A Certificate of Eligibility is a document that verifies the activity in which the foreigner wishes to engage while in Japan. The Certificate of Eligibility is issued to individuals with specific activities that have been established by the Japan Immigration Agency. In my particular case, I was applying for what is commonly called a Nikkei VISA.
After a failed attempt to file my documents myself to Immigration and getting turned down, because all of my documents were too old, I decided to invest a little and retain an Immigration Attorney. Best decision I’ve made.
I had two meetings with him, the first to show him what I had and he explained exactly what I needed, most importantly that all of my documents had to be Originals and all dated within a 90 day period prior to submitting. Well, I could see that this was going to be a challenge, but was determined to get it done.
At my second meeting, I turned over all of my collected documents, and my Attorney carefully reviewed and said everything looked in order. He would submit the documents that day and I should receive an email from Immigration that the documents were submitted and then another indicating it was being processed.
When I tried to do this myself, I spent 4 hours at Immigration. However, my attorney let me know that he does everything electronically.
I asked how long it would take to get a response; he said probably a month or two. Sure enough, the same day I met with my Attorney, I received an email saying they had received my document, and shortly thereafter, I received another saying my documents were being processed. Within a month’s time, I received an email from my Attorney with my Certificate of Eligibility as a 3-year Long-Term Resident.
With my COE in hand, I quickly filled out my Application for a VISA, had my picture taken, and hand-carried it to the Consulate General of Japan of Los Angeles so it would not get lost in transit. Within about a week’s time, I had my visa! With my visa in hand and now a 90-day window to be in Japan, it was time to book a flight and some accommodations to start my Journey in Japan.