Hi, as the title says, my language school is recommending me to get a plane ticket for end of March to make the April start date, but I haven’t even applied for my visa yet, because they still have to send me my original CoE. I checked Expedia and there are flight tickets available for the end of March, but idk if those are legitimate and whether the cap has been taken into consideration.
About the second part of the title, my school has 3/4 cycles of classes. One starts in April, and another in July. My family is also planning to go to Canada to visit my grandparents in June (this is a semi-important trip but I won’t talk about the details), so I could either speedrun getting a visa and immediately book a ticket for end of March with the hope that I can exit and reenter Japan in June, or take my time with my visa, go on my family trip in June, and start the school year in July.
Based on this, what would you recommend my course of action be? On one hand, I really want to get to Japan ASAP and start my studies, as I have another goal that correlates with my getting N2 (I’ve studied Japanese in university and am intermediate level-ish), but I also really want to visit my grandparents and go on this family trip, and the July route is the safe option.
I also have a few questions about the whole CoE/Visa/Actual moving timeline:
* For people who needed to find independent housing, how much time did you have to prepare between getting your CoE, applying for visa, finding housing, furnishing, etc.?
* How stressful would you say this process was (I tend to be very anxious handling documentation and big life decisions, so I kind of want to set expectations for myself)?
* How much do time do you think there *should* be for this process, especially for someone who would be moving (abroad) for the first time?
Thank you.
6 comments
>and the July route is the safe option
Ya kinda already know at heart what is better. Had a similar debate with myself half a year ago and I would say prioritize family over getting a 2 month head start on Japanese. Realistically speaking, since Japan is opening it’s borders on March 1st for “special circumstances” (i.e. family, business, and school) and with over 400,000+ visa applicants waiting to get approval/renewal there’s very little chance it’ll rescind that statement in the span of 3 months.
>For people who needed to find independent housing, how much time did you have to prepare between getting your CoE, applying for visa, finding housing, furnishing, etc.?
If you’re not staying with your language school accommodations, I would highly recommend asking your language school for contacts in real estate for the area you want to stay in. Getting your CoE through the school will take 2-4 months, the visa will take anywhere from 2 weeks to a month (possibly longer with the backup), looking for housing will depend on your standards and budget – but the real time sink is getting set up with wifi, utilities, and appliances.
>How stressful would you say this process was (I tend to be very anxious handling documentation and big life decisions, so I kind of want to set expectations for myself)?
You’ll be stressed; if you’re anxious about handling documentation then you’ll mostly stay stressed in Japan since a lot of the services are paper based and in Japanese.
>How much do time do you think there should be for this process, especially for someone who would be moving (abroad) for the first time?
Minimum 6 months. I don’t know why your language school is trying to get you to move in April (that’s just not realistic) so could be some red flags with the institution. Any reputable institution will make sure everything is in order and have multiple emails spanning months with prospective students prior to guide them through the process.
Edit: swapped CoE and visa timeline, updated visa application timeline to account for the rolling visa issuance to address capped entries
>because they still have to send me my original CoE.
Do they *have* your original CoE? Or is the CoE process still ongoing? Or have they not applied for it yet?
The answer to those questions kinda defines whether an April move is even *possible*, much less whether it’s recommended.
If the application is still pending, or worse: hasn’t started yet, then no, April isn’t going to happen regardless of what you end up wanting to do.
>My family is also planning to go to Canada to visit my grandparents in June
If this trip is important, you shouldn’t be planning on coming to Japan and then going to Canada immediately.
Things can change. Border situations can change. You could contract Covid. You’ll be missing classes.
The school is recommending you come ASAP because A) They need your money. It’s been two years with no students, and B) They’re scared of the aforementioned border situation changes.
I was in a similar situation. I’m a JET and we were offered to either go ASAP or defer to the next JET year, which could start in late July at the earliest. I ended up deferring because it seemed more definite and safe, plus it would give me more time to save up and sort things out before moving to Japan.
I was originally planning to go to a language school in the April 2020 term.
It took me 2 weeks from my school sending the COE to getting my student visa. Most of this time was waiting for the COE to arrive. The visa process only took a couple of days.
Companies like OakHouse or SakuraHouse are a good options for accommodation.
If you don’t mind living in a sharehouse (so your own bedroom, but shared kitchen / shower / common space) I’d recommend Oakhouse. I stayed in one for 3-4 months and it was pretty good- common spaces were clean, kind and helpful tenants. YMMV though I’ve also heard some stories about properties being badly taken care of.
im in the same problem? what did you decide to do? im wondering if i should defer too or when to even put in a two weeks notice i dont want them to close again and be broke💀