Hey, everyone. I’m interested in attending language school in Japan (preferably beginning in October). I have a few questions about the requirements for obtaining a COE–apologies if these questions have already been asked ad nauseam.
What is the actual number you need to show for proof of funds for a one-year visa? I’ve heard 2,000,000 yen. But I’ve also seen 1,500,000 mentioned as well as 2,500,000 (if you’re sponsoring yourself).
How early in the application process do you need to show your funds? Currently, I have less than $10,000 saved; however, I’m able to save around $2,500-$3,000 per month. In other words, I’ll probably be unable to show access to the required funds by the time I’d have to submit an application for an October start (I believe the application would be due in April). But I’d be able to show the funds probably by June or July.
Why does a sponsor have to be employed? I’m planning on self-sponsoring and am currently employed, but, of course, I’ll be quitting my job to move there.
And finally, when filling out my employment history, how precise with dates do I absolutely need to be? I’ve been working since I was in high school (over 15 years) and don’t know if I can remember exactly when I started and finished every single job. Some of those jobs were also restaurants or bars that are out of business now and that I would have no way of verifying the dates to the exact day. Could a COE be rejected because I write April 26th instead of April 24rd, for example?
Thank you all in advance for your responses.
5 comments
Here is my anecdotal experience. For 6 months of school I had to show at least 1,000,000 yen in a bank account. I would assume the 2,000,000 for a year is accurate. As far as work history, I was in the same boat as you. I had to list jobs going back over 20 years. Half the places are out of business now and I could not accurately remember a starting or leaving date for ANY of them. I just put in my best estimates. They are not going to contact every former employer for specifics.
>What is the actual number you need to show for proof of funds for a one-year visa?
For a one year visa it’s 1.5 million. Not sure where the 2 million number keeps coming from. 1 million for a six month visa.
>In other words, I’ll probably be unable to show access to the required funds by the time I’d have to submit an application for an October start
That is potentially going to be a problem. But also potentially not. It depends on when your school asks for the CoE documents. If they as for it in April, you’re going to have issues, because not only is immigration very much ***not*** flexible on the financial support numbers, but they also frequently request a bank *history*, aka multiple months of bank statements.
>Why does a sponsor have to be employed?
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>how precise with dates do I absolutely need to be?
I’m lumping these together because they actually have basically the same answer: Because the student visa is frequently abused.
The sponsor is not *required* to be employed. The sponsor is, however, required to show that they have an employment history and are generally unlikely to abuse the visa.
The corollary of that is that they’re not going to check the dates on your employment. They’re not going to verify *any* of your employment information. It’s basically just “Are you currently employed? Have you been employed in the past? Great, you’re probably not going to cheat on the visa!”
I’m in the middle of applying too and I have heard ¥1.5mm for 6 months of study and ¥2mm for 1 year of studying. As far as the work question, I think estimating is as good as you’re gonna get but don’t think it’ll be an issue. I’m pretty sure all these language schools really care about is your money so it’s not like they’re going to scrub into your past.
My intermediary that I’m working with told me that I didn’t have to include a semester in college that I spent at a community college bc, and I quote, “nobody is actually going to verify where you went to school.”
😂
I just got my CoE approved so here is my experience.
You have to show at least 1.5mil in the bank. They will ask for a proof of funds letter from your bank, showing the amount in your account. This is submitted with your application, so if you won’t have enough by then I think you have to postpone your timeline.
I self sponsored as unemployed. Since I will be a student, that was fine. I did need to provide the previous year’s tax forms.
They don’t ask for contact info of your jobs nor the exact dates. I just provided the names and ballparked months/years.
The most tricky part for me was the proof of study (150 hours). American transcripts don’t show lecture hours so they wouldn’t take that. I had to contact my old college and get a letter of verification.
I was asked to show 1.9 million yen for a 1 year visa. I self-sponsored. I think it varies based on the school and location.