Nihon Scope: December 2016

Congratulations, Fukuoka Foreign Language College has approved your application!

Today we received another win towards heading to Japan in April 2017. We’ll continue to update you on how the process with Go! Go! Nihon goes but for now here’s what they have to say. (This post here is a bit about what I personally submitted to Go! Go! and to the school in Fukuoka – it’s basically the reasoning of WHY I want to enter Japan and learn Japanese).

-Nihonscope

—

Hello Nathan!

Congratulations, Fukuoka Foreign Language College (FFLC) has approved your (and your wife’s – please see email sent to your wife’s email ) application for the session starting in April and will be submitting it to Japanese immigration for visa approval at the deadline. The visa result is scheduled to be released around the last two weeks of February 2017.

This is how the process works;

1. Application submission to school. – COMPLETE!

2. Application approval by school and submitted to Japanese immigration for approval. – COMPLETE!

3. Japanese immigration approval about 1 month prior to the start of your session (this is standard procedure and not within our control).

4. Japanese immigration issues a certificate of eligibility (COE) at this time.

5. You are required to pay the first 6 months of tuition in order to have the original COE copy mailed to you.

6. Take the original COE copy to your nearest Japanese embassy prior to your arrival in Japan.

— ARRIVAL TO JAPAN —

Your first day of school at FFLC is scheduled to the 12th of April 2017, but this has yet to be finalized at this time. We strongly recommend that you do not arrive to Japan earlier than 2-4 days before your study start. This is because there is a lot that you have to do during the final month before departure in regards to your student visa. If you are unable to complete the below procedure before departure you will have to reschedule your flight.

Once your COE is issued in the end of February 2017 you have to complete the following procedure before you can travel to Japan:

– Pay the school via international bank transfer (takes 2-5 business days)

– Receive original COE copy from Japan (takes 4-6 business days)

– Submit original COE and visa application to the Japanese embassy in your home country (takes 2-5 business days)

– Collect your finished student visa at the Japanese embassy

All this must be done before your flight. Therefore, it is important not to book an early flight. Please be advised that you will be stopped by the Japanese Immigration at the airport if you fail to receive your finished student visa before departure and try to enter Japan after your COE has been issued. Please note that;

-The payment of the tuition fee to the school can not be made until your COE is issued in the end of February 2017.

– We will send you the complete payment details once your COE is issued.

-The original COE will not be sent to you until you pay the 6 months tuition fee by international bank transfer.

-Once the original COE is delivered to you you are able to hand in your student visa application to your nearest Japanese Embassy.

An arrival time between 08:00 and 16:00 is recommended, otherwise you may have to spend the night at a hotel / hostel before you can move into your accommodation. If you arrive on a public holiday, there is a small chance that the housing agency is closed. If you want to be sure to be able to move in the same day, it is best to come on a weekday. Since you will be entering Japan on a student visa you are not required to have a return ticket.

You can check for cheap, available flights at skyscanner.net It is up to you to decide what day you want to arrive to Japan but please make sure to follow our advice!

— HEALTH INSURANCE —

As a student in Japan you must join the Japanese National Health Insurance which costs about 2000 – 4000 yen per month when you have a student visa. NHI accounts for 70% of any expenses related to your health. The other 30% will be your responsibility.

Once you have arrived in Japan, it is important that you register as residents of the nearest city or ward office as soon as possible and then you get your National Health Insurance Card. The school can provide you with more information about this after your arrival to Japan.

— OUR NEXT CONTACT —

Please check our wiki FAQ for more information about life in Japan;

http://gogonihon.com/study-japan-wiki/

We will be sending you an e-mail in January with the following information:

– Accommodation Request

We will send you an accommodation search form where you fill in the details of your arrival to Japan and preferences regarding accommodation. It might be a good idea to start by taking a look at our accommodation examples right now to see what choices you might have: http://gogonihon.com/en/japan-apartments-rent-guesthouse-homestay

– We will also give some tips and advice on what to consider and prepare before departure