Japan visa requirements for Indians

Two routes: VFS sticker visa or JAPAN eVISA

The Embassy of Japan in India sends every ordinary application through VFS Global and adds that no prior appointment is needed. Applications are accepted from three months before the travel date. The Embassy also runs the eVISA route for India: residents of India can apply online for a single-entry tourism visa, pay by credit card after the fee e-mail, and receive an electronic visa with no sticker, shown live on a phone at check-in. The eVISA is for tourism only; visits to relatives or friends, business and multiple-entry visas are paper applications.

Jurisdiction matters. Each consulate (New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Kolkata) publishes its own checklist through VFS, and they differ in detail. Kolkata takes passports issued in Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha and West Bengal, or residents of those states with proof such as Aadhaar or a rent agreement; Bengaluru processes applications only for current residents of Karnataka. Download the list for your own centre and follow its order.

The fee: ₹500 for Indian nationals

Japan raised its visa fees on 1 July 2026 for the first time since 1978, to about ¥15,000 for a single entry. The Embassy in India’s fee table for applications from that date keeps a reduced rate for Indian nationals: INR 500 for a single or multiple visa. Other nationals applying in India pay INR 8,650 for a single and INR 17,350 for a double or multiple visa. The VFS service fee is charged separately, and the transit visa no longer exists. The Embassy warns that these are the only payments: it never asks for money by phone or e-mail to verify documents or expedite a case.

The document list (Kolkata and Bengaluru checklists)

The two consulate lists read through VFS in 2026 agree on the shape of a tourist file; the Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai lists follow the same pattern with local differences.

• Original passport valid for at least three months, with a copy of the front and back pages; old passports with previous visas.
• Application form filled in and signed, the signature matching the passport; one photo 45 × 35 mm, white background, 70–80% face, taken within six months.
• An original covering letter signed by you, naming any companions, the travel dates and who pays. The kit’s template 5 is written for it.
• NOC or leave approval from your employer; latest pay slips (Bengaluru asks for three months). Self-employed: GST certificate or company incorporation certificate. Doctors: KMC certificate; lawyers: Bar Council card; landlords and farmers: property documents; students: a bonafide certificate.
• Personal bank statements for six months, stamped and signed by the bank, or a deposit balance certificate; Bengaluru accepts the last three months of salary credits. Income-tax returns: three years in Kolkata (or a letter explaining why not), the latest two years’ acknowledgements in Bengaluru. Fixed deposits, mutual funds and other investments if any.
• Hotel reservation, "booking only, not confirmed"; a day-to-day schedule of stay in the format on the VFS site; the flight itinerary with flight numbers and dates of arrival and departure. The visa of any third country you visit before or after Japan; the passports, tickets and visas of companions travelling from elsewhere; a divorce decree if divorced.
• Sponsored by a relative: the sponsor’s letter, their bank statements and ITR acknowledgements, and their ID.

Processing and the warning in the checklist

Minimum processing is five working days; the Embassy says processing times "can vary significantly" and cannot be prioritised, and it takes no enquiries about status, documents or the reason for a refusal. The Kolkata checklist ends with a line worth reading twice: "Hiding proper reason of travel can be cause of visa rejection." If you are also meeting a friend, attending a wedding or seeing a client, say so and apply in that category; MOFA does not give reasons for refusals and bars a second application for six months.

Family or friends travelling together from the same city should submit their applications together (Bengaluru), and an authorization letter is required if an agent or relative submits or collects for you (Kolkata).

Multiple-entry visas for Indian nationals

MOFA’s outline for India offers a five-year multiple-entry visa with 90-day stays to anyone who has visited Japan as a temporary visitor twice in the last three years; once in the last three years with the financial capacity to pay (ITR or a deposit balance certificate); once plus temporary-visitor trips to G7 countries; or with "sufficient financial capacity" shown by ITR and, if needed, deposits, dividends, pension, retirement allowance, inheritance or property; and to their spouses and children. The consulate may issue a single-entry visa instead after examination.

The Japan Tourist Visa Kit puts the India chapter on one page with the proof-of-funds table, the Itinerary in Japan filled in for 7, 10 and 14 days, and the cover letter, NOC and sponsor letter as editable Word templates. For the general rules, see Japan tourist visa requirements, and for a one-way trip, Do I need an onward ticket for Japan?