Again, a huge thank-you to everyone who helped out on this thread. I visited the consulate earlier today and I felt much more confident after reading these responses.
Originally Posted by
Steve M
Is she a US permanent resident? This is an open question in this thread that's not been answered definitively yet. Some countries, but perhaps not Japan, will easily issue tourist visas to nationals of countries that would normally require an extensive visa application if they can prove that they have US permanent resident status. I guess the theory is the chances of a national from those countries wanting to immigrate illegally to Japan to work is reduced dramatically if they already have the right to live and work in the US.
Agreed, and this is what I was hoping. For example, she can enter Canada without a visa, and when we traveled to South Korea, the green card eliminated the vast majority of the requirements. In this case, I can confirm what the other posters said -- it helped, but it wasn't sufficient.
My wife , not a US Citizen, applied for Japan visa few weeks ago @ Japan Consulate in San Francisco. We did not go on a tour nor we have any friends or relatives. We had to produce:
- E-TIcket
- Hotel Booking Confirmation
- Bank Statement to prove sufficient funds
- Day to day itinerary schedule
- Application form
We also paid for self-addressed-stamped USPS Express mail service (no priority mail) to mail back the passport.
This was hugely helpful -- based on this, and the other comments on the thread, I did the same thing, with what appear to be the same results. I wasn't given the option to have the passport returned by mail, but that may have been because my wife wasn't present when I dropped off the paperwork. Instead, they're insisting that she come personally to pick it up when the visa is completed, presumably so that they can guard against identity fraud.
For posterity --
1 - I listed myself as the guarantor on the application form. Neither of the consular officers seemed to have a problem with that. (Of the two, a man and a woman, It seemed that only the man had authority to review the paperwork and send it in for processing. The woman read through looking to make sure that nothing obvious was missing, then asked me to wait while the man finished handling the previous people in line).
2 - I prepared a "Letter of Guarantee" and "Letter of Invitation," as per the website instructions for Filipinos. The officer who examined them said that they
were not necessary, but kept them anyway because I had prepared them. I listed myself on both of these, and put my US address even though the forms were clearly designed to be used by a Japanese resident.
3 - I prepared an activity schedule for our time in Japan, again as per the website and the recommendations on this thread.
4 - I printed out a recent pay stub, along with a record from our HR website showing my yearly salary; I also brought our income tax and three months' of bank statements. The consular officer looked at all of this, but only kept my pay stub and salary printout. (In fact, the first officer gave me back two of the bank statements, keeping only the most recent; the second officer gave that back to me as well).
5 - I printed our airline itineraries (separate PNRs, as she's traveling on my miles but I'm on a revenue ticket) and our hotel booking.
6 - Because the hotel booking was in my name, they required a copy of my passport information page, which I had prepared thanks to the earlier advice on this thread.
Anyway, barring any unforeseen issues (which I'll report on this thread, naturally), we should be good for our trip. Thanks again!