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My Experience Applying for a Single-Entry Japan Visa in Ho Chi Minh City
Hello everyone!
First off, I want to express my sincere gratitude to the members of this community for your incredible support and shared experiences that helped me navigate the Japan visa application process. I truly appreciate it!
After a week of anticipation, I received my Japan visa! I'd like to share my experience and the documents I submitted.
My Visa Application Documents:
- Original passport and a photocopy of pages 1 and 2.
- Two passport photos (4.5 x 3.5 cm). Write your full name on the back of each photo. Attach one photo to the visa application form and include the other separately.
- Visa application form (downloaded from the consulate's website).
- Photos demonstrating our friendship. Since we were traveling as a group of two, a relationship chart wasn't required. We printed the photos, pasted them onto A4 paper, labeled each person with a number (1 and 2), and included their full names.
- An official employment confirmation letter (in English) stating my employment duration, salary, and position, with the company's official stamp.
- VSSID (Vietnam Social Security ID): A screenshot of my social insurance contribution history (this was supplementary and not mandatory).
- Bank statement showing salary deposits for the last 6 months (with salary deposits highlighted).
- Bank confirmation letter stating the balance of my savings account.
- Hotel booking confirmation (I booked a hotel with free cancellation).
- Travel itinerary (completed using the form on the consulate's website - I have attached an itinerary for reference).
Important Notes:
- Do not staple any of the documents, including the bank statements.
- All documents were printed on one side of the paper, except for the bank statement, which was printed on both sides (the bank's default format).
- I only added a number on my passport. I didn't number the other documents.
- I left the "Date of Application" field on the visa application form blank for the agency to fill in.
Submitting My Application (VFS Global):
- I submitted my application at VFS Global Japan (Nguyen Van Troi Street, Ho Chi Minh City).
- The fee was 720,000 VND, payable in cash (including the VFS service fee of 200,000 VND and the visa fee of 520,000 VND).
- When I applied, appointments were not required, and it was relatively quiet in the early afternoon.
- VFS informed us that friends could not represent each other during the application process, so both my friend and I had to be present.
- The staff were friendly, helpful, and thoroughly checked our documents.
I wish everyone a successful visa application and a wonderful trip to Japan! 🇯🇵🇯🇵🇯🇵
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