Please note that this information is based on the announcement from the Japanese government as of March 18, 2022, and may be altered in the near future.
Visa Information
Due to the border measures against Covid-19, all non-Japanese citizens who wish to enter Japan need to apply for a “visa” beforehand.
(However, the Japanese government does not allow foreign citizens with the purpose of “sightseeing” to enter Japan as of March 31, 2022, so that the BioEM 2022’s registrants’ accompanying persons (such as their family, friends, acquaintances, etc.) who are not attending scientific sessions at BioEM should be difficult to have visas issued. In case you need assistance, management, or any kind of support from your accompanying person(s) in your attending BioEM 2022, then it will not be regarded as “sightseeing purpose,” hence visa applications will be accepted. In such cases, please feel free to contact the BioEM 2022 Secretariat at “secretariat<at>bioem2022.org.”)
There are some documents necessary for visa applications, some of which must be prepared on our end in Japan.
Please take the following steps for your visa application.
1. Have your “registration” and “payment” completed in the BioEM 2022 Registration system.
2. Prepare a valid passport.
3. Reserve a hotel room for your stay in Japan, as well as an airline ticket to Japan.
4. Download the “BioEM 2022 Visa Documents Request Form” and fill it out.
5. Send the form to BioEM 2022 Secretariat, and wait for 4 business days.
6. Apply for a visa at “Embassy of Japan” or “Consulate-General of Japan” by yourself.
1. Have your “registration” and “payment” completed in the BioEM 2022 Registration System.
The BioEM 2022 Registration System is open now and available from the following page:
https://www.bioem2022.org/registration/
We strongly recommend that you select “Online Attendance” and complete the payment of the registration fee. After you have obtained an entry visa to Japan, then you should change your attendance style from “Online” to “Physical” in your account page by paying the difference of the fees in the Registration System.
2. Prepare a valid passport.
We will need your “passport number” to prepare your visa application documents. Please be careful not to renew your passport after we have sent you the visa application documents, because passport numbers will be altered once renewed, and the documents will become invalid.
3. Reserve a hotel room for your stay in Japan, as well as an airline ticket to Japan.
A tentative itinerary while you are in Japan will be required for visa application documents. Please reserve a hotel room for your stay in Japan by yourself, as well as a round-trip airline ticket to Japan. We recommend that you reserve “cancelable” rooms or tickets.
The main purpose of your trip will be “to attend a conference (BioEM 2022),” but you can extend your stay and add extra days before/after the conference period for sightseeing, shopping, visiting your colleagues or friends, etc.
<Itinerary Sample 1>
June 18: Arrive at Narita Airport and move to Central Tokyo by train, and stay at a hotel for 1 night.
June 19: Move to Nagoya by train, and attend the BioEM 2022 Welcome Reception.
June 20 to 23: Attend BioEM 2022.
June 24: Attend BioEM 2022 in the morning, and move to Tokyo by train.
June 25: Sightseeing in Tokyo.
June 26: Move to Narita Airport by train, and depart for England.
<Itinerary Sample 2>
June 15: Arrive at Haneda Airport, and move to Nagoya by air (domestic flight).
June 16 to 18: Sightseeing in Nagoya.
June 19: Attend the BioEM 2022 Welcome Reception.
June 20 to 23: Attend BioEM 2022.
June 24: Move to Kyoto by train, and enjoy sightseeing.
June 25 to 27: Sightseeing in Kyoto.
June 28: Move to Osaka Airport by train, and depart for China.
NOTE!
In case you arrive at Narita Airport or Haneda Airport later than 4:00 PM, we recommend that you stay at a hotel near the airport (or in Tokyo) for the first night, and move to Nagoya the next morning. After landing at your airport, it may take longer than usual for you to be able to leave the airport due to Covid-19 inspections or checking processes, so you should consider the time for this as well. (See more details about “Access/Transportation” to Nagoya.)
4. Download the “BioEM 2022 Visa Documents Request Form” and fill it out.
Please download the “BioEM 2022 Visa Documents Request Form” from here“.
Once you have everything prepared about the tree items (1 to 3) above, download the form and fill it out. This form must be treated differently from the Registration System, because the form requires more personal information, such as your profession, birthday, passport number, etc.
5. Send the form to BioEM 2022 Secretariat, and wait for 4 business days.
After we receive the form from you, we will translate the information in the form and make some Japanese-written documents. This will usually take three or four business days, but depending on the number of applications we receive, it may take longer.
In the meantime, we will input some of your personal information into “ERFS” (or “Entrants, Returnees Follow-up System”), which is operated by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan. We will make an application in ERFS, requesting for your entrance to Japan, and download a “Certificate of ERFS Registration Completion” (PDF) for you.
Then we will send you all the following documents by email:
*a Certificate of ERFS Registration Completion (or “受付済証”)
*an Invitation Letter (or “招へい理由書”) by the BioEM 2022 Local Organizing Committee
*a Letter of Guarantee (or “身元保証書”) by the BioEM 2022 Local Organizing Committee
*an Itinerary during your stay in Japan (or “滞在予定表”)
*a Certificate of Employment of the inviter (or “在職証明書”)
6. Apply for a visa at “Embassy of Japan” or “Consulate-General of Japan” by yourself.
Once you receive the Japanese-written documents from us, you should go to the “Embassy of Japan” or ”Consulate-General of Japan” in the country or region you live in, and apply for a visa by yourself. It usually takes a week or two for a visa to be issued.
Depending on your nationality, however, you may not be allowed to apply for a visa directly at the “Embassy of Japan” or “Consulate-General of Japan,” but through an “accredited agency.” Please contact the “Embassy of Japan” or “Consulate-General of Japan” first whether you need to apply through an agency or not.
7. Exceptional Case (1): Hard copy documents
Basically, the Japanese-written documents for your visa application will be sent to you electronically, but some of you may need the original hard copy depending on your nationality or where you live. In such cases, after we send you the electronic documents by email, we will send you the hard copy documents by FedEx.
8. Exceptional Case (2): Paying the registration fee later
In case you have difficulty in paying the registration fee beforehand, due to the procedure for obtaining permissions from your organization or government, etc., please send us the “BioEM 2022 Visa Documents Request Form” first, along with an explanation for the reason you cannot pay beforehand. We will then send you the documents in PDF by email. In case you need the original hard copy, we will send it to you by FedEx after you have obtained permissions from your organization or government and completed the payment of your registration fee.