The Visa Process

Alright, so you're all set to go to Japan for the first time. All packed? Check. Passport? Check. Said goodbye to family, friends, and loved ones? Check. Got your visa? Nope?! Well, you're not going anywhere yet then!

Just a bit of a pretext: we’re Canadian, specifically from Nova Scotia, so the information below is the process for getting a Visa at the Montreal Consulate. If you're not Canadian, sorry! Also, if you're from anywhere west of Quebec, you'll need to check with the appropriate Consulate for you. That said, read on for more information!

So, how do you go about getting your visa for Japan? Well, there are several things you’ll need to get for it, so here’s a nice list!

1) Completed visa application form

2) Passport size photo (dated and take within six months from when you arrive at the consulate)

3) Valid Canadian passport

4) Photocopy of your passport

5) Certificate of Eligibility (COE)

6) Photocopy of your COE

(If you wish to receive your passport and visa back by post you need 7 & 8 below, ignore otherwise)

7) Xpresspost envelope (pre-paid envelope by Canada post)

8) Release form (the form that says you'll allow them to send the stuff back by mail)

To get the application form you'll need to go to the Consulate General of Japan in Canada’s website and get them. The first one you'll need to get is the form located here. If you don't live in or nearby the city where your Japanese Consulate is located (like us), and/or you can't return to pick it up, then you'll need the release form mention in number 8 above. You'll need to locate this on your respective consulate’s website or contact them.

After you've found and filled out the required form(s), you’re ready to head to your nearest Japanese consulate to drop them off and begin waiting. Here’s a link to Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ website, and a list of all the locations in Canada (and other places) they have an embassy and/or consulate. Since we live in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Montreal was our closest location, so that’s where we went to (and where the next part will be based on).

The Consulate General of Japan at Montreal is located in downtown Montreal, specifically here:

Consulate-General of Japan
600, rue de la Gauchetière ouest,
Suite 2120,
Montréal, Québec, H3B 4L8, Canada

Here’s their telephone and fax numbers for good measure:

Tel:(1-514)866-3429
Fax:(1-514)395-6000

Here is a link to the location on Google Maps in case you want to have a bit of a look around at the location and the surrounding area. 

And here is a link specifically to the Montreal consulate’s page on how to get there by various methods in the city, their hours, and maps of the building they are in. The consulate is on the 21^st floor of the building. The two maps on the link I mentioned above are super helpful and show you exactly how to get to the consulate once inside the building, so use ‘em!

At the Consulate

Alright, so you filled out your form(s), you’re in Montreal now, and you've arrived at the consulate, great! Once you're there you'll notice the door will not be open. Since this was our first time there, we didn't realize we had to push the intercom button to speak to the security officer inside, so you should do that to avoid looking silly like we did! They'll ask why you're there; simply tell them you're looking to hand in your visa forms, and they'll buzz you in. Once you're inside, it’s a fairly small office. You'll need to hand over your belongings to the security officer (bags, cellphones, etc.), and go through a metal detector.

 Once through simply walk up to the glass reception area and ring the bell if no one is there. Tell them what you're looking to do (get your visa), hand them your materials, they’ll look them over, get you to make any needed changes, and that’s about it. If, like us, you elect to have it mailed back to you will need the pre-paid Canada post envelope mentioned in the list above at this time as well, so don't forget to bring that along! You should receive your passport with your new visa in it about a week later in the mail.

Exploring Montreal

Once you're done with handing in your visa materials (and if you have some free time like we did), why not go out and explore Montreal a bit? We did just that since we hadn't been there before, and by the end of our time there (it was only a couple of days), we were wishing we had another week to explore. I won't go over everything we did (or tried to do) while we were in Montreal, but I will mention a couple of the highlights.

First thing I want to mention (and also the first place we went) is Notre Dame Basilica of Montreal. Here’s the website so you can take a look at it and get some detailed info, location, etc. Basically, it’s a really large, really, really beautiful church that you have to go and see! I've never seen anything like it, save for something you'd see on a travel show on TV.  

The second place I want to mention is what’s called the Underground City. Here’s the Wikipedia page about it so you can get all the details, but I'll summarize it for you. It’s basically a giant, and I mean giant, underground shopping complex that runs under most of the downtown core. It has everything you could ever want to shop for, and then some! Needless to say, we were both blown away by it. We didn't have near enough time to fully explore it, but we quickly went through a good deal of it in a day, though you could certainly spend longer. Here's just one photo of one section of it to give you an idea.

The last place (but by no means all there is to see), is one of the main streets downtown called Saint Catherine Street. This is one long street, with pretty much everything on it. Shopping, entertainment, food, and much more. We only got a chance to explore one section of it and grab a quick bite to eat before we had to leave, but there was so much more we wanted to see! Definitely check this one out!