The difficulty and lack of information about the tourist visa for Japan

Do you want to get a tourist visa to visit Japan? So you need to read this article to be prepared without having to put up with the confusion caused by Japanese embassies and consulates in Brazil. Because despite being something Japanese, the bureaucracy and lack of information is as huge as in Brazil.

My aim is not to criticize or say things of my own idea. I just want to tell you my experience and disappointment of being Brazilian and the bureaucracy and confusion I faced. I don't want to criticize anyone, because I was well attended by everyone at the embassy, and even the SP consulate answered me, so I just have to thank you!

If you plan to visit Japan for a maximum of 1 month, things will be easy, especially if you don't live in the Midwest region where the jurisdiction is at the Japanese Embassy in Brasilia (they are stricter). just take all documents requested and having more than 15 thousand in the account that you can get the visa without any problems.

Visa for my 2016 trip was one of the easiest things I've ever done. Despite having to leave the embassy a couple of times to print documents that were requested at the time and change my itinerary to fewer days, because according to them, 12 thousand was insufficient for a 30-day visa, I made a 17-day itinerary and gained 30 days , Go figure?

And it's no use saying you're going to earn 10,000 next month, because they won't consider it. Maybe if you have a paycheck and a formal contract, but I work online on my own, so it's hard to prove I have a fixed monthly income (and I really don't have anything fixed lol).

The issue is in 2018 where I'm trying to get a 90 day visa to get the most out of Japan as a month goes by way too fast. What makes me indignant is the bureaucracy that Brazilians face for this, given that the Japanese find it easy to live or visit Brazil. It seems that Brazilians only get lost in life, even more so because:

Europeans can stay up to 90 days in Japan without a visa, and British people can stay up to 6 months without a visa. Is Brazilian? It chipped!

The information contained on the embassy website

In the year 2016 when I went to get the visa, the information on the website was correct and cute, but at some point in 2017 they took some information from the Japanese embassy website that says the need for hotel reservations and vouchers and bank statements. Although I'm not asking for it, don't forget to bring it.

This led me to think that the visa became easier, so I took only the requested documents so that when I got there I would be forced to run after lan-houses and banks in Itau that are more than 2km away from the Japanese embassy in Brasilia . I live 100 km from the embassy, and I had to return home without applying for a visa, now imagine who lives in another state?

I believe that clarifying all the doubts that people have regarding the visa on a specific page of the site would reduce all the work they have to answer emails and answer the phones. Just edit all received and answered questions and put them on an FAQ page.

Did you know that even Argentines, Chileans and Uruguayans do not need a visa to visit Japan?

Differences between Japanese Consulates and Embassy

For some reason, there are differences in the documents requested from the embassies of Brasilia and the consulates of São Paulo, Rio and other regions of Brazil. For example, the consulate in São Paulo said that I can send documents from the visit of friends and relatives by e-mail or fax, whereas the embassy in Brasília apparently only accepts documents received by the post office.

That is, because I live in the Midwest, do I have to wait months for a letter to arrive in order to obtain a visa? In the meantime, many changes may occur in the plans, such as travel date, travel duration, etc. I cannot understand why São Paulo accepts print and e-mail, but Brasília does not. Even because the lady at the embassy commented that visas are approved by someone from São Paulo (I remember). Holy Logic!

Not to mention that the travel form itself says that I don't need a guarantor, if I'm going to pay the expenses, but to visit friends and relatives the embassy asks for all documentation and a letter of guarantee that obliges the person from Japan to be responsible for me , something that apparently does not happen in other consulates in Japan.

The difficulty and lack of information about the tourist visa for Japan

The Income Tax Confusion

I am a MEI (Individual Micro Entrepreneur) and basically I don't need to declare an IR (Income Tax), but I do it every year just to get a visa, which necessarily requires an IR, something I think is totally unfair to those who don't need it. declare (otherwise it will need to be a dependent).

The big problem is that I just put the total amount received in my CNPJ divided into taxable and non-taxable earnings. Then the embassy lady said that my income tax is not very detailed and wouldn't let me try to apply for the 90-day visa, which made me go back to my house 100 kilometers away, outraged!

This is forcing me to correct my Income Tax to see if I can put in some extra details, something very complicated. I'll also have to wait for some money to fall, since they don't look like my bank statement. If you intend to stay in Japan for 3 months, have at least 50 thousand in your account, and you may still find it insufficient.

What really makes me angry is why last year's income tax reflects my earnings from this year? What I earned last year has nothing to do with 2018...

The article is still halfway through, but we recommend also reading:

Next attempt to get a tourist visa for Japan

I will try one more time to get the visa to travel for at least 60 days, this time I will amend my income tax and take all the documentation from my MEI and some extra statements and documents to prove that I can manage in Japan. I would ask for a carta invitation, but it seems that the Japanese embassy in Brasília only accepts applications by mail...

The bad thing is the high dollar, the price of the tickets. If they don't accept my 90-day visa until the end of September, I will have to postpone my trip to next March. I am an anxious person and I will die until then... I have nothing to say except: It's sad to be Brazilian and be poor... I wish someone would sponsor me.

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