The Short Term Stay Visa

About the Short Term Stay Visa

The short term stay visa is for those who stay in Japan with purposes of tourism and work (less than 90 days).

There are many ways to call this type of visa according to the purpose of application, such as tourism visa, short term stay visa, traveler visa, family visit visa, business visa, etc. Not all foreigners are required to apply for short term stay visa, and people from certain countries don’t need to go through the visa examination process.

The short term stay visa is usually required for following situation—“want to have family visit Japan during term break as foreign student” “want to ask parents to come to take care of the applicant in pregnancy” “prepare to open a company in Japan” “attend the wedding ceremony or graduation ceremony of the family living in Japan” and so on.

As above, there are various purpose and reason for applying for the short term stay visa. As for the stay period of short term stay visa, according to the purpose of visit and the necessity, 15 days, 30 days or 90 days period of stay can be granted.

Standard of Examination

Financial capability

Whether the applicant are able to afford all expense during the stay (unless the expense is covered by others except of the applicant.)

No income during stay

Neither income-making nor financial reward activities are involved during the stay

Procedure of Application

1. Prepare necessary documents from the one living Japan
2. Send all documents to the applicant (the one coming to Japan)
3. Submit all documents to the local Japanese Embassy or to the Consulate General of Japan for examination
4. Receive the notification of visa permission or non-permission
5. Once receive the visa, enter Japan within 3 months since the visa issuance

As above, it is necessary to go through the document examination at the local Japanese Embassy or at the Consulate General of Japan. While doing the document examination, no face to face interview will be involved, as the paper work check is the main point. There might be interviews in person or by telephone required for fact checking, however, the determine factor is still the document submitted.

Reasons of Non-Permission

Different from other visa types such as marriage visa and working visa, one thing about the short term stay visa that is a little bit tricky, once the examination fails, it is not allowed to make new application within half year.

As for the reasons why the application may fail, it is usually considered as per below 3 points.

Inadequate document

The examiner would not regard the inadequation of document as you accidentally forgetting to attach. If required files are not attached, it would be regarded as the document are not being able to be prepared currently.

The examiner is not notified of how the visit is necessary

For example, the reason can be “we became close during expat period and now I’d like to have him visit me in Japan”, however “I’d like to have him as company as I travel to Tokyo and Kyoto so he applied for the visa” is regarded as purpose of visit only. Many people only explained the purpose of visit but not giving enough explanation on why the visit is necessary. In this case, question like “I understand what you want to do in Japan but why you have to come?” may be asked, if no proper explanation is provided, the examination will result in non-permission.

The financial status of guarantor (annual income, bank savings) is not good

A lack of financial guarantee could be a minus point, however the borderline of the amount of income and the amount of savings at the essential examination is not disclosed. Many people are worried about their income status, but there’s no need to worry too much about it as there are still other ways to do this even if you do not have your own annual income or savings, and the part that cannot be seen in the numbers (relationship with those in Japan, memorable episodes, etc.) will affect the result of examination.

Difference between purpose of stay and requested length of stay

As an extreme example, generally speaking, there are few companies that hold meetings for three months in a row. In this case, the examiner would probably presume that the applicant is lying. Once you are questioned because of this, you are less likely to get a visa. Considering the balance between the purpose of stay and the length of stay, the point is to apply for a reasonable period of stay.

Opacity of the place of stay

A typical example is the case where the place of stay is designated as home, but the person is not currently living at the address indicated on the resident card.

• Another property is rented for a long-term business trip
• I live alone, but on the resident’s card I live with my family
• I just moved from the company house last month
• Since I came back after completing my overseas assignment, I didn’t renew the resident card until recently.
• Separately living because of divorce mediation

It is necessary to prepare in advance the explanation that you are staying in a place different from the resident card.

Past criminal record (overstay record, etc.)

Those who have violated Japanese law when they came to Japan in the past fall under this reason. In such cases, special documents such as reflections and petitions should be prepared in addition to the usual documents to be submitted. Please ask a professional administrative scrivener as the permission rate depends on the preparation of required documents and the writing style.

We are Yanagi Group, which have offices in Osaka (Abeno and Tennoji), and our affiliated offices in Tokyo (Shibuya and Ebisu) are also available for an on-site consultation. We have handled many applications for permanent residence permits, naturalization permits, work visas, college student visas, management visas, etc., as well as visa renewal procedures related to the status of residence with the Immigration Bureau (Immigration Bureau) as a one-stop service. Our experienced administrative scriveners are also available to help you with any problems you may have.

We also have staff members who can speak each of the native languages and can assist you in obtaining a visa.

※If you wish to be consulted in Nepali or Bengali, please inform us in advance via our website or social media, and the translator will contact you ahead of time.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions about your status of residence or visa, even if they are trivial.

Toll-free number: 0120-138-552 

For English speakers: 080-9346-2991

For Chinese speakers: 090-8456-6196

For Korean speakers: 090-8448-2133

For Vietnamese speakers: 080-5510-2593