I am trying to get visas for my Mom and brother to visit Japan in April during my brother's spring break (got them rooms at the Hilton Osaka during the Hilton Tokyo/Osaka deal).

Japanese short term visa application for Vietnamese nationals has the strangest requirement: the application has to have a letter of invitation, proof of residency and income tax payment from a guarantor in Japan. I tried to explain with the person at the Los Angeles consulate that my Mom and brother are only there for sightseeing and that they do not know anyone in Japan. It's so unreasonable to expect someone to only travel to countries where they know someone there.

Another strange thing is this requirement is not uniform across consulates. I submitted my visa application this morning in BOS without any problem. The person did not ask for documents from a guarantor at all. I am surprised to find different requirements at different consulates.

Anyway, since the person at the Los Angeles consulate was very firm about this, I am wondering if there's anyone on this board who is generous enough to help my Mom and brother out. You only have to provide the necessary documents. My Mom and brother have sufficient funds for this trip (their hotel rooms are paid for, their plane tickets and rail passes have been bought). Please please please help us out! I really don't know how or where to find a guarantor. Please PM me ASAP. They are scheduled to leave on April 8th and it takes a week or two for the visa to be processed.

Please help! We'd be indebted to you forever!

Thanks!
oanh

1) Have you tried contacting your Harvard alumni association in Tokyo? Maybe they can help?

2) As a personal reference, I have met otamxuan and she came across as a to be a standup individual. I wish I were in a position to help.

Regards,

Scho

Why don't you submit your mother's and brother's application out of Boston? Its not like the Boston consulate is going to know where they live. They live with you, in Boston, no? ;)

And yes, different consulates have different levels of pole-up-the-arse factor. For example, it is impossible to get a multiple entry visa to China from the Chinese embassy in Japan unless one shows up with an invitation from the government, and it takes 4 days. I can get such a multiple entry visa in HK in two hours, no questions asked.

Thanks, scho, for the suggestion and the reference. I will try contacting the Harvard Club of Japan.

The tricky thing is you have to submit visa application in person. Plus, they also need to submit their bank statements, which show their address in LA.

Grrr...what a ridiculously nonsensical requirement!

Grrr...what a ridiculously nonsensical requirement!
Among many....... I hope it works out for you!