The Japan Visa Application Center in Moscow, which opened in February of this year, has begun implementing its own administrative procedures, which are markedly stricter than the previous, more lenient procedures of the Japanese Embassy.
Tour operators emphasize that the flexible visa process has long been a key driver of demand for tours to Japan. Last year, the Embassy demonstrated efficient and well-coordinated operations even during peak workloads.
While the visa application center (VA) faced no issues in the first weeks after its launch, the procedure has now become overly bureaucratic. This creates additional difficulties for tour operators and is a source of anxiety for tourists.
There's currently increased scrutiny in document verification, which is especially noticeable when submitting documents for family applicants. For example, the Japanese Visa Application Center now requires each family member to provide complete copies of all financial and personal documents of all other travelers, including proof of relationship.
The most noticeable difference from previous practice is observed in the procedure for correcting errors in documents. While at the Japanese Embassy's consular section, comments were presented in a single list and corrections could be made promptly, now, according to survey respondents, making changes has become a multi-stage "ping-pong" process.
After receiving comments from visa center staff, it's simply impossible to make corrections quickly. A new online appointment is required, which significantly delays the process.
For independent applicants or small travel agencies, this ongoing revision becomes critical and jeopardizes the timely receipt of passports before departure.
However, despite all the procedural complexities, key players note that the final Japanese visa refusal rate has not increased and is comparable to the rate for applications submitted through the embassy.
The representatives of tour operator Space Travel note: «There are certain peculiarities in the operation of Japanese visa centers, which, in our opinion, is related to their initial stage of operation. Indeed, visa center operators often over-cautiously request additional copies of all documents included in the application. We recommend that tourists be keep understanding of this».
Photo by Photo by @beloglazov_travel
