Japanese Visa Application Process~

The visa application process was really simple, though it is a bit of a hassle if you don't live in London! Until earlier this year, they'd post your passport back to you, but now you need to go in again to collect it.

I filled out the visa application form in advance with my passport info, flight number, accommodation (Waseda University Student House South Wing ♡), etc.. Apparently for the 'employer' section, you put your home university, and for the guarantor/inviter you put your uni' in Japan, leaving the date of birth and gender blank.

I was worried about the photo size so paid extra to get one in 45x45 just in case, but they're actually not picky as long as it's a clear recent photo. A regular UK passport photo is fine! :)



Once I reached the Embassy of Japan (only about a 20 minute walk from Victoria Coach Station),
we had to show our passports/ID at the door then go through an airport-style security gate! It hadn't even occurred to me that security would be so high, so it was an interesting experience. The scanning machine flagged up my little nail scissors but the guard said they were fine once I showed him.



After this we went up the stairs and to the right and got a ticket from the machine, then waited for the ticket number to show on the screen before going to the desk. Here the member of staff checked everything was filled out and kindly answered any questions I had, then gave me a receipt letter, which you need to bring to pick up your passport, and said when it would be ready (The first visit was on Monday, and he said I could come any weekday from Thursday onwards; you don't need to come back on the actual day it's ready)!

The member of staff advised that you bring the exact money if possible, as they don't keep a float as standard (though if you go later in the day, they should have change from other people's payments), and whether you will be given change depends entirely on the person behind the window you end up at! Other than the money, all you need to bring is the receipt paper, and of course another form of ID so you can get into the embassy again!



I returned on the Thursday and went through same ticket machine process. The man behind the desk showed that my visa and certificate of eligibility were inside my passport and took payment. It was all done within a couple of minutes! (Make sure you also get a receipt if you want to claim it back on your travel grant.)

Visa Application Receipt. You need to sign the box on the right (I wasn't sure if it was for me or not!)

Since I didn't want to spend all that time travelling (especially since I still get car sick and can't do anything productive on a coach) just to spend a few minutes at the embassy, we decided to be tourists! We went together on the Monday, stayed in a hotel overnight, then went home on the Tuesday. That gave me one day off before going back in on my own on Thursday.

There's so much to see in London for free (although donations are good!), but we ended up going to the British Museum, Kensington Gardens (and the Serpentine Gallery), and the Natural History Museum, then on the Thursday I went to the Wellcome Collection. We also stumbled across the Travel Photographer of the Year Exhibition!

The British Museum

You could probably spend several days looking at everything in the museums or enjoying the books in the Wellcome Collection, so we only got to see a small part of each, but actually it would have been tough to stay in there the whole day- we got really exhausted, and not just from all the walking! It's so good that these places have lots of benches throughout.  ☆

Stay tuned for the next entry, a photo diary of our adventures in London! :)

My adorable (汗) Japanese visa.
Certificate of Eligibility is stapled to the previous page, and you can see it folded above.
It says single entry, but I think (hope!) you can still get the re-entry permit at the airport!