How to apply for a Japanese visa in the U.S.

How to apply for a Japanese visa in the U.S.
There is no single national booking system. Each Japanese consulate publishes its own procedure, and the visa section is usually separate from the consular section, with its own email address.

Applying for a Japanese visa in the United States has three parts: working out which office covers you, assembling a file that matches what that office asks for, and getting it there. The second part is where applications fail.

Find your consulate first

Japan divides the United States into eighteen consular districts and the boundaries are not intuitive. Three units are split: California and Connecticut by ZIP code, and Idaho by a north-south line that no office publishes.

Applying for a Japanese visa in the United States
Applying for a Japanese visa in the United States
 Bakersfield is served from San Francisco, 281 miles away, while Palmdale, further north, is served from Los Angeles. The rule is the ZIP code, not the map. 

Then match the file to the office

The core documents are the same everywhere: form, passport, photo, and whatever supports the purpose of the trip. The presentation is not. Houston asks for documents without staples. Several offices refuse photocopies that have been reduced. Others want the form printed in black ink.

Applying in person
Book if the office requires it, arrive within the counter hours, and bring the fee in cash in the exact amount. Change is not given.
Applying by post
Several offices accept postal applications with a prepaid return envelope. The passport travels both ways, so use a trackable service.
Applying for somebody else
Bring written authorisation. Reviewers report being turned away at collection for arriving without it, and it is not mentioned on most of the official pages.
Before you go to the counter
  • Confirm your consular district, including the ZIP rules if you are in California or Connecticut
  • Print the form and fill it in with black ink
  • Remove staples from everything
  • Bring the exact fee in cash
  • Allow for the office keeping your passport while it processes the visa

    • Which office covers you

    Japan divides the United States into eighteen districts, and three of them are split in ways that catch people out. The full map is on the state pages of this site, and the short version is that your state is not always your office: Nevada is San Francisco, West Virginia is New York, and Wyoming is Denver.

    Applying to the wrong consulate does not usually produce a polite redirect. It produces a returned file and a lost week.

    Postal applications

    Several offices accept visa applications by post, which matters when the consulate is 500 miles away. The passport travels in both directions, so use a service with tracking and insurance, and include the prepaid return envelope the office specifies.

     Not every office accepts postal applications for every visa type. Check the page of your own consulate rather than assuming, because the practice varies more than the requirements do. 

    Collecting

    Collection is usually in person, and if someone else is collecting for you, they need written authorisation. Reviewers at more than one consulate describe being turned away at that point, having driven a long way, over a piece of paper that is not mentioned on the official page.

    All the proceduresBook an appointment

    Go up