Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil (#5 if university graduate, and younger than 30), Brunei Darussalam (#5 if university graduate, and younger than 30), Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia (#5 if university graduate, and younger than 30), Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, China (#4 except for Hong Kong/Macau residents), Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Costa Rica, Cote d'Ivoire, Cuba, Congo, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, India (#5 if university graduate, and younger than 30), Indonesia (#5 if university graduate, and younger than 30), Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos (#5 if university graduate, and younger than 30), Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia (#5 if university graduate, and younger than 30), Maldives, Mali, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Micronesia, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines (#5 if university graduate, and younger than 30), Qatar, Macedonia / FYROM, Moldova, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia and Montenegro, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand (#5 if university graduate, and younger than 30), Timor-Leste / East Timor, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Tanzania, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam (#5 if university graduate, and younger than 30), Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe

This list will change from time to time.

You do not need a guarantor if:
#1) Your nationality does not appear in the list above.
#2) If you have dual nationality and your second passport is of a country that does not appear in the list above.
#3) If your nationality appears in the list above but you are a permanent/long term resident of a country that does not appear in the list above.
#4) You are a resident of Hong Kong or Macau.
#5) You are a citizen of Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philipines, Thailand or Vietnam, with university degree (undergraduate or above), and are under the age of 30 at the time of enrollment.

If you DO NOT need a personal guarantor please return to the Visa Information Index and continue.

Applicants who require a personal guarantor please scroll down for further information.

If you require a personal guarantor then when you read through the visa information please remember the following 2 points:

1) For short courses of 3 months duration or less you do not require a "financial guarantor". Your remittance of the tuition fees is sufficient proof of financial resources.

2) For courses longer than 3 months you will require both a financial guarantor as well as a personal guarantor (this can be the same person). You will also of course need to obtain the student visa.

The personal guarantor needs to be either:

a Japanese citizen
or
a foreign resident in Japan

The personal guarantor will be required to complete a form (mimotohoshousho) that provides a written statement guaranteeing your good conduct, and undertaking full responsibility for actions you may undertake during your stay, and guaranteeing that they will ensure that you depart from Japan at the conclusion of your course. The personal guarantor needs to have a steady income and sufficient resources to prove that they are able to take on the potential responsibilities included in the mimotohoshousho. and should ideally live in Aichi, Mie, Gifu, or Shizuoka prefectures, although this will not necessarily be a condition of entry. An interview is required, and the interview will take place in Okazaki at the Yamasa Institute.

The personal guarantor should ideally be related to you. For example a spouse or sibling. Also acceptable is a business to business relationship. For example under some circummstances an acceptable guarantor may be possible if you are an employee of a company with a close business relationship with a local Japanese company.

Please return to the Visa Information Index and continue.

Questions regarding this file...

If any of the information in this file is unclear, or if you need more detailed information, please click here and read the study/applications section of the FAQ before contacting us. Best regards, Declan Murphy.

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