Visa Information

This page provides information about visas required to study at GenkiJACS.

Most of the information here is taken from the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs English website on visas.

In general, the longest you can stay without a special visa is 6 months out of a year (depending on your nationality). If you try to stay for longer than 6 months, for example by leaving Japan and re-entering twice, there is a very high chance that you will be refused entry, so we do not allow our students to do this.
When you arrive in Japan, the Immigration official will check your passport and visa status, and will usually give you a 90-day landing permit.

Students staying for less than 3 months
- If you are from a country with a visa waiver, no action at all is required before coming to Japan. Your visa waiver is automatic.
- If you are from a country without a visa waiver, you must apply for a tourist visa. Procedures, documents required, and application deadlines vary from country to country. Contact your country's Japanese Embassy or Consulate for more details, as early as you can.

Students staying for 3-6 months
- If you are from a country with a 6-month visa waiver, no action at all is required before coming to Japan. Your visa waiver is automatic. When you arrive in Japan, you will receive a 90-day landing permission. At least a week before this expires, you must go to the Immigration Office (at Fukuoka Airport domestic terminal) to renew your landing permission.
- If you are from a country with a 3-month visa waiver, you generally will have to leave Japan before 3 months. Upon coming back to Japan, you will receive a new visa waiver. See below for more information
- If you are from a country without a visa waiver, you must apply for a tourist visa. Procedures, documents required, and application deadlines vary from country to country. Contact your country's Japanese Embassy or Consulate for more details, as early as you can. Receiving a tourist visa to stay for longer than 3 months is quite difficult.

Students staying for more than 6 months
A special visa is required for stays of more than 6 months within a single year.

Types of visa available:

 

Student Visa

As Genki Japanese school is not certified by the Ministry of Education for pre-college Japanese study (i.e., study to enter university), students are not eligible for a student visa. For students planning to study for a year or more, we recommend our combined study course, which offers a student visa.

Visa Waiver

Students coming to study Japanese from the following countries do not need a visa for entry to Japan, and so can easily study at GenkiJACS for the provided period. (Information valid as of August 2010. Current information available here.)

Asia

Countries and regions	Period of stay
Brunei	14 days or less
Hong Kong, Macao, Republic of Korea, Taiwan	90 days or less
Singapore	3 months or less

North America

Countries and regions	Period of stay
Canada	3 months or less
United States	90 days or less

Latin America and Caribbean

Countries and regions	Period of stay
Argentina, Bahamas, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Surinam, Uruguay	3 months or less
Mexico	6 months or less

Oceania

Countries and regions	Period of stay
Australia, New Zealand	90 days or less

Middle East

Countries and regions	Period of stay
Israel	3 months or less

Europe

Countries and regions	Period of stay
Andorra, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Monaco, Poland, Romania, Slovakia	90 days or less
Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Greece, Finland, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Macedonia (former Yugoslavia), Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden	3 months or less
Austria, Germany, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, United Kingdom	6 months or less

Africa

Countries and regions	Period of stay
Tunisia, Mauritius	3 months or less

Students from 3-month or less countries who want to stay longer than 3 months have the option of leaving Japan once, then coming back, to receive a new visa waiver. The closest country to Japan is South Korea - only 2.5 hours each way by fast boat, or 30 minutes by plane. We are happy to help with arrangements to visit Korea! Please note that the Japanese immigration authorities have the right to refuse anyone entry to Japan, for whatever reason they deem important. No GenkiJACS student has ever been refused entry a second time to Japan. However, former GenkiJACS students who tried to re-enter Japan a third time after finishing their studies with us have been refused in the past. In general, it is not possible to stay in Japan for longer than 6 months without a special visa.

 

Tourist Visa

Students coming to learn Japanese from countries not listed above can apply for a tourist visa from the Japanese Embassy in your home country. In limited cases, GenkiJACS is able to aid you in the application process. However, we only provide visa documentation AFTER receiving full payment of tuition and accommodation fees. If there is a problem with receiving a visa after payment has been made, we are happy to refund fees as per the terms and conditions.
In general, it is not possible to receive a tourist visa for periods of longer than 3 months.

We recommend applying to the Japanese Embassy as early as possible, as in some cases the application process can take some time.

 

Working Holiday Visa

The Working Holiday visa is available for people from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Korea, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Denmark, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
It is a one-year visa designed to give young people the chance to experience life in Japan. It gives them the right to work almost any job, as long as the job itself is not seen as the main purpose of their stay. The visa is only open to people up to 30 years old (or 35 in some countries), and you have to be able to show proof of minimum funds - usually about $2000 USD - as well as the money to buy a plane ticket back to your home country. There's a good summary of the visa program on the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs website. While it's definitely more work than receiving an automatic 3-month visa waiver, the Working Holiday visa has the advantage of giving you more economic freedom during your stay in Japan, so we would definitely recommend it for students from eligible countries. If you need more information, ask the Japanese Embassy in your country, as application procedures vary by country.

 

Renewing a Visa Waiver

GenkiJACS has confirmed with the Fukuoka Immigration Office that it is legal to leave Japan once before your visa waiver expires (for example, to visit South Korea) and then return to Japan, receiving a second 3-month visa waiver. No GenkiJACS student has ever been refused re-entry in these circumstances.
However, the immigration authorities are responsible for making sure that people are not committing crime or fraud, so if you do re-enter Japan, they may select you for extra questioning to assure themselves that you are not doing anything illegal. GenkiJACS can provide documentation for full-time students to prove that you are studying with Genki Japanese School. They may ask you for details about where you are staying, what you study, why you came to Japan, why you chose GenkiJACS, how you pay for your study and expenses in Japan, etc. The main reason they ask is to make sure you are not working illegally in Japan or overstaying, but they may ask about other things too. Answer them completely truthfully and you should have no problems!

Please note that it is not possible to stay for longer than 6 months on a visa waiver, so we do not accept students on visa waivers to study for longer than 6 months.