Certificate of Eligibility - Data of Entry

[Museica]

Hello!
I am going to Japan soon for a year, and I have already applied for the Certificate of Eligibility. The application form required me to specify a date of entry. There I put March 31st. I submitted the form beginning of November. Now I noticed that I have to enter Japan before that, on March 23rd latest. Can I still change the date of entry when I apply for the final Visa (with the Certificate of Eligibility) or is it possible without too much hassle to get a tourist Visa when I enter before that date? What would you do?
Thanks!

 

[Glenski]

Let's get some things straight first.

You are German, right? You don't need a tourist visa. You get a tourist visa waiver (essentially, just come with a valid passport). Has someone told you differently? If you want to come as a tourist, go ahead. You could even theoretically come on a working holiday visa.

There I put March 31st. I submitted the form beginning of November. Now I noticed that I have to enter Japan before that, on March 23rd latest.

Who said that? Did you actually receive the COE?

The COE is something you apply for after you are hired by a Japanese company, in order to get a work visa. Is this what you are doing?

After you get the COE (which is given to your employer first), you have a certain amount of time to come, I believe. You then take the COE to your local Japanese embassy/consulate and get the work visa stamped into your passport. Once you enter Japan, it is canceled, and you are given a different stamp called status of residence (which unfortunately and erroneously is still called a visa by many people).

 

[Half-n-Half]

The COE is something you apply for after you are hired by a Japanese company, in order to get a work visa. Is this what you are doing?

The COE is also needed for a student visa. I had to fill one out once I was accepted by my host university in Japan.

To be honest, I don't think it really matters if your date of entry is a week later than when you will actually arrive. I could be wrong, though.

 

[Museica]

Ok thanks. I should have given more details. I am going to Japan to study, thus my COE is for a student visa. I have to enter Japan March 23st latest because March 22-23rd are the only days I can move into the student accomodation (seriously).

Maybe the date on the COE is only a guideline for when my visa needs to be ready. Even if so, let's assume I don't get my visa before I enter Japan. Is it going to be a lot of or any trouble to get a tourist visa waiver with my passport first and then later get a proper resident status with my 1-year student visa?

 

[Glenski]

I don't think there will be any problem coming as a tourist, and then switching over to student visa status. You'll get the COE from your school, undoubtedly, after immigration sends it to them. Then, you just waltz into immigration Mon-Fri with your passport and alien registration card (or receipt from the ward office).