How do I apply for a visa?

A visa is simply a stamp in your passport allowing you to enter a specific country. If you plan to study longer than one term, you need a long-term visa. If you choose a KCP extended or full-year program, KCP staff assists you by checking your visa application for completeness, translating (documents not in English need official English translations prepared in advance), serving as the sponsor institution, and providing other crucial aid.
In visa applications, Japanese Immigration is extremely rigorous in its criteria for correct, complete, perfect (no mistakes or evidence of corrections) information. The most common reasons for not granting visas are: (1) incomplete information, (2) lack of financial support, (3) inaccurate information, (4) long time periods not accounted for by school, work, or other valid activity, and (5) failing a visa screening in the past based on immigration criteria.

Plan plenty of time (at least 6 months) to apply for a visa. DO NOT leave your student visa application for the last minute.

See Passport and Visa.