I visited the Japanese Consulate of Kota Kinabalu on Tuesday. Very lucky that it is in Sabah or else I’ll have to ask a travel agent to apply for my visa and that will take lots of time and cause other hassles.

Like I said in a previous post, Malaysians (in theory) do not have to apply for a visa because the government is (supposedly) friendly with the Japanese government. But (in reality) the Japanese authority suggests that we get a visa to enter Japan. So, it means that I can buy a ticket to fly to Japan, arrive in Narita Airport and be sent home because the officials there think I look like someone who will overstay.

It sucks. And visa applying sucks even more because of all the rubbish we have to submit.

In theory, my visa application is going to be smooth because of the documents I have from Kyushu University. And they’ll give me a 90-day visa because that’s the regular visa. Yipee! But (there is always a “but”!!) as I want to travel after the summer programme, visa is not that simple.

I went to the consulate to ask about that. I don’t want to buy an extra week free in Japan air ticket and then they say they don’t want to give me a visa. Air ticket is so exp.

Thank goodness the old man at the consulate speaks understandable English. He advised me to get the extra document to apply for visa. So the visa application journey begins!

1. A valid passport
2. One(1) visa aplication form     [will fill up soon]
3. One(1) Malaysian passport size photo
4. Confirmed flight itinerary (issued by the travel agency/airline) or a flight schedule in detail [will pay soon]
5. Visiting relatives: Documents clarifying their relationship Visiting friends: Documents clarifying their relationship between the applicants and his/her friends in Japan
6. Material showing your capacity to bear staying expenses in Japan (e.g. Bank statement) [yup]
7. A letter of guarantee from your relatives or friends in Japan, guarantor’s income certificate and the residence certificate in case the guarantor bear the expenses during your staying in Japan
8. A copy of your relative or friend’s passport and Alien Registration Certificate in case your friend is a registered foreigner residing in Japan

Gasp. I hate bureaucracy.

Found out today that PS has been offered an internship at Hiroshima. It’s a 3 week internship and there’s less than ten vacancies. Before knowing that she’s offered the internship, she said Japanese Studies majors are given priority and it was quite late when she applied.

What a pleasant surprise, even though we’re going at different periods. But it’s great to know that someone else gets to go to Japan too.