An experience of getting a Japanese visa
It had been two weeks that I had the urge to travel to Japan for no reason, and after that, one night I visited the website of the Japanese embassy and followed the procedure of the consular and visa department.
There were three points on the site that immediately caught my attention, the first was that it was written that applicants do not need to make an appointment in advance and can visit the embassy every day from Saturday to Thursday from 8 to 10:30 and Second, they had put the schedule of official holidays of the embassy completely on the website, so that because their holidays are different from ours, Iranians don’t get lost and waste time. so that it is not corroded and distorted.
Those three points made me more determined to travel to Japan and the spark of action to get a visa was ignited in my mind.
I immediately prepared brief documents (of course, compared to European and Canadian embassies) whose list was on the website and which I present below, to be sent to translation agency.
Documents accepted by the embassy must be in Japanese or English, and all Persian documents must be translated into English and must be approved by the court.
- Visa applicant’s passport.
- A copy of the visa application form.
- A piece of photo size 4.5 x 4.5 with a white background.
- A copy of all the pages of the visa applicant’s.
- birth certificate with an official English translation approved by the Ministry of Justice.
- Itinerary with details in English (with dates of arrival and departure and day-by-day schedule).
- hotel reservation.
- employment certificate stating the position, salary and agreeing to leave (with date).
- Bank account statement for the last three months (in English – A4 size – maximum issued in the last 5 days)
Finally, the documents were translated and confirmed and the promised day arrived. According to the website, the opening time of the embassy was 8:00 am and I arrived at the embassy at around 7:50. Very big .
For a few minutes while we were waiting for the embassy to start working, foreign and Iranian employees with personal and political cars were standing in front of the parking lot door in a special order and after coordination and authentication, they entered the embassy. That was interesting.
At 8 o’clock in the morning, a small loudspeaker installed on the security kiosk announced that the first person should come.
I was the third person. When it was my turn, they told me the reason for the visit and which part of the embassy I was dealing with, I announced the consular (visa) section. They asked me for my national card and mobile phone, of course, in silence. They gave me a neck card for visitors and a key to the box in which they put my mobile phone and insisted that I wear the card around my neck, as well as a sheet with the turn number and fields to write personal information. Date of application, contact number and type of visa requested. A little ahead was the entrance door, which was controlled from the inside with a camera, and the security officers opened the door themselves from the inside, and there was the entrance security gate, which respectfully inspects visitors with x-ray devices, metal detector gates, and hand-held detector rockets. and after control, they were leading to the exit.
The exit had 2 doors, one leading to the consular section and the other to the cultural section of the embassy, which was opened by the relevant door operator after the announcement of the control officer.
At all stages, I was fascinated by the order, discipline and regular and routine workflow that was prepared for the clients.
I entered the consular section, which was similar to the rest of the embassies and something like a private bank, with 4 rows of waiting chairs, 3 counters, and two tables to complete the forms that were given to us upon arrival.
The female officer, who was also Iranian, read the numbers in order.
After announcing my number, he took the documents but returned the money and did not receive them at this stage. He looked at the documents and asked why I chose Japan for the trip. I told him that it was in my travel plan and for a special reason. did not have
Then he told me to wait for a few moments while they check the documents. It took a few minutes and there was no one in the other counters, then the lady came back with a gentleman and the lady started checking the case of the next person and the gentleman called me and asked a little about my work in the office and the company and then the form He gave me the passport receipt, in which the date of visit was also mentioned.
I asked them that I should give you the money? He said that he will be with you on the day you come for the answer.
I took a look at the form, again 2 interesting points were written 1- They had announced the answer date for a week 2- It was written that if the visa application is not approved, no amount will be received, but none of the documents will be returned.
The embassy’s response time for receiving passports was from 15:00 to 16:00 on Sundays to Thursdays. Finally, a week passed and I was at the door of the embassy at 15:00 and entered after going through the formalities.
Unfortunately, they told the gentleman who was in front of me that your visa was not approved, and they gave him a form to sign, and after signing, they handed him the passport. It was my turn, and they took the receipt from me, and after finding the relevant official He said: “Please pay 88 thousand tomans.” I found out that the visa was approved. I paid the amount and they gave me a receipt for the money received and my passport.
I had already written and prepared a letter addressed to the ambassador of Japan in Iran regarding discipline and good behavior, as well as the things I mentioned above, and I asked him to deliver this letter to the ambassador, and he said that we do not allow this We don’t have the job, but there is a box built for this purpose where you can drop the letter and the ambassador will read it personally.
The content of the letter was as follows:
Honorable Consul of the Embassy of Japan
With regards and respect, this text is taken from my heart’s feelings and has nothing to do with the visa application I gave.
For a long time, the name of Japan as a technology and technology giant has been complicated in the world, especially in Iran, and every now and then I see sources of Japanese technology, customs and culture through the Internet and virtual networks. But exactly since I planned to travel to Japan, i.e. almost 2 weeks ago, I was motivated to look more closely at Japan, a few simple points caught my attention: First, it is mentioned on the embassy website that applicants can apply without prior appointment and secondly, the visa fee is received in the form of banknotes based on Iranian currency.
Since I am a tourist, I had to visit many embassies inside or outside the country. The no-appointment option has made it possible for clients to visit without stress and worry, and of course, most importantly, the time of the embassy is also shortened by dealers and black market sellers. As you know, the German embassy gives 24 months and European embassies from 3 months to 1 year, and this has caused the emergence of a mafia called buying and selling embassy time. The second is to receive the amount in Rials, other embassies, even countries that are third world and have a low value of their national currency, receive the money from the embassy in dollars or euros.
Most importantly, after handing over the documents to the embassy, they did not charge me and said that the day of the response, this was the most important issue that distinguishes this embassy from other embassies, and this means that the Japanese embassy is only for the purpose of serving It operates for applicants and is different from other embassies that have started a business with the process of issuing visas. Now I realized that science and technology alone do not make a country progress, but the rich culture, management and tradition of a country, if it coincides with technology, makes it flourish.
The case that I always give as an example to my friends: Tsunami last few years in Japan that caught my attention. It was announced in the media that when people were suffering and suffering from a tsunami, they refrained from looting and stealing supermarkets that did not even have doors and guards, and most importantly, they immediately returned the wallets and valuables they found. The police used to deliver, and interestingly, a few years later, a similar incident happened in America, and people started attacking supermarkets and looting foodstuffs. It was there that I realized that there is another difference between America and Japan apart from progress and technology.
Now that I went to your embassy, I became more determined to visit Japan and I hope to get a visa and see all the splendor and greatness up close.
Thanks.
