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Are Originals an ABSOLUTE requirement for a work visa?

 
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aodtohan



Joined: 09 Jan 2010
Posts: 28

PostPosted: Sun Mar 07, 2010 12:48 pm    Post subject: Are Originals an ABSOLUTE requirement for a work visa? Reply with quote

Hi everyone,

I'm starting to prepare my documents for both my COE and Work Visa Application.

I was wondering, in your experience, do I absolutely have to submit my Original Diploma? Im wondering if a certified true copy would be sufficient.

do I absolutely have to submit original certificates of my teaching certifications?

My concern is that the Japanese embassy might not return my originals. And that would be very troublesome. Getting another copy for a diploma isnt that easy.

I would highly appreciate your responses.


Regards,

Anthony
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ShioriEigoKyoushi



Joined: 21 Aug 2009
Posts: 364
Location: Japan

PostPosted: Sun Mar 07, 2010 1:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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Last edited by ShioriEigoKyoushi on Tue Jun 08, 2010 3:40 pm; edited 1 time in total
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fluffyhamster



Joined: 13 Mar 2005
Posts: 3292
Location: UK > China > Japan > UK again

PostPosted: Sun Mar 07, 2010 1:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

aodtohan wrote:
My concern is that the Japanese embassy might not return my originals.

The problem is that it is your prospective employer who needs the documents, and who then passes them to their local Immigration office (in Japan) in order to secure the COE, which is then sent to you (perhaps along with the degree, though some employers like to hold on to that so that employees turn up at all!); your local embassy on the other hand will only be wanting to see said COE and your passport. (Apologies if you knew all that already, and I was misreading what you'd written! Smile Cool Wink ).

So you will be arguing your case not so much directly with officials but indirectly (with/through the employer at least), regardless of what some source somewhere says is (or should be) a fact, which can make establishing a "clear" course of action (your wants, versus their needs/demands) a bit fraught.

I mean, if you start insisting that the employer ask the Immigration office to accept copies, when that might be more than any of them are willing to contemplate doing, it could jeopardize relations all round, but especially between you and employer.

Anyway, I recall asking myself, when an employer said about sending originals, if copies would do, and the answer was firmly that only originals would. But it helped that I trusted the school (because a colleague in China had once worked in Japan at that school).

Still, maybe somebody else worked out a way to submit and get copies accepted relatively smoothly. (I see Shiori has recommended a search for some potentially buried treasure! Smile ).


Last edited by fluffyhamster on Sun Mar 07, 2010 4:11 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Deep Thirteen



Joined: 23 May 2009
Posts: 39
Location: East Sea Japan

PostPosted: Sun Mar 07, 2010 3:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'd imagine a notarized and apostilled copy would be fine. Works for Korean immigration anyway.

Couldn't you give them official transcripts instead of your diploma though?
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seklarwia



Joined: 20 Jan 2009
Posts: 1546
Location: Monkey onsen, Nagano

PostPosted: Sun Mar 07, 2010 9:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Immigration do not keep original certificates. They simply ask to see them when the application is submitted, copy them then hand them back. There is no reason why your employer shouldn't be able to give your certificate back to you. Interac sent original certificates back along with the COE if they were what was used it.

But it was also fine to send a photocopy of the cert along with an original, official set of transcripts or an original, official letter of confirmation from your uni. I sent them a cert copy and the letter which got me my COE without any issues.
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Glenski



Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

PostPosted: Sun Mar 07, 2010 9:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

As has been posted here and elsewhere endlessly, originals are not always required (by immigration). Find out what the particular office you're dealing with needs.

If you are afraid to submit originals (and yes, in some rare cases they are lost or damaged), then provide certified copies with sealed transcripts.

Most of the time you get the original degree parchment back, and even if you don't, it's a relatively simple and cheap procedure to get a replacement from your university.
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ssjup81



Joined: 15 Jun 2009
Posts: 664
Location: Adachi-ku, Tokyo, Japan

PostPosted: Mon Mar 08, 2010 12:52 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The choices I had was to either send my original diploma or my original transcripts. I sent in my original transcripts and a copy of my Diploma.
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