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Can one only get a visa issued once? 2007/9/17 08:39
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I've heard that a person is only eligible for a visa (any visa?) once, not more.

I myself have been to Japan for a year (am now back in my home country) on a pre-college/student visa where I studied at a Japanese language school.

Prior to coming to Japan for my Japanese studies, I hadn't been to university. I'm starting university this September by the way.

I was just wondering if it is possible to ever come back to Japan again on a student visa for let's say a year or so? Is it really true that you can only get a visa issued once? If so why?

thx

D
by D  

... 2007/9/17 11:47
No! Almost all types of visa, including student visas, can be issued multiple times. There is no upper limit.

One exception is the working holiday visa, which can be issued only once:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2350.html
by Uji rate this post as useful

visas 2007/9/17 13:03
Maybe whoever told you that was thinking of Working holiday visas? As far as I know you can only ever have one of them. Other visas as Uji says don't have such restrictions, although I have heard it is not easy to get a second Entertainer's visa.
by Sira rate this post as useful

definitely student visa 2007/9/17 21:41
Hi you guys, thanks for your replies.

Then, if it really is the case that a student visa can be re-issued, is a student's grade/attendency rate etc. taken into account when re-issuing a visa? (i.e. could a visa be rejected because a student's grade didn't meet certain requirements?)

Yes, I'm absolutely positive the guy I heard it from was talking about student visas and not working holiday visas.

He was telling me that the people at the Japanese immigration office's reason for not handing out a student visa more than once was because they believed that a student who has been to Japan on a student visa for as long as a year, knows enough Japanese and thus doesn't need to come back again...

I was shocked when I heard that. I definitely want to come back sometime to study more Japanese, and I'm sure many people agree with me.

by D rate this post as useful

visas 2007/9/17 22:34
A New Zealand friend of mine who has attended Tokyo University and Keio university has been here more than once on student visas- she isn't studying Japanese language but international relations, business etc and has lived in Japan around 5 years in total.

The visas aren't just for language study.
by Sira rate this post as useful

. 2007/9/17 23:23
There's pre-college student visa and a college student visa.

pre-college student visas are issued to exchange students, or language school students etc. They are usually expendable up to 2 years, in six month increments.

If someone on a precollege student visa has studied Japanese in Japan for two years, then decided to get another precollege student visa to study at another language school, immigration officials might decide whether or not to issue him another one. Also there is an abnormal number of people who overstay, and abuse the pre-college student visa, so its been increasingly harder to get one.

College Student Visas have a little more backing because they are backed and sponsered by Universities who (or might not) keep better track, admissions etc then language schools. The number of people abusing a College Student Visa is less then the number of people who are often found on a pre-college student visa.

Not sure about grades, grades certainly pay a deal in it, it is attendance record that is important. Because if one is absent a lot, one isn't spending that time going to school and studying, which is the main purpose of being there on a student visa. The vast majority of the time it shows that if one is on a student visa and not going to school, it is abuse of the visa and many times it turns out to be people using the visa to get in and start working as their primary purpose instead of studying. So yes attendance records is important.
by John rate this post as useful

reason why 2007/9/19 06:37
I see. The reason why I was asking this is because, like I said before, I went to Japan on a pre-college visa. Still wanting to go to Japan more, I'd like to go after finishing my studies or something in a couple of years. But my attendence rate at my previous Japanese language school wasn't 100%. I don't know if the staff at the immigration office are merciless when it comes to issuing visas to people who don't have 100% attendence rates/
by D rate this post as useful

. 2007/9/19 06:47
You don't need a 100% attendance rate, however certainly if it was something like 50% then that would cause for alarm.
by John rate this post as useful

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