How to Apply Visa for Japan in Saigon

For Indonesian citizen like me, I need a visa to go to Japan. There are some people who have e-passport who are allowed to go to Japan without a visa if the trip is within the time limit. Unfortunately, my passport is a normal one. In Ho Chi Minh City there is only consulate general of Japan, not the embassy. I visited their website and couldn’t understand a thing! Their website is in Vietnamese and Japanese only. Luckily we have the translate function from Google Chrome, so I tried using it to find my way there.

There is a list of travel agents that are registered in consulate general of Japan that we can use. I contacted one of them asking what should I prepare and how much is the cost. They replied my email :

Hi Melissa,

I am Huynh Di – from Visa Deparment.

For your case, Indonesian nationals who do not possess e-passports need to obtain a visa.

And you need to prepare fully documents to prove:

1. Personal
2. Employment
3. Finance

The fee: 100USD

Time: at least 5 working day

You yourself need to be at the Japan Consulate at the day we submit for visa.

I didn’t use their service in the end. The first reason was because their fee is too expensive. 100USD! I read on another website the fee is 25USD only. The second reason was because I didn’t get enough information on what kind of documents needed. They only said personal, employment, finance. I could have guessed that! I assumed they didn’t give complete detail until I have the deal with them.

I have been to Japan before, via Indonesia. That time I was working and didn’t have experience in applying for a visa by myself. I did used a travel agent that time. I figured the Indonesian website should have some information for me so I checked them out. Plus, I looked at their vietnam website one more time and combined the requirement.

These are the documents I prepared :

1. Photo 4.5 cm x 4.5 cm white background 1 piece

2. Visa application from the website

3. Passport + old passport

4. Resident card + copy

5. National ID card + copy

6. Flight ticket

7. Hotel booking

8. Schedule of stay on the website

9. Marriage certificate + copy

10. 3 months of Bank statement

11. Salary slip of my husband

12. Employment contract of my husband from the company that stated his salary

 

On the day for applying visa

Time to apply for visa at Consulate General of Japan is only between 8.30am to 11.30am. Try to be there before 8.30am! I arrived at 8.40am and there were 30 people standing in line, waiting to come in. The officer then gave me a paper stating what number I was in the line and which time slot for me. I still got the 8.30am luckily. Before went in, I had to show my passport and resident card to the police there since I’m not Vietnamese. By 9 am, I finally proceeded to next room which is a security screening. I had to put my bag in for security check, and I had to walk pass the metal detector. The officer then asked me what do I want to do there and where do I come from. Friendly officer.

 

The next room is the waiting room. I saw people touching on a machine to get number, so I did the same. I picked Visa and got my number and the number they were serving at that moment. My number was 1041, and they were serving number 1012. Oh well.. a long wait..

There were 3 counters to serve visa application. I counted the service time for each counter was 2 minutes in average. I got my turn less than an hour later. I went to the counter mentioned and handling in all my documents including the original one. The officer checked on my documents then returned the original. She also asked me a few questions. To my surprise, she returned the flight ticket! She gave me a paper to put in my contact number for them to call me if the passport is ready to be picked up. I asked her where should I pay for the visa. She told me no need to make payment at that moment. After one week they will call me, if I got the visa I need to pay by then. Lovely!

On the day for collecting passport

I got a phone call from consulate general of Japan in the morning, said my passport is ready to be picked up.

The time to pick up passport is between 1.15pm to 4pm. I went there at 1.15pm and there was a short queue. I had to report to the police outside again, but this time I didn’t have my passport so I only showed him my resident card. He seemed confused and asked his friend to checked on me.. After they confirmed my intention to collect passport, they let me in. Went through the security check point as before, and in waiting room need to choose ‘Visa’ then wait for the number to be called.

When my number was called, I went to the counter and gave her the receipt for collecting my passport. She checked for a bit then she asked me to pay for the visa fee 610k vnd. After that, she told me to wait a moment on the seat. It took a while until she started calling names and people whose name called came to counter and collected their passport.

So happy I got the visa for Japan! I will go to Fukuoka, Beppu and Nagasaki. Wait for the story 😉

 

Hope this post helps you in applying visa to go to Japan from Saigon. Especially for those who can’t understand Vietnamese and Japanese like me.

Ciao!