Denied Japan Tourist Visa in the Philippines 2016

I’ve heard many horrific stories about visa refusal to Japan, especially when applying for a tourist visa. Some of them might already book their hotels and tours, perfectly planned the itinerary and excited to meet their family or friends in Japan.

If your application is denied, the Japanese Embassy in Manila won’t disclose the reason for refusal, they will instead put a little stamp about the date the visa rejected and that will sit there forever. But we’ve heard cases from people and we identified things that cause unsuccessful visa application.

Rejected Tourist Visa Cases from Filipinos

Requirements for a tourist visa is available at the Japanese Embassy website. Making your documents in a wrong way might lead you to permit denial. Here are some lessons that might help your visa be approved.

1. You cannot trick them with your bank balance.

   According to my bank manager, who is my friend as well. I asked them if somebody called from the embassy regarding my bank details and to my surprise, the embassy checked my transactions for the past three months.

   Lesson learned: the embassy will know that you deposited large funds in a single transaction just to show them you have fat or enough balance. Careful on your deposits.

2. Follow their instruction, not on what you think is right.

   Check the embassy’s website where you are planning to apply. If it says bank certificate, clearly, do not submit a bank statement.

   I know it doesn’t make sense to get denied by providing a bank statement, but that’s the embassy’s requirement. Agencies will also ask you to give them certificate instead of a statement. Isn’t it easier to get?

3. The Embassy is worried about your safety.

   Well, all you need is to have travel history especially if you are a woman traveling alone. You can have stamps in Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore first before entering Japan. I heard three cases of applicants got rejected and three of them have no travel history and the embassy might think you are not ready to go alone.

   Related: How I got my Japan Tourist Visa after one day

4. They know if your purpose in Japan is to find job and work.

   For OFWs, the embassy will deny your visa right away if they discovered that you are working using a tourist visa. When applying for a visa, especially to OECD countries like Japan, never declare any employment using a tourist visa.

5. They know your lifestyle

   The reason why you need to submit a proof of income is to make sure you can sustain your travel in Japan. The embassy is smart enough to know if you can afford to go to Japan or not. So careful on making an itinerary by writing down free or cheap items such as known landmarks.

   After you get your visa, you can do whatever you want anyway.

6. Met your strange boyfriend/girlfriend online?

   You applied for a visa and wrote this as your purpose of visit.

   There is a high chance of visa denial if you will not provide any legit proof of your relationship with that person in Japan.

   The strongest evidence you can submit is passport stamps and a picture of you together. Say, two of you traveled to France with the same flight number, date stamp and had a photo together in front of Eiffel Tower.

   Submit two or more original photos and a copy of your partner’s passport stamp. Make sure that you send a clear and original photo.

7. They know if you fake your purpose of travel.

   Your visa application will be refused if your Filipino friend in Japan is blacklisted, breached the visa condition, has a criminal background in both countries or illegally working in Japan. Lack of evidence proving your relationship with your friend might also lead to permit denial especially if your friend is Japanese. You can submit supporting documents such as:

   • School Year Book – proving that you graduated in the same school
   • Company ID’s – present both ID’s proving that your friend is your coworker before
   • Photos – to show that you met him before your arrival in Japan
   • Membership cards – to prove that two of you belong to a particular group such as golf clubs
   • Passport Stamps and Boarding Passes – to show that you had traveled together

8. They can see small details in your application

   Some people got denied because of their COE’s. Here are some contents in your COE that will make your visa rejected:

   • The purpose of travel mistakenly written “for bank purposes.”
   • Your job details do not match on your ITR or Application Form
   • No company detailed information in the header such as address, email address and contact number

   Make sure all documents are accurate and parallel to the application form you will submit such as:

   • Business license and permits should be under your name
   • Employer must be the one written in your ITR
   • Avoid mistakes on passport details
   • Absence of supporting documents

9. They can list you as persona non grata

   It’s time for you to review your online statements about the Japanese Government of to Japanese People. Make sure you demote them online. This case can happen in every country you are applying.

10. Unregistered/ expired business license

    For people in business applying for Japan visa, there is a chance of denial if your papers were outdated.

11. Don’t waste your time, masasaktan ka lang

    You know you’re ineligible, just don’t apply and wait till your case has a significant change. You’re ineligible if you:

    • can not fully complete the visa application and provide all required documents
    • can not establish eligibility for the tourist visa category being applied
    • were convicted of a crime or has a police record ex. drug violation
    • can not demonstrate proof of adequate financial support to travel to Japan
    • misrepresented a material fact or committed fraud (don’t you ever do this)
    • breached visa conditions in one of OECD countries (they can check this anytime)

12. Failure to provide sufficient information

    Avoid discrepancies by providing supporting dossier such as explanation letters. Without these, they’ll see it as gaps thus rejecting your visa application.

    Note that they only phone you up if there are questions need to clarify that is not in the application form. Questions such as “What did you do in Russia?”

I’m sure there are more other than these. We’ll keep the information coming and update this post immediately. Feel free to share your experience with us and help our fellow Filipino get their tourist visa to Japan.

Next: What to do if your Japan Tourist Visa application is denied?