How do you study in Japan from Pakistan? (2026)

How does the Japan student route actually work?

In two stages, and the first one happens in Japan without you. Your school applies for a Certificate of Eligibility, usually called the COE, at a regional immigration services bureau. Only once that is issued do you apply for a visa in Pakistan.

The status you are applying for

Japan calls it the Student status of residence, ryugaku in Japanese. It covers universities, junior colleges, graduate schools, specialised training colleges and Japanese language schools. The Immigration Services Agency publishes a page for the status listing what the COE application contains, and the government’s Study in Japan portal, run by JASSO, explains the same process in English.

Why the order matters

Most of the judgement in a Japanese file is made at the COE stage, in Japan, by the agency. The visa interview at the embassy is real, but it rests on a certificate the agency has already issued. That is why the quality of the documents you send to your school matters more than anything you say at the visa centre. A school that is careless with its COE files is a school whose students wait.

If you are still choosing between Japan and somewhere else, the destination comparison sets the main countries side by side on cost, language and what happens after graduation.

What changed in the Japanese language rules?

Two things, and both came from the Immigration Services Agency rather than from the schools. Language school students need stronger proof of ability, and students on courses taught in Japanese need a higher level.

Language schools: 150 hours is no longer enough

The agency’s notice says that until now a record of 150 hours or more of Japanese study was accepted as evidence of ability at A1 level or above. It now requires a test certificate or confirmation by interview. The rule applies to COE applications for students planning to enter school from October 2026, and to applications to change or extend status made on or after 1 July 2026. The agency’s question and answer page on this is dated 19 May 2026.

This matters in Pakistan because a large part of the Japanese language school market was built on the 150-hour certificate. A student would take a short course in Lahore or Rawalpindi, receive a certificate of hours, and the school in Japan would file that as evidence. That route has closed for new entrants.

Universities taught in Japanese: B2

For students who will be taught, or supervised in research, in Japanese, the agency sets the level at B2 or above for entrants from fiscal year 2027. Until the end of fiscal year 2029 the evidence it accepts includes JLPT N2 or higher, or 200 points or more on the Japanese section of the Examination for Japanese University Admission, known as the EJU. Specialised training colleges have a similar rule, which can also be met by a year at a certified Japanese language school.

What about English-taught degrees?

The agency’s wording ties the B2 requirement to being taught or supervised in Japanese. The page does not state an exemption for English programmes in so many words, but it does not apply the rule to them either. So for an English-taught degree, the language requirement you work to is the university’s, usually an English test, and you should ask the admissions office to confirm in writing that the course is taught in English for the whole programme.

How does the Certificate of Eligibility work?

The COE is the document that says the agency has already checked that you meet the conditions for the Student status. It is applied for in Japan, and it has a short life.

Who files it, and where

Study in Japan says the application is made by an international student wishing to study in Japan or a proxy, at a regional immigration services bureau in Japan, and that in most cases the school accepting the student serves as the proxy. In practice you send your documents to the school, the school checks them, and the school submits them.

How long it takes

The agency publishes a standard processing period of one to three months for a COE. Schools build their admission calendars around this, which is why the deadline for documents at a language school can be five or six months before the course starts. Missing that deadline usually means moving to the next intake, not a late file.

Three months to use it

The agency’s own question and answer page says the COE is valid for three months, and that if you do not apply to land within three months of the date it was issued, it loses its effect. Three months is enough if you book the VFS appointment as soon as the original reaches you. It is not enough if you wait for the school to post it, then wait for a family event, then wait for a cheaper flight.

How do you apply for the visa in Pakistan?

Through VFS Global and Gerry’s, in Islamabad or Karachi depending on where you live, with the original COE in your file.

Which centre

The Embassy of Japan in Islamabad moved visa applications to VFS Global and Gerry’s on 1 April 2024 and says it does not accept visa applications directly, except for diplomatic and official visas. The Consulate-General in Karachi moved to VFS in early May 2024, and residents of Sindh and Balochistan apply at the Karachi centre. I could not load either mission’s pages directly on the day of writing, so these points come from the missions’ own published notices as indexed, and you should read the current notice before booking.

What goes in the file

• the visa application form, completed and signed;
• a photograph to the size the mission specifies, which differs between the Islamabad and Karachi pages;
• your passport, and your old passports;
• your original CNIC;
• the original Certificate of Eligibility, obtained by the school through the immigration office on your behalf.

Fee and time

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs visa fees page, dated 24 June 2026, says that for applications accepted on or after 1 July 2026 the fee is approximately 15,000 yen for a single-entry visa and approximately 30,000 yen for a multiple-entry visa, paid in local currency, with the agency’s handling fee on top. I could not verify the rupee amount or any Pakistan-specific arrangement on an official page, so take the current figure from the VFS centre when you book. The Islamabad embassy’s standard processing time is six working days from submission at the earliest, and it warns that complex cases may take several months.

How much money does Japan want to see?

The government does not set a number. That is not a gap in my research; it is how the Japanese system works.

What the official pages ask for

The agency’s page for the Student status lists a statement of who will pay your expenses as part of the COE application. Study in Japan lists the kinds of evidence that go with it, such as a savings balance certificate and an income certificate covering the past year. Neither page gives an amount.

Who decides instead

The school, because it files the COE and answers for it. Schools publish their own expectations, often expressed as enough to cover a year of tuition and living costs, and they look closely at who the sponsor is and where the money came from. Ask your school for its figure in writing. Treat any figure you hear from an agent as unverified until the school confirms it.

What a Pakistani sponsor file usually needs

• a bank balance certificate in the sponsor’s name, not a screenshot;
• an income certificate or tax record covering at least the past year;
• proof of the relationship between you and the sponsor;
• an explanation for any large recent deposit, because the source matters as much as the balance.

The last point is where files fail. A balance that appeared a month before the application, with no story behind it, invites exactly the questions you do not want. The guide to a refused student visa explains how funds problems show up in a refusal and what has to change before you apply again.

What happens when you land and in the first 14 days?

Japan gives you a residence card at the airport and then expects you to register yourself at the town hall quickly.

The residence card

The agency lists the airports where the residence card is issued on arrival: New Chitose, Sendai, Narita, Haneda, Chubu, Kansai, Kobe, Hiroshima, Fukuoka and Naha. Some older guidance leaves out Sendai and Naha, so use the agency’s list.

Registering your address

Within 14 days of settling on a place to live, you must register your address at the municipal office for that address, bringing your residence card. If you are in temporary accommodation first, ask the school how it handles this, because the clock starts when you settle, not when term begins.

National Health Insurance

Study in Japan says foreign residents staying in Japan for three months or more have to join the National Health Insurance programme, and that you register at the municipal office after completing resident registration. It is a legal obligation, not an optional extra, and MEXT scholars are told the same thing in their guidelines.

How much can a student work in Japan?

Up to 28 hours a week, with permission, and the permission is not automatic.

The permission

Working on a Student status needs permission to engage in an activity other than the one the status allows. The agency’s page for students sets the comprehensive permission at within 28 hours a week, and within 8 hours a day during the educational institution’s long vacation periods. Your residence card shows whether the permission has been granted.

The workplaces that are excluded

The agency excludes work at premises where adult entertainment and similar businesses are run. This applies to the premises, not only to the job, so washing dishes or cleaning in such a place is still outside the permission.

Why 28 hours should not be your budget

Students and families sometimes plan as if part-time wages will pay rent and tuition. The permission is a ceiling, schools monitor attendance, and a language school student’s first months are spent with limited Japanese. The funding plan should work without the wages. If the wages arrive, they are a margin, not a foundation.

How long is a period of stay, and how do extensions work?

The agency says the period of stay for the Student status is set individually by the Minister of Justice, not exceeding 4 years and 3 months. You may be given less than the length of your course, in which case you apply to extend before the date on your card.

The language rule reaches extensions too. Applications to change or extend status made on or after 1 July 2026 fall under the new evidence requirement for language school students. A student who arrived on an older certificate of hours should plan to have test evidence by the time an extension is due.

Attendance and progress also matter at extension. Schools report on their students, and a weak attendance record is one of the clearest reasons a school will hesitate to support an extension.

What is the MEXT scholarship, and can Pakistanis get it?

The Japanese government scholarship, known as MEXT, is open to Pakistani citizens through the Embassy of Japan in Pakistan. It is competitive and the timetable runs well over a year ahead of arrival.

The 2027 intake

The embassy’s pages show that research applications for 2027 closed on 26 May 2026 and undergraduate applications closed on 5 June 2026, and that shortlisted candidates have been contacted. The embassy also says it and the Karachi consulate have no representatives in Pakistan and charge no application fee. Anyone selling you a MEXT application is selling something the embassy gives away.

Both guidelines add 2,000 or 3,000 yen a month in certain regions, and both require grantees to enrol in National Health Insurance on arrival. The undergraduate award runs five years from April 2027 to March 2032, including a preparatory year. The 2028 dates had not been posted on the day of writing, so watch the embassy’s scholarship pages from spring 2027.

What happens after you graduate?

Graduates of a Japanese university who held the Student status can apply to stay and look for work under the Designated Activities status. Study in Japan says this may be granted for six months with a one-time extension, for a maximum of one year. The agency’s page for the status lists the documents, including a letter of recommendation from the university.

Two cautions. This route is for graduates of universities, including junior colleges and graduate schools, so a language school certificate on its own does not lead to it. And a job in Japan generally depends on Japanese ability, which is one more reason the language evidence above is worth treating as an investment rather than a hurdle.

How do you apply, step by step?

The order below puts the language decision first, because in 2026 it decides which certificate you need and how early you have to start.

1. 1

   Choose the school and the language of teaching

   Decide first whether you are going to a Japanese language school, a university taught in Japanese, or a degree taught in English. The Immigration Services Agency now sets different Japanese language evidence for each, so the choice decides which certificate you need before anything else happens.

2. 2

   Get the Japanese language evidence the rules now ask for

   For language schools, from the October 2026 intake a record of 150 hours of study is no longer enough on its own. The agency requires a test certificate or confirmation by interview. For courses taught in Japanese at universities, from entrants in fiscal year 2027 the level is B2 or above, shown for example by JLPT N2 or 200 points on the Japanese section of the EJU.

3. 3

   Prepare the funding documents the school will submit

   The government publishes no minimum amount. The Certificate of Eligibility application includes a statement of who pays your expenses, and Study in Japan lists supporting evidence such as a savings balance certificate and an income certificate covering the past year. The school decides what it needs to see.

4. 4

   Let the school apply for the Certificate of Eligibility

   The application is made at a regional immigration services bureau in Japan, and in most cases the school accepting you acts as your proxy. The standard processing period published by the agency is one to three months.

5. 5

   Apply for the visa through VFS in Pakistan

   The Embassy of Japan in Islamabad and the Consulate-General in Karachi both take visa applications through VFS Global and Gerry’s, not at their own counters. Bring the original Certificate of Eligibility, your passport and old passports, original CNIC, the form and a photo. The embassy’s standard time is six working days at the earliest.

6. 6

   Land within three months of the COE being issued

   The Certificate of Eligibility is valid for three months, and it loses its effect if you do not apply to land within three months of the date it was issued. Book the flight with that date in mind, not the start of term alone.

7. 7

   Register your address and join National Health Insurance

   At ten major airports the residence card is issued on arrival. Within 14 days of settling, register your address at the municipal office with the card, and then enrol in National Health Insurance, which is required for foreign residents staying three months or more.

What goes wrong most often?

Relying on a 150-hour certificate

From the October 2026 intake the agency wants a test certificate or an interview. A certificate of hours alone will not carry a new COE.

Missing the school’s document deadline

With a one to three month COE period, schools close their files months before term. A late file usually becomes the next intake.

Letting the COE expire

It is valid for three months from issue. Book the VFS appointment as soon as the original arrives, and book the flight inside the window.

A sponsor balance with no history

No government figure exists, so the school and the agency read the file as a whole. Money that appeared suddenly needs an explanation on paper.

Paying someone for a MEXT application

The embassy says it has no representatives in Pakistan and charges no application fee. The forms are free on its own pages.

Working beyond 28 hours, or in the wrong place

The limit is weekly, the excluded premises are defined by the business run there, and both sit inside the permission on your residence card.

Forgetting the town hall

Address registration is due within 14 days of settling, and National Health Insurance follows it. Students who leave both until the first bill arrives make their own first month harder.

A realistic example

This is a hypothetical illustration, not a real client. Hamza is 21, has an intermediate in pre-engineering from Rawalpindi, and wants a Japanese language school in Tokyo for the April 2027 intake, followed by a specialised training college.

• June 2026. He shortlists three language schools and asks each one in writing what language evidence it will file for April 2027, its document deadline, and the funding evidence it expects to see.
• July. All three say a test certificate or an interview, not a certificate of hours. He enrols in a Japanese course in Rawalpindi that prepares for a recognised test and books the next sitting.
• August and September. His father, the sponsor, gathers a bank balance certificate, a year of income evidence and a short written explanation of a land sale that accounts for the largest deposit.
• October. He sends the full document set to the school before its deadline. The school files the COE application in Tokyo.
• Late December. The COE is issued. He books the VFS appointment in Islamabad for the first week of January, with the original certificate, his passport, CNIC, form and photo.
• January 2027. The visa is issued within a fortnight. He books a flight to Narita for late March, inside the three-month window from the COE’s issue date.
• April. He receives his residence card at Narita, registers his address within 14 days, joins National Health Insurance, and applies for permission to work part time.

Nothing in his file was clever. It was early, complete, and built on the rules as they stood in 2026 rather than as they stood in 2023.

The version that goes wrong

His cousin Usman is sold a package: a 150-hour course certificate, a language school place and the promise that he can work full time to pay the fees. The certificate no longer qualifies on its own for a new COE, the permission is 28 hours a week, and the package price included a fee for a MEXT application the embassy accepts for free. The guide to checking a visa consultant in Pakistan sets out the questions that would have exposed all three before he paid.

Key takeaways

Frequently asked questions