0001 ~Preparations - Visa~

Hello everyone!

This time I'm going to talk a bit about my preparations : )
I don't know about that rules and procedures in other countries, but I can tell you how it works if you are a German citizen.

Here is the list of things you need if you want to apply for a Working Holiday Visa for Japan:

- Your international passport (valid for the whole stay, so check the expiry date!)
- proof that you have 2000€ on your bank account
- 2-way flight ticket (Or 1-way and another ~1000€)
- Insurance for your 1-year oversea stay
- Picture for your passport
- Curriculum Vitae
- Plan of activities
- A4 Letter of Motivation


That's it!

Once you got everything you have to travel to your closest Japanese Embassy or "Generalkonsulat" and hand everything in!
Most likely they will check everything and you have to fill out some more documents ("Have you ever been arrested? Have you ever been accused or arrested for the possesion of drugs?" etc... )

In my case I got a paper stating that I'd come back and pick it up in 2 weeks.

I did so and got it without any problems!  : )


Now some tips!

Insurance



For insurance I can reccomend Hanse Merkurer. They won first place in a test and got a score of 1,0!
They offer insurances for 1year stays at a very cheap price and you can cancel your insurance in Germany for this time.
Don't be afraid of not having an insurance when you come back - your current insurance has to take you back once you're back in good old Germany : )

Website: http://www.hmrv.de/reiseversicherungen/auslands-krankenversicherungen/reiseversicherung-schueler-studenten#leistungen

Although it says it's only for students, it's also for Working Holiday makers. Please see the information sheet here:
http://www.hmrv.de/reiseversicherungen/auslands-krankenversicherungen/reiseversicherung-schueler-studenten#leistungen

For the premium package I pay about 39€/month

Flight

Another thing that might confuse a lot of people is the fact that you can't book your flight back later than 1year after the current date.

Say you want to book your flight on August 20. You want to fly on October 15, 2013. The latest bookable flight will be on August 19, 2014.
Well..
The easiest option will probably be to book your flight back on August 19 and change the date during your stay.
With Lufthansa that will cost about 120€, but it's definately cheaper than booking 2-single-way tickets!
Also keep in mind, that flight are usually more expensive, when you book them from Japan!


Documents

For everything except for your letter of motivation the Japanese embassy offers a dummy that can be found here:
http://www.dus.emb-japan.go.jp/profile/deutsch/konsularisches/working_holiday.htm

For your letter of motivation..
To be honest I haven't ever heard of anyone who got rejected.
Just use your common sense and don't write something like..
"I wanna find a rich husband and marry so I can stay there forever" or "I want to get pregnant from a Japanese musician"
Just think a bit about what you love about Japan and why this trip is so important to you that you saved up more than 2000€!

By the way - you don't have to write anything in Japanese! If you can't write Japanese or feel that your level is too low, you are allowed to write everything in English : )


If you have any additional questions, feel free to ask!

I'll soon write another entry about my experiences with finding a place to stay online!


Oh and here's a picture of the Visa!