheapest flight fares and schedules of flight going from Manila to Tokyo among the airlines, we found Cebu Pacific the best choice. We booked from the airline’s website directly. Not a promo fare, unfortunately. We also found a hotel that is near the Tokyo Station (東京駅) via Agoda. We’ve been using Agoda for hotel bookings here and abroad.

First and foremost, we thank GOD for all this. Secondly, the Embassy of Japan in the Philippines for having approved our applications. Then, to Friendship Tours for having assisted us in our application. Special thanks to all those who helped us obtain our documents! We all were shouting for joy when I arrived home with the visas in our passports.!

And now, here we go Japan! See you in the coming months. It is Autumn by the time we reach the Land of the Rising Sun. Good luck for those who will be applying for their visas! Please post some messages below if you have some inquiry regarding my experience in Japan Tourist Visa application.