Getting a visa to Japan in Seoul

It all started on the second last week of school, Friday, during high-tech marketing, when I decided I could probably pass that module and so decided to not listen (as if i listen usually ha-ha) and just start planning my Japan trip. So there I was, happily goign through Japan’s tourism board website and bookmarking the places I wanted to visit. And just when I was about done with that website and was going to start searching blogs, i saw this word amongst the menu that says V I S A

well

i basically flipped realizing i had totally forgotten that I needed a visa and I was going Japan the next weekend. All my friends going Japan held a Singapore passport and so did my brother and i was holding an Indonesian one. I seriously panicked like i literally sweated and texted my brother and everyone and started mass googling how to get a visa here and like what’s the procedure. The net was the most unhelpful thing ever like nobody ever wrote about this, perhaps because it’s not a common situation, and the websites were in Korean. So I just prepared whatever i can actually think of.

The following list is updated based on what the person took from me or demanded from me:

1. Passport
2. Passport-sized photograph
3. Visa application form (download here)
4. Schedule of visit
5. Flight itinerary
6. Accommodation proof
7. Bank details copy (your details page on the bankbook, and the last page of your bank transaction info, DATED ON THAT VERY DAY YOU’RE VISITING THE EMBASSY)
8. Proof of enrollment (for students. MUST BE DATED ON THE MONTH YOU’RE VISITING THE EMBASSY)
9. Photocopy of ARC
10. Photocopy of birth certificate
11. My suggestion is to photocopy all your typical proof of existence on earth like IC, passport, student cards, ARCs, birth certs, marriage certs etc etc etc. And all other documents you can think of.

The website was so confusing like it was all in Korean and had no opening hours. I managed to get the details from their foreign affairs site but nothing else. I also managed to dig out some info about opening hours of the embassy by calling the embassy:

Monday – Friday: 9.30am – 11.30am, 1.30pm – 4.30 pm 

The moment someone picked up the phone i immediately said “can i speak to someone who can speak English” in Korean haha the irony. Let’s not create confusion for ourselves by trying to speak embassy terminology in Korean shall we.

Collecting visas can be up to 5pm though. Application MIGHT be until 4pm only (i didn’t ask in detail) so just play safe and go earlier.

And also, the embassy where you apply is not actually at the Japanese embassy. It’s at the Japanse consular in Korea, which is a separate department and separate building. I asked a security guard and he totally pointed at the wrong direction (presumably the direction of the Japanese embassy) and i was getting lost for so long.

The map provided on the website is pretty accurate though, so follow it strictly and go to the Japanese consular.

 

The building you’re trying to find is the purple one, and the nearest station is Gwanghwamun (Line 5, purple line, Exit 2). You will see this building.

This was taken from the back when i got lost, but anyway you just need to look for these characters and building lol. Japanese consular is on the 7th floor.

After finally finding the place, i gave all my documents praying they would let me through. But noooooo the guy said i had to show him accommodation proof and that my enrollment proof and bank statement had to be updated. The bank statement had to be on THAT DAY ITSELF, and enrollment proof had to be on THAT MONTH ITSELF, it doesn’t matter that my cert stated that i was gonna be enrolled till August. Nope.

I was so pissed at this point because i came all the way here and also couldn’t they have given more info on their website i mean it doesn’t take that long to update. He passed me a list of things i needed to bring and circled the things i was missing. Like you had this list come on just freaking update your website with this list!!!!!! To think that I already brought way more stuff than what their online list stated. But of course we can’t expect all that since it’s not an ideal world. So I dealt with my annoyance and hurried back to school to get that updated enrollment proof.

It was such a mad rush. I visited the office of international affairs and they directed me to the admin office. Rushed there and paid 500won per piece of certificate and got 3, two copies in english and one in korean. Just in case, you know. And also thankfully there was a photocopier and printer and computer at that building too so i quickly used my computer to print my accommodation proof. It was terrible because my brother hadn’t actually booked all days of accommodation as he was planning for a traditional stay at a japanese inn for two days. So I had to go and book a hostel for those two days first just for proof to the japanese embassy, and print all the different accommodations.

Oh wait i forgot to say why i was in a rush. I actually went to the embassy after my Topics in Korea exam so it was about 2pm when i reached. So i had only 2 hours to get everything done and i wanted to get it done on that day since i barely had 5 weekdays to process that visa.

After that I did another mad rush to the bank to print my bankbook and then i asked a staff to help me photocopy. Luckily he was nice and helped me photocopy for free.

Chiongggeeeed back again and made it with very few minutes to spare before the embassy closed. Passed all the documents and thankfully i was good to go. He gave me this slip of paper and told me to send an email to the email stated on the paper the next day to check on status.

So I did, and guess what. They were suspicious of my booking address because

1. My brother booked it and the confirmation i had was under his email
2. My brother was staying a night earlier before I arrive in Japan and they demanded to know the discrepancy between my flight arrival and the hostel acommodation

and im just like

x100

So after a couple more exchanges, they finally said it was okay and told me to wait until they contacted me again.

Luckily, the next day they did contact me. So the visa didn’t take that long to process, actually i think one to two days is enough to process if all the documents are cleared. I’m not encouraging last minute applications like what I did LOL, but still, for those who completely forgot like i did, don’t worry. If you’ve got a week to spare you’re good to go, just prepare everything thoroughly according to what i stated, and everything else you can think of, just prepare it. It’s better to be safe.

Also, i would suggest going in the morning if you can so you can prepare whatever’s missing and return that afternoon itself.

Some details for anyone who finds themselves in the same situation as me.

Single-entry visa to Japan cost 35,000 won.

Type of visa applied: Single-entry
Cost: 35,000 won
More info for Visa procedures/documents: MOFA visa forms download, MOFA guide to visas, Japanese embassy in Singapore (I noticed the Singapore website had a more detailed list + other info than the Korean one, so I’m including this in for reference)
Location: Location of Embassy/Consular
Opening Hours: Monday – Friday, 9.30am – 11.30am, 1.30pm – 4.30 pm. Collection of visa is until 5pm.