For students requiring a student visa:

After you complete the documents included in the application kit, you must deliver it either to The Yamasa Institute or one of our offices abroad by mail, courier or hand delivery. The Student Services and visa specialists will start screening when the application fee (21,000 yen tax included) has been received. Due to the heavy screening and translating costs required in obtaining the visa for you, we regret that the application fee cannot be refunded.

Application Periods:
For student visa applications, the application period opens March 20th (for October admissions), and September 20th (for April admissions).

Deadline 1:
General Applicants - The application MUST be received by May 5th for October commencement, and November 5th for April commencement.

Deadline 2:
Fast-track Applicants - In some circumstances, it MAY be possible to extend the deadline for 1 month. These circumstances are determined not by Yamasa but by the Immigration Bureau. If the following criteria are met, then the application may be received by June 8th (next working day if this is a weekend) for October commencement, and December 8th (next working day if this is a weekend) for April commencement:

a) Applicants under the age of 30, who have
b) Completed full time studies recently, and are
c) Citizens or Permanent residents of OECD countries.

If you believe you meet the criteria for fast-track application please contact contact Admissions to make certain that your application can be accepted. Please also note that places in the program may be limited, early application is usually advised.

What if I miss the deadline?

If you are unable to submit your documentation prior to the relevant deadline, you are unable to obtain a student visa until the next available application period - ie 6 months later. You are however still able to apply for admission into the program if you are prepared to study using an alternative visa such as the tanki-taizai (short term visitor / tourist visa), working holiday visa etc.

So for example if today is December 28th and you wish to start studies in April, you can do so if you use a tourist visa for the April to June Spring Quarter, and then a tourist visa for the July to September Summer Quarter. Provided you bring your documentation with you in the spring, you would then start studies using the student visa from October (Autumn Quarter).

With tourist visas it is usually possible to spend up to 6 months in the program without difficulty. In the case of some nationalities, for example Ireland & Mexico, it is possible to spend 6 months in Japan on a tourist visa without leaving the country. Students of other countries, for example Canada & the USA, would need to leave the country and then re-enter with a new tourist visa. The only disadvantage of studying on a tourist visa is that you are not allowed to work part-time and do not qualify for the National Health Insurance scheme. More information is available in the visa file.

SCREENING FOR STUDENTS REQUIRING STUDENT VISAS :

Once your application fee is verified, we can screen your application. The screening is done on the basis of the documents submitted with the application kit. An interview is usually required for applicants who are already in Japan. After screening, we will notify you of the result and then submit your documents to the Immigration Bureau for application for a CERTIFICATE OF ELIGIBILITY. After inspection, and if there is no problem, the Immigration Bureau will issue the CERTIFICATE OF ELIGIBILITY. Yamasa will inform you of the outcome (approval or refusal). The frustrating part of the application is that the Bureau will not inform Yamasa of the result of the application until late August/early September in the case of October commencement, and until late February/early March in the case of April commencement.

1. You will then be asked to remit a minimum of 2 quarters (6 months) of tuition fees and a minimum of 1 quarter (3 months) of accommodation fees. If you remit 1 year's worth of tuition, you will receive a discount of 50,000 yen.
2. Yamasa Admissions will then be able to send you the CERTIFICATE OF ELIGIBILITY and LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE.
3. You then need to take this letter with your passport to the nearest Japanese diplomatic office to receive your visa stamp.
4. You are then able to enter Japan.

The rest of the enrollment procedure is completed upon arriving in Okazaki.