Originally Posted by
englisha
It seems for Russian or CIS nations, there is an extra requirement that you need either need to book everything through a travel agency, or have a sponsor in Japan (who needs to submit quite a list of documents) in order to get a visa. So, in effect, no independent travel to Japan for CIS nationals.
If anyone has any suggestions, id love to hear them as at the moment im looking at connecting flights to anywhere so that we'd only need to be in transit at NRT, which would be a real shame, as I really want to see Japan!
I've sponsored visa nationals coming to visit us in Japan before (but not CIS countries) and while the official immigration information about the documents required for each country is fixed, in practice the application process is unofficially different for each embassy. Basically, if the process can be a lot simpler if the applicant has permanent/long term status in a more "friendly" county. It was also easier when the visa national was traveling with someone from a visa waiver country and none of the detailed itinerary was required. If you have to apply in Ukraine, then it is going to be a lot more difficult. In this case you it's certainly worth talking to a travel agent to see what they can do to help you get round the rules or talk again to someone more senior in the embassy to see how willing they are to work around your case.