Japan visa requirements for Filipinos

Where to apply: the JVAC, not an agency

The Embassy of Japan in the Philippines introduced its Visa Center in April 2025 "in light of the unprecedented surge in visa applications". Every tourist application is now lodged at a JVAC operated by VFS Services Philippines; the Embassy itself accepts only diplomatic, official and humanitarian cases. The old accredited-travel-agency route survives only for package tours arranged by a registered agency, which since 15 December 2025 are issued as electronic visas with a 15-day period of stay and are filed by the agency through JAPAN eVISA.

Book the appointment on the VFS site and choose the "Tourism" category: the category cannot be changed later. The earliest booking is 90 days before travel, and if your travel date is outside that window on the day of the appointment you must rebook and pay the service fee again. A single-entry tourist visa is valid for three months from issue, so the Embassy also warns against applying prematurely.

Fee and processing time

The temporary visitor visa (stays of up to 90 days) remains free of charge for Philippine nationals after Japan’s fee revision of 1 July 2026; the Embassy says so on its visa page. The JVAC charges a service fee of PHP 520 per application. Processing is a minimum of six business days from receipt at the JVAC, ten in Cebu and Davao, and the Embassy warns that "it may take several weeks to process an application for a tourist visa", and more than a month if the file is referred to Tokyo. It cannot be expedited.

The tourism checklist

The JVAC’s "Tourism Visa Checklist, Single Entry" (April 2025) and the Embassy’s own tourism sheet agree on the list. Tick every line before you book.

• Passport, signed by you, undamaged, with two blank visa pages; plus a colour copy of the data page and a colour copy of any used Japan visa.
• Visa application form, typed, signed by you (a parent signs for a minor); the photo 4.5 × 3.5 cm, taken within six months, white background, glued on, your full name and date of birth written on the back.
• PSA birth certificate, and PSA marriage certificate if married, each issued within one year. Not needed if a used Japan visa is in your passport. If the PSA copy is illegible, add the Local Civil Registrar’s; for a late-registered birth, add a baptismal certificate and Form 137; if PSA has no record, the LCR certificate plus a PSA negative certificate.
• Itinerary in Japan: entry and departure dates with flight details if possible (booking not necessary), each hotel’s name, address and telephone number (booking not necessary), day by day; identical consecutive days may be grouped as a date range. Stays over 30 days need an explanation letter.
• If you pay for the trip: a bank certificate showing the average daily balance over the last six months (if the ADB is not stated, add a six-month statement); a tax payment certificate, meaning BIR Form 2316 signed by employer and employee, or for business owners the BIR tax payment certificate plus proof of actual payment; a certificate of employment stating position, period of employment and salary, with the certifier’s contact. Business owners add the DTI or SEC registration and the Mayor’s Permit; students a school ID or certificate of enrolment. Retirees, full-time housewives and the unemployed are excused the tax and employment certificates; anyone else who cannot supply them attaches a letter of explanation.
• If a guarantor in the Philippines pays: the Embassy’s own Guarantee Letter form, proof of your relationship (birth certificates or photographs), and the guarantor’s bank certificate, tax certificate and employment certificate.

Handling rules that get files returned

The Embassy’s "Important Note on the Document Submission" is specific: documents issued in the Philippines must be originals except where the list says otherwise; everything must be issued within three months of the application (birth and marriage certificates within one year); A4 only; never stapled; certificate receipts removed; anything not in English or Japanese translated, with the translator’s name, signature and date. Submitted documents are not returned, so include a photocopy and ask if you want an original back. If the Embassy requests additional documents through the JVAC and nothing arrives within one month, the application is terminated.

A proxy may submit for you with an authorization letter listing every traveller, signed by the head of the family (or of the company for a group), and the representative’s company ID.

Multiple-entry visas for Filipinos

Two routes exist beside the single-entry visa: the multiple-entry visa for frequent travellers and the multiple-entry visa for Philippine nationals with considerable financial capacity, each with its own JVAC checklist and the Embassy’s "Request for a Multiple-Entry Visa" form. MOFA’s outline for Indonesia, the Philippines and Viet Nam sets the categories: a trip to Japan in the last three years plus the means to pay, a Japan trip plus G7 trips, sufficient financial capacity while employed, or being the spouse or child of such a person. Each stay is up to 30 days, and the Embassy may issue a single-entry visa after examination.

The Japan Tourist Visa Kit has the Philippine chapter on one page, the Itinerary in Japan filled in for 7, 10 and 14 days, and the certificate of employment, letter of explanation and authorization letter as editable templates. For the general rules, see Japan tourist visa requirements.