Questions for anyone who has successfully applied for the J-Find Visa

2 comments

1. This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes.

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   **Questions for anyone who has successfully applied for the J-Find Visa**

   Hi all,

   I have recently completed a PhD at one of the universities listed as applicable for the J-Find visa. I am currently living in Australia, although I will be out of the country for the next three months. I have several questions regarding the application process for the J-Find visa, as there is little information available online.

   1. I understand that a COE is not necessary for applying, but is a helpful thing to have. As I understand this would require me to fly to Japan, and hire a lawyer for around 160,000 yen to act as my sponsor. This seems very expensive, and so if I can apply without this step I would obviously rather not do it, although I am willing to if necessary. Has anybody here successfully applied without the COE? Did you just leave the sections of the application form that refer to a guarantor/inviter in Japan blank/write N/A?
   2. Applicants are required to provide a description of activities that they wish to engage in in Japan in a provided template. Is simply writing “job hunting” a sufficient description, or does this section require specifics of the companies that the applicant intends to apply to, the field of work etc? And for the duration, did you just put down the month the visa would start until the month it would end?
   3. One of the required materials listed is “passport”. Does this mean I will need to physically send my passport, or would a photocopy suffice? I will be travvelling between March and May, and thus it is not convenient for me currently to send my passport anywhere.

   I have tried asking at my local consulate and their answer was basically that they aren’t familiar with the process yet.

   Thanks for your help.

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2. 1. I got my j-find visa without COE and I think there are a lot of other people did the same. It may depends on the country you’re in though. Mine is Hong Kong. You should ask the Japanese consulate in your region and check the websites. And yes, just leave the guarantor in blank/NA.

   2. I wrote something semi-specific and not too vague. For example, I applied in mid-November (and got my visa two weeks later, quicker than i thought; noted that you have to enter Japan within 3 months when the visa is issued) and wrote my start date in January in the description. I separated the description something like every 3 months. For the first few months, you can write find an apartment etc. then, you can write something like job hunting with specific field and potential companies you are interested in etc.

   3. You need to give the physical passport to the consulate or visa centre when you apply the visa. So you will not be able to travel before they issue the visa and give it back to you. You better travel first, then apply.