Information for Incoming Exchange Students

• COE is an official document issued by the Ministry of Justice. It is necessary for the “Student” Visa. Waseda University will apply for the COE at the Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau on behalf of students themselves, and send the certificate to students as soon as it has been issued. Once you have the COE, you will need to visit your nearest Japanese Embassy or Consulate with the necessary documents to obtain a “Student Visa”.
  (Reference)General visa: Student | Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan
• Make sure to carefully complete 3 pages of the application form by following the instructions below. (sample)
  ◇Applicants themselves should complete all the forms using excel file, no hand writing acceptable.
• Those who have a Japanese citizenship including dual citizenship CANNOT apply for a COE. Enter Japan with your Japanese passport.

• You must prove you can cover expenses while in Japan with the following documents. The amount must be more than 1,440,000JPY/year or 720,000JPY/semester.
  You can combine A-C to meet the required amount:

A : If you are financing yourself
 <Official Bank Balance Certificate>
*If your bank does not issue a balance certificate, please ask your bank to issue a letter that states your most up-to-date balance with information on the name of the account holder, issuing date and signature of bank official and/or organization office stamp. A copy of a web page is accepted if all of the above information is on it.

B: If someone other than yourself is covering your expenses
 <Official Bank Balance Certificate of the person covering your expense & Written Oath for Defraying Expenses >
*The person covering the expenses must be the same person you fill in, in the section 28(2) on application form for COE.

C:If scholarship is covering your expenses
<Certificate of Scholarship>
*The Certificate (or letter) must clearly state the name of organization providing the fund to you, amount of scholarship available during your visiting period, issuing date and signature of the funding organization and/or stamp of the organization.

• Native speakers do not need to submit the score report.
• Only official certificate which is valid at the time of application is acceptable.
• If you don’t have an English language certificate but are currently enrolled in a program where the primary language of instruction is English, certificate issued by your home university which confirms your enrollment will substitute for the language certificates.
• JLPT N1 or equivalent are required if you are taking Commerce courses conducted in Japanese. In addition to the JLPT certificate, please fill out this form by following the instructions here.

School of Commerce, Waseda University 1-6-1 Nishiwaseda, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 169-8050 Japan

*The ID photo needs to be taken within 3 months before submission and recommended to be different from one on your passport.