onsdag 23 december 2020

Getting a Working Holiday Visa in Japan During Covid-19

 When Japan announced last year that Sweden was going to be added to their Working Holiday Visa scheme I was so happy. I’ve been wishing for this for ages and it would be my last chance as I am close to 30. I also just graduated so the timing was perfect.

Then came covid and to summerize, turned my life upside down. All my plans were ruined and I lost my part time job later. When I was at my lowest in October I heard that the Japanese embassy in Germany had opened the application for Working Holiday Visas, if you had a company which could sign a Residence track (a paper stating that they take responsibility for you during the first 2 weeks when you ought to be in quarantine). To my surprise the Japanese embassy in Sweden also accepted applications, so I immediately began working on my application. Fortunatley I had contact with a small company who agreed to sign my residence track so I submitted my application during the second week in November. On December 8 they finally called and told me the visa was ready. *YAY*

At first I was so nervous being denied the visa that I didn’t really consider all the other extra stuff which had to be taken care of because of covid.

The restrictions change all the time so keep in mind that this is my experience of entering Japan on the 20 of December 2020.

 

PCR test?

The most important thing that I had to prepare was the PCR test. Japan has their own form which is recomended to use but as long as all the information is stated in the document issued at the clinic of your choice it’s ok. However, paranoid as I am I thought it would be best to try and find a clinic which agreed to use the Japanese one. Another issue I had was to find a time, many of the clinics were fully booked for weeks! I worried a lot about the PCR test as many clinics stated it could take between 24-48h, I don’t have a printer at home so I need to be able to print at my local library, meaning I need an extra day. Therefore I began looking at the form and realized that there were 3 test methods stated and one of them is the antigen test which gives an instant result. I tried to research this but to be honest, in the forest of PCR tests not even the clinics themselves wanted to give me a straight answer. I sent the Japanese form in an e-mail asking if they could sign it and also if their test methods was equal to the ones stated in that very form and I don’t think one single clinic said yes. All emphasized that I need check this out myself so that I know that I’m ordering the right test, which I find weird. Shouldn’t the doctors know this? Since no one gave me an approval of the antigen test I finally decided to go for the PCR at a clinic which claimed to give a result within 24h and fortunately I also found a timeslot which matched a flight on Saturday the 19th.

 

Finding a flight

I never would’ve thought finding a flight would be this difficult. Quite a lot of flights go to Tokyo, but other cities- not so much. I began looking into this by going to KIX webpage to see which flights were arriving there and realised only KLM/Air France did from Europe. So I didn’t have that much of an option. I then spent hours looking at restrictions in the Netherlands and France, even though I would just be passing through I did not want to take any chances of being denied entry. I checked the embassies webpages and also contacted KLM’s customer support which was not very helpful. Again, they could not give me an answer which I found weird. I finally managed to get a coherent trip where I would get the PCR test on time, a plane ticket which was not too expensive and get a pick up from the airport when arriving. That last point is crucial as you are not allowed to use public transport during the first 2 weeks. The options are to be picked up by someone you know who will drive you to your quarantine location or to use a covid taxi (I don’t think that’s the official name but whatever, there are taxi’s just for driving people from the airport to the place they are staying).




 

Starting my journey

My trip began in Stockholm and from Arlanda Airport I took a flight to Paris. I always check in online at home but this time I decided not to because they required me to leave information about my visa and I rather have someone more experienced do that so I thought I could wait until I got to the airport. Air France also had a link to this very convenient webpage called travel doc where you can input the country you are traveling to and which documents you have and it will say if you need anything extra or if you are not able to enter at all. Anyway, at that webpage I was informed that Japan requires everyone entering to fill out a form and then by the end you will get a QR code which you should bring to the immigration control.

With me to the Airport (besides my passport and visa) I had the QR code, a printed ticket, my negative covid test both the Japanese version and the standard version offered by the clinic I went to, a copy of my Residence track and also a questionnaire from Air France (it was not necessary to bring but I did just in case).

 

At the airport I realised that they’ve gone back to manualy handle all check in’s to destinations which requires a PCR test, so I didn’t have to worry about not having checked in at home. The sad part about this was that people seemed to have forgotten about all the rules in regards to coid. No social distance and many did not have their masks on. They checked my PCR test and also asked if I had the QR code. I have to admit that I was so nervous there would be something from and that they would deny me entry, but everything went fine (until I was about to pay cash for a bottle of water and was told off by the staff because he now touched my money…).

 

I had never been to Charles de Gaulle Airport before so I was kind of anxious about my transfer which was only 2h. I did manage on time but I was stressed and sweating when I finally had found my gate. Before entering the flight to Osaka they checked my temperature and my PCR test as well as my visa. I had read others experiences on going to Japan and everyone mentioned almost empty planes, so I was quite surprised to realize that my flight was half full, mostly Japanese people. Makes me wonder, are they traveling now?... Besides the regular paperwork they also handed out a form regarding your health.

 

The flight went well (have to say Air France had the best food ever offered by an airline company) and once we arrived in Japan someone from the airport would board and check our documents. I was amazed that people immediately went up and wanted to get their luggage the minute the plane was parked, no thought of social distancing… Once off the Airport there was a lot of waiting but they had prepared chaires and those who had not already filled out the questionnaire to get the QR code had to do so now. The first 90 minutes was basically just a lot of waiting, but then everything went pretty smooth. The testing went fine (at least besides the fact that I had some issues to produce saliva and massaged the s** out of my neck as explained at the Airport until my throat hurt) and while waiting for the result they had reserved a gate so that we could sit down comfortably.

I have to admit I normally think the staff working at the passport control are, well not so service minded but this time I met the nicest man ever, he was so kind and funny to talk to!

I got my residence card and left the building, and to be honest I could not believe how smooth everything went! Weird thing was that no one checked my PCR test in Japan, even though they put emphasis on using their form…

So far I have been outside once, to buy some things to eat. I’m looking forward to getting  back to normal though, my jet lag is getting worse by being bored.