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As of 26th January 2009, the UK visa application system in Japan will change. The United Kingdom Borders Agency (the UK government agency responsible for visa issues) has looked closely at all its visa operations worldwide. As a result, our visa operation in Japan, along with UK visa operations in many other countries in the Asia-Pacific region and across the world, is moving to a regional visa assessment system.

What does this mean for visa applicants in Japan?

Visa applications submitted in Japan will now be assessed by a dedicated team in a specialist centre at the British Embassy in Manila, Philippines. For the customer, the process will not change in any way: you will still submit the completed application form and accompanying documents to our service partners VFS at the Visa Application Centre (VAC) in either Tokyo or Osaka. Similarly, once the application has been considered, your documents will be returned to you via the same VAC. For more details on this process, please look at the VFS Global website.

Why is the UK doing this?

The UK Borders Agency has examined closely its overseas visa operations networks and has concluded that the same, or better, levels of service can be provided more efficiently through a 'hub and spoke' system, at no additional cost to the applicant. UK Borders Agency has conducted rigid feasibility studies to ensure the safety and integrity of the application process.

What else is changing?

There have also been a number of changes for young Japanese people wishing to apply for the Youth Mobility Scheme (YMS). In November 2008, the Youth Mobility Scheme replaced the Youth Exchange Scheme, and included a number of added benefits for Japanese applicants:

For the first time, young Japanese will have no restrictions on the amount of time they can spend working in the UK for the two year period
The visa application fee is being cut by 50%
The annual quota has been increased from 400 to 1000

For more details about the YMS, please download an information booklet (212KB pdf – English only).

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