Japan Tourist Visa for Indians: eVISA, Documents and Fees

Choose an option based on your intended visits and eligibility. Electronic and sticker visas describe how the visa is issued; single and multiple entry describe how it can be used.

Single-entry tourism: This suits a trip where you enter Japan once and leave at the end of the holiday. An eVISA serves eligible single-entry tourism visits; it does not provide extra entries or a guaranteed longer stay.

Multiple-entry tourism: India-specific eligibility includes qualifying previous travel and financial-capacity categories. Applicants must support the category under which they apply. A multiple-entry request may still result in a single-entry visa.

If your plans involve another travel purpose, compare the Japan visa types and requirements. For meetings, negotiations or conferences, follow the Japan business visa requirements.

Your application should establish a genuine temporary holiday and explain how you will meet its expenses.

Before preparing the application, check that:

• Your passport meets the applicable validity and blank-page requirements.
• Tourism accurately describes the purpose of your visit.
• Your travel dates, accommodation and itinerary are consistent.
• You can provide the required financial evidence or explain the sponsorship arrangement.
• You intend to comply with the authorised activities and stay.

A student, dependant or applicant without salaried employment should prepare documents reflecting their actual circumstances. Do not create an employment or self-funding explanation that does not match the trip.

If the main purpose is visiting relatives or friends, use the appropriate visitor checklist. Host and relationship documents may be required, and the tourism eVISA should not be assumed to cover that purpose. Tourism permission does not authorise employment.

Prepare the checklist applicable to your residence and visit purpose. Requirements published for one submission jurisdiction should not automatically be used for another.

Core Application Documents

Use the official VFS Japan application guidance to select the relevant location, category and checklist before finalising your documents.

Documents Based on Your Employment Status

For example, Mumbai’s sightseeing checklist requests employer leave approval/NOC, ownership proof for company owners and student identification where applicable.

Your supporting letters should explain the actual arrangement. Someone travelling on approved annual leave should have dates consistent with the proposed holiday.

Documents for Children and Family Trips

Prepare each traveller’s required application documents and the relationship or consent evidence specified by the checklist.

For a family application:

• Keep names and dates consistent across forms and bookings.
• Explain who pays for financially dependent travellers.
• Check that accommodation reflects the people staying.
• Explain separate departure dates or family members joining later.
• Confirm the required consent documents if a child travels with one parent or another adult.

A shared hotel reservation does not replace an individual traveller’s application documents.

Preparing Your Schedule of Stay

Your Schedule of Stay should show where you intend to be and how the proposed visit fits together. Include arrival and departure dates, activities, accommodation and relevant contacts.

The following illustrates the format only:

Replace the example with your actual plans. Account for every night and make sure city changes agree with your accommodation evidence.

Passport, Photograph and Local Requirements

Check specifications before printing photographs or arranging submission. Delhi publishes a 45 × 35 mm photograph specification, while Mumbai’s regional instructions list 2 × 2 inches. Mumbai also publishes a six-month passport-validity instruction.

Confirm the applicable requirements with the centre handling your application, particularly where published documents differ. Also check required copies, residence evidence and document presentation instructions.

Financial evidence should explain who pays for the holiday and how the proposed expenses will be met.

The official tourist checklists reviewed do not specify one nationwide minimum bank balance in INR. A figure found online should not be treated as an approval threshold.

Self-Funded Travel

Prepare the financial documents requested by your checklist. Before submission, compare the proposed expenses with the funds available for the trip.

Consider accommodation, local transport, daily spending and any arrangements already paid for. Keep genuine evidence explaining substantial transactions where clarification may be needed.

Do not temporarily transfer money merely to create the appearance of financial capacity.

Trips Sponsored by a Spouse or Parent

Explain the relationship, the expenses covered and the supporting person’s financial documents. Follow the applicable consent and relationship-document requirements.

For example, if one spouse funds both travellers, both applications should describe that arrangement consistently. There is no need to describe a financially dependent traveller as independently self-funded.

Support from a Host in Japan

Check whether the arrangement involves accommodation only, financial support or a visit primarily to see the host.

The relevant checklist can require invitation and guarantee letters, financial evidence, residence documentation and relationship proof. A host’s address alone may not satisfy these requirements.

Applying Without an ITR

The acceptable alternative depends on the submission jurisdiction.

Delhi’s tourism checklist allows six months of bank statements where the latest ITR is unavailable. Mumbai’s sightseeing checklist requests latest ITR and three months of personal bank statements.

Confirm the provision applicable to your application before relying on an alternative.

The government visa fee for Indian nationals is ₹500 for single or multiple entry under the current published schedule.

The ₹1,300 reference is not an all-inclusive BTWVisas package price. Ask for a breakdown showing government, submission, assistance and optional charges.

If a visa is not issued, the government visa fee is not charged; VFS publishes refund arrangements for fees collected at submission. Service and optional charges have separate conditions.

Fees can change. Check the Embassy of Japan’s current visa information or confirm the applicable total with your BTWVisas consultant before submission.

1. Confirm Your Visit Purpose and Jurisdiction

Identify the category and submission instructions applicable to your residence. Check the arrangements for tourism with or without a host or guarantor, as relevant.

2. Prepare the Documents

Complete the form and assemble your passport, photograph, itinerary, finances and circumstance-specific documents. Resolve missing evidence before arranging submission.

3. Check Appointment and Submission Arrangements

Confirm whether your VFS centre requires an appointment and how applications may be lodged. Do not assume the same arrangements apply throughout India.

4. Submit and Pay the Applicable Charges

Follow the prescribed method and retain the acknowledgement, reference details and payment receipt.

If someone assists with your application, obtain confirmation of the actual submission date.

5. Follow Application Updates

Use the tracking arrangements provided with your acknowledgement. Respond through the specified channel if further information is requested.

6. Receive and Check the Result

Check your personal details, passport number, entries, validity and period of stay on the issued visa or notice. Collection readiness or passport dispatch does not by itself confirm approval.

MOFA’s standard examination period is five working days from the day after acceptance when the application presents no problems. High volumes or additional checks can extend this.

That examination period should not be treated as the complete turnaround from handing over documents to receiving your passport.

The VFS Mumbai regional page lists indicative processing periods of 10 days for Mumbai and 12 days for Pune. These are local published estimates rather than guaranteed turnaround times; confirm the current estimate and how days are counted before planning departure.

The Embassy states that applications can be accepted from three months before travel. Prepare within the applicable window and leave a buffer for delays. Processing cannot be expedited to suit an applicant’s departure date.

Before purchasing arrangements with costly cancellation terms, confirm what booking evidence your checklist requires. MOFA’s general guidance does not require prepaid reservations, while Mumbai’s checklist requests confirmed hotel and flight bookings. A booking requirement should not be interpreted as a guarantee that the visa will arrive before travel.

Visa validity, entries and permitted stay are separate conditions.

A single-entry visa is generally valid for three months for entry and becomes invalid once used.

For example, an entry deadline of 30 June and a permitted stay of 15 days describe different limits. You must seek entry within the visa’s validity and comply with the stay authorised on arrival.

A multiple-entry visa’s longer validity does not permit continuous residence in Japan. Check the conditions of each visit and the landing permission granted. A visa does not guarantee admission.

Review the documents together so that the application explains one consistent trip.

Illustrative example: A couple plans nine nights in Japan, but the accommodation evidence covers seven and only one application explains the shared funding. Before submission, account for the missing nights and make the sponsorship explanation consistent.

These checks improve clarity and completeness; they do not guarantee issuance.

Additional Documents or a Pending Application

Provide any requested information through the specified channel. A request for additional documents does not itself establish the outcome.

If departure is approaching, confirm the submission status, outstanding requests and whether a decision has been issued. Review booking-change deadlines while awaiting the result.

If the Application Is Refused

Japan generally does not accept another application for the same purpose within six months of refusal. Limited exceptions may apply where circumstances have changed significantly and humanitarian travel is necessary.

Specific refusal reasons are not disclosed. Seek appropriate guidance before reapplying rather than assuming that resubmitting the same file will produce a different result.

Checking Your Visa Before Departure

Review the visa or issuance notice against your passport and travel plans. Keep accommodation details, relevant contacts and return or onward arrangements accessible.

The Embassy also recommends overseas travel insurance. Check cover and exclusions against your proposed trip.

Displaying a Japan eVISA

If issued an eVISA, you must display the live visa issuance notice on a suitable device with internet access. A screenshot, PDF or printed copy is not accepted as a substitute.

Check access before departure and follow the official eVISA display instructions.

Preparing a Japan tourist visa application starts with matching the requirements to your circumstances: your residence location, employment, travel companions and funding arrangement. A consistent itinerary, appropriate financial evidence and complete supporting documents make the proposed holiday easier to understand.

If you need help deciding which documents apply, BTWVisas can assist with preparation for individual, family and sponsored trips. Share your intended dates and residence location to request a document review and an itemised quotation. Visa decisions remain with the Japanese authorities.