The certificate of eligibility permits one an extended stay. Since I work for Interac, who applied for my certificate in lieu of myself, my 'extended stay' is only for one year. However, there is no problem getting extensions of your visa once you are here. I have heard those that work for JET might have a 5 year visa and I might assume any foreign national who is attending school in Japan might have an extended visa as well.
What you need for your COE:
- application form for the Certificate of Eligibility
- 2 passport sized photos
- a sponsor or organization who has agreed to hire you and sponsor your visa application
(there is paperwork that they must submit as well that details your position, such as your Certificate of Emplyment) - an addressed return envelope
- a copy of your passport
- your diploma or official transcripts
- possibly letters of recommendation?
- possibly a criminal background check?
(for US residents, a statewide background check is sufficient, though I believe it must be fingerprinted...not like the online things that South Carolina does!)
I believe that is all. I am not sure about the last two More or less it is everything that you should be obtaining to apply to your desired company. Though the minimum requirement is the application and two passport photos, I believe that the rest of these documents are either important to speed up the processing time or are specifically required for teachers. This information can be found at the Japanese immigration website. The cost of the COE is free. So please do not get scammed to pay money to someone who says they will sponsor you and that it costs to obtain one.
The COE takes about 22 working days to be returned via post. Working days means that weekends and holidays are not included. So essentially it is a little over a month. Mine was sent off the 7th of July and was expected to be received by August 9th; however luck was on my side, and it was received by Interac on August 2nd, and later by myself on August 5th. During this time I was super worried. What if my Certificate of Eligibility was rejected? What if something was wrong? What if it was weird that I was coming from Korea and I was teaching English? Well for anyone who has any worries, I have determined that as long as an organization is sponsoring you, I do not believe you have anything to fear.
Once you have the COE, you are clear to apply for your visa. At the time I was living in Korea and therefore went to the Japanese consulate in Seoul. The procedures here evidently take a lot less time than in America and if you apply before 11am I believe you should have you passport and accompanying visa back by 4pm that day. As for myself, I wanted no room for error and was there at 9am applying, (there is a sheet you must fill out here) and had my passport-visa combo back to me by 3pm. They also returned my COE, which is to be expected as they take it for keeps at the immigration counter.
If you want to bring a spouse or children over to Japan, you need everyone's photos, copies of their passports, your marriage certificate, and birth certificates for the children.
If you want to bring a spouse or children over to Japan, you need everyone's photos, copies of their passports, your marriage certificate, and birth certificates for the children.
Great post could you just elaborate what all it requires with the COE to the embassy and what questions do they ask you when you go to apply for visa as I too have got a job and will receive my COE soon.Hope you like my blog too...http://pratiknayek.wordpress.com/
ReplyDeleteHey Pratik! Congrats on your job!
DeleteWhen I applied for a visa, I went there in person and filled out a visa application form...which is just fancy words for a quick info sheet (your address, your name, a professional passport sized photograph of yourself and what you will be doing in Japan - for me it was Instructor - things like that). You should do this after you get the COE, since you give it to the embassy with your application. Also don't forget the photographs!
I hope this helps! Good Luck and let me know if you have any more questions/ need any help.
And nice blog. I love birds, so I really like your recent posts. :)
Where did you get the passport photos? It says a 3cm x 4cm (1.6in x 1.2 in) photo is required, but where I live, passport photos are 2in x 2 in).
ReplyDeleteIn Japan there are convenient photo booths where you just select the size you want, but in other countries you can specify a certain size if you go to a photo shop. I did this in Korea and it cost 12 dollars. But the photo turned out to be pretty creepy, so I just took it myself and went back to the same photo shop and asked them if I could print the one I took myself.
DeleteAlso, the exact size doesn't seem to be as pertinent. Also I believe I once cut a photo down on the size to be nearly the requirement (i know it wasn't exact) and it was still acceptable. Photoshop, picasa, picnik are great tools you can use to resize something and then just print it on photo paper (which you can do at home if you have the printer, or at fedex, and kinkos, or if your country has convenience stores like those of japan, then someplace like 7-11 can do it too)
Unfortunately there aren't photo booths like in Japan here... The photo places I've gone to (Walgreens) told me they only have pre-set sizes that they can't adjust. Do you know if it matters if my shoulders are in the picture? I can cut down the 2x2 inch photos, but only my face (and hair) is visible. Do you think they would accept it? Or should I just send them the 2x2 photo?
DeleteSorry to keep bugging you and thanks for your help!
Does Walgreens have any other sizes? like ID size or anything? otherwise I would see if you can take a slightly zoomed out picture and just cut it so it will be more acceptable. As in purposefully have extra space around your head and shoulders so that you can cut that part out. But also yes, I think they will accept it as long as your face and hair is visible.
DeleteI don't think they will care enough about any 2 by 2in photo you send them, if it means they have to do more work, they will likely ignore it if there is a better option. That being said, at the office there, there is a photo punch for accurate size that they use on photos (you will see them use it at the immigration office when you get your visa renewed) that they can use.
But I would still recommend just cutting it down yourself to near parameters.
Hi! Do you still have this CoE can you confirm what the dimensions are in mm? I’m just trying to cross verify against my document I just received.
ReplyDeleteSure, I can provide some information about the ILR Visa UK visa in the UK.
ReplyDelete