26/01/2016
Short Guide to Japanese Visas
1. If your purpose is a short-term stay...
Just come over to Japan and you'll be allowed to stay up to 90 days for tourism, business, visiting friends or relatives, etc. that does not include paid activities.
2. If your purpose is to work or a long-term stay...
Decide whether you could qualify for any of the following visas and apply at the Consular Section of the Embassy or Consulate General of Japan nearest you.
Working visas:
Professor (Examples: university professor, assistant professor, assistant, etc.)
Artist (Examples: composers, songwriters, artists, sculptors, craftspeople, photographers, etc.)
Religious activities (Examples: religious people such as monks, bishops, missionaries, etc.)
Journalist (Examples: newspaper journalists, magazine journalists, editors, news cameramen, announcers, etc.)
Investor/business manager (Examples: company presidents, officers, etc.)
Legal/accounting services (Examples: attorneys, judicial scriveners, public accountants, tax accountants, etc. certified in Japan)
Medical services (Examples: physicians, dentists, pharmacists, nurses, etc. certified in Japan)
Researcher (Examples: researchers, investigators, etc. at research institutes, etc.)
Instructor (Examples: teachers, etc. at elementary schools, intermediate schools and high schools)
Engineer (Examples: scientific engineers, IT engineers, etc.)
Specialist in humanities/International Services (Examples: foreign language teachers, interpreters, copywriters, designers, etc.)
Intra-company transferee (Examples: people transferred to the Japanese branch (head office of the same company, etc.)
Entertainer (Examples: musicians, actors, singers, dancers, sportspeople, models, etc.)
Skilled labor (Examples: chefs specializing in the food of a foreign country, animal trainers, pilots, sports trainers, sommeliers, etc.)
Highly skilled foreign professional visa
General visas:
Cultural activities (Examples: unpaid internships, people studying the tea ceremony or Japanese flower arranging, etc.)
College student (Examples: college students, pre-college students, etc.)
Training (Examples: trainees in a local government, etc.)
Family stays (Examples: The spouse and children, etc. of a foreign national on a long-term stay)
General visa: Technical intern training (i)(a)/(b)
Specified visa
Spouse, etc. of a Japanese national (Examples: spouse of a Japanese national, biological child of a Japanese national)
Spouse, etc. of a permanent resident (Examples: spouse of a permanent resident, biological child of a permanent resident)
Long-term resident (Examples: persons with Japanese ancestry, Indochinese refugee settlers, the spouse or children of Japanese nationals left behind in China, etc.)
Designated activities (Examples: foreign nationals who wish to enter Japan as personal help privately employed by diplomats, etc., foreign nationals who wish to enter Japan for a working holiday or for paid internships, candidate nurses and care workers who wish to enter Japan based on an EPA, etc.)
