2 different COEs?

Hello, I have a bit of a complicated situation and wanted to see if anyone has answers. Basically, in 2020, I received a COE from a language school and got a visa with it. The visa is a multiple entry visa, so it says it expires in 2025. Due to COVID, I ended up not being able to go. I was refunded my tuition from that language school and returned my COE to them upon their request.

Fast forward to 2021, and I decided to apply to a different language school (I told them about my past visa with the first school). I applied and was granted a new COE in August, 2021. I thought that the COE you get is directly tied to your visa, which is why I had to get a new COE for a new school. But how do I get a new visa if my original one is still valid? Do I have to cancel the original one?

Did you get a new passport between the two applications? Usually the immigration authorities would notice if a visa has been issued with a CoE already and while it is still unused another CoE is applied for the same applicant. (They say if more than one applications for CoE are made, they would be rejected, but since you�fve obtained the visa already, they did not notice it maybe�c)

But if you now do have a second CoE while the older visa (based on an earlier CoE) is still valid, then I believe when you go to the Embassy of Japan in your country to apply for the visa with the CoE, you�fd need to explain the situation, and get the older one nullified.

Hi @AK,

I am OP but I don't know how to reply to your comment since I didn't make an account, but I'll answer here hoping you'll see it. To answer your question, I did not get a new passport between the two applications. After I obtained the first VISA and never used it, my original school asked me to send the COE back, and they said they would "inform immigration," which is why I think I was able to be issued a second COE (on their end, immigration sees that the first COE was returned).

Thank you for replying!

Visa and COE are two slightly different things.

The visa is a big sticker in your passport that you get at the Japanese embassy after you obtained the COE.

From your second post it seems you only got the COE last time but never went to the embassy to actually get the visa in your passport, correct?

If so, there should be no problem. You sent the old COE back and it had expired now anyway. So when you get your new COE You can go with it to the embassy and get your visa.

When exactly was your visa issued in 2020 and for what country? Japan suspended visas last year depending on when they were issued.
https://www.mofa.go.jp/ca/fna/page4e_001053.html#section4
(And a BTW, I have no "stickers" or anything in my passport indicating that I have a visa for Japan so it might depend on what the OP actually has for their multi-entry visa.)

To OP,
Then the school probably informed the immigration authorities, without thinking that you might have a visa already in your passport based on that CoE, so the CoE got cancelled but nothing was done about the visa, even though you already had it in your passport.

Should the Embassy of Japan ask about it (the existing visa based on the earlier CoE) you simply tell them exactly what happened, then that should be fine.

Thanks for your responses @AK! I'll just talk to my consulate and explain the situation.

And to @japancustomtours, it was issued in March 2020 (USA) right before lockdown happened in my country. I got the actual visa, but didn't get to use it.

As mentioned by another responent, your visa could have been suspended due to the pandemic but another page of mofa's official site also says that you must enter Japan within 3 mouths from the day you visa issued. https://www.mofa.go.jp/j_info/visit/visa/process/long.html

At least to me, it sounds as if visa will be invalid as long as you don't enter within 3 mouths even if expire date written on your visa is much later. They don't clearly mention so though.

If I were you, I would notify Japan embassy in your country about the first visa in order not to be treated as a person who apply a visa improperly with improper purpose.

@Asiansenior - I also considered the "3-month" entry criteria, but the information I looked up referred to single entry type visa rather than multi-entry so I did not have a definitive answer to include in my reply for this specific case, so I left that out.
(https://www.us.emb-japan.go.jp/english/html/travel_and_visa/travel_and... section #4)
As for the OP with their new CoE - use that to apply for a new visa. If there are issues, the Japan officials will let you know. The fact it has been issued suggest that there should not be a problem.

@Asiansenior - That's why I'm confused. Back in 2020, I had actually called my consulate to see if I needed to cancel my Visa or anything, and they said that there was no cancellation process because it becomes invalid if not used within the first 3 months... but then what does the expiration date mean?? Because according to that, it's still valid until 2025.

is there a multiple entry visa for student COE holder ?
multiple entry visa will be issued for a visitor (not a resident), and a student status holder is a resident.
also, it is strange that they issued 5 years visa for a language school student, since language school students can be on that status for 2 years at maximum.

I thought what @ken said as well but there seems to be another guy who got a multiple visa as a student accounting to another thread.

italic but then what does the expiration date mean?? Because according to that, it's still valid until 2025italic

Why didn't you ask that when you were told directly it would be automatically cancelled or be invalid if it wasn't used (if you didn't enter Japan)?

visa is valid until 2025 IF it was once used within 3 months but will be cancelled (be invalid) automatically if it was not used ???