Japan Visa for Indian Passport Holders in the UK: £4 Fee

TL;DR

Indian passport holders living in the UK need a temporary visitor visa for Japan, lodged in person at the embassy in London or the consulate in Edinburgh. The fee for Indian nationals is £4, single or multiple entry, charged only if the visa is issued. Most applications take 5 working days once accepted. Indian nationals who qualify can ask for a 5-year multiple-entry visa. Our £99 prepares the file and books the appointment.

Yes, you need a visa, and the UK is where you apply

India is not among the 74 countries and regions on Japan's visa-exemption list, and the Embassy of Japan in the UK is clear that the exemption "applies based on your passport, NOT on your UK residence status". A Skilled Worker visa, a student visa, a dependant visa, pre-settled or settled status, or indefinite leave to remain all make you a UK resident for the embassy's purposes, and the embassy accepts applications from people "residing in the UK with a legitimate long term immigration status". What it will not accept is an application from someone who is only visiting the UK: parents here on a visit visa apply in India, not in London.

This page covers the temporary visitor visa for tourism, visiting friends or relatives, a conference or a short business trip, up to 90 days. Japan visa from the UK explains the categories; this page covers what differs for an Indian passport.

The fee is £4

The embassy's fee page, updated for 1 July 2026, lists "Indian nationals £4.00" for a single-entry visa and "Indian nationals £4.00" for a multiple-entry visa. Other nationalities pay £77 and £154. The embassy does not explain the reduced fee; it is published and current.

The fee is "only charged when a visa is issued", so a refused application costs nothing, and it is paid at the embassy or consulate on collection. Edinburgh says cash only. There is no visa application centre for Japan in the UK and therefore no centre fee; applying yourself costs £4 and nothing else. You pay that £4 yourself whether or not you use us.

Where to apply: London or Edinburgh

Where you live decides the office. The Consulate-General of Japan in Edinburgh takes applications from Scotland and from County Durham, Cumbria, Darlington, Gateshead, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Newcastle upon Tyne, North Tyneside, Northumberland, Redcar and Cleveland, South Tyneside, Stockton-on-Tees and Sunderland. Everyone else in England, and all of Wales and Northern Ireland, applies at the embassy in London. Edinburgh says it "will in principle not accept" applications from the embassy's area. Appointments are booked online and attended in person; the details are in our London and Edinburgh appointment guide.

The single-entry visa: what to hand in

For a single-entry visit the embassy's standard checklist applies, with nothing India-specific added. The tourism checklist asks for the passport with two blank pages, the application form signed in ink with a 35 x 45 mm photo glued on, your UK immigration status page from gov.uk with a share code (or the vignette in your passport), a letter from your employer or university from the last three months, a day-by-day Schedule of Stay on the embassy's form, bank statements for the last three months (credit card statements are not accepted) and any flights or hotels booked. Visiting family in Japan adds their invitation letter and a copy of their residence card. The full list with desk notes is at Japan visa documents for UK residents.

Two desk notes for Indian applicants in particular. First, the embassy says personal details on certificates "must match your passport", so an employer letter in a shortened or anglicised version of your name needs correcting before the appointment. Second, if a family member's statements are supporting the trip, bring the marriage or birth certificate that links you, because the embassy's own eVisa checklist asks for exactly that.

The 5-year multiple-entry visa for Indian nationals

The embassy publishes a specific procedure, Application Procedures for Multiple Visa for Nationals of India. The visa is a temporary visitor visa with a validity of 5 years and a stay of up to 90 days a visit, for tourism, business and visiting relatives or acquaintances. It is open to Indian nationals with an ICAO-compliant machine-readable or e-passport who fit one of five categories:

1. Two or more visits to Japan as a temporary visitor in the last three years.
2. One visit to Japan in the last three years, plus financial capacity to pay for travel.
3. A visit to Japan and visits to other G7 countries as a temporary visitor in the last three years.
4. "Sufficient financial capacity."
5. The spouse or children of someone in category 4.

The documents follow the category: the form with photo, the passport, old passports showing the Japan or G7 visas and entry stamps, an income tax return (a certificate of deposit balance is also accepted) for the financial categories, kinship documents for spouses and children, and, for anyone applying outside India, "documents to prove that the applicant legally resides in that country", which for you is the UK status page. For category 3, your UK residence itself does not count as a G7 visit; the embassy wants temporary visitor travel records.

A second scheme on the same notice covers business travellers and cultural or intellectual figures, with validity of 1, 3, 5 or 10 years, for employees of listed or public companies, Japanese-affiliated firms, and professions such as lawyers, doctors, university lecturers and artists with "relevant accomplishments". Desk note: if you travel for a UK employer that trades with Japan, this route is worth asking about, and the employer letter needs to say so.

The embassy ends the notice with the line that governs everything: "Please note that we may issue a single entry visa after visa examination." Ask for multiple entry if you qualify, build the file for it, and accept that the visa section decides the type as well as the outcome. The multiple-entry visa cannot be applied for online.

Timing

Both offices say most applications take 5 working days once accepted at the counter. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs counts from the day after acceptance and warns that files referred to Tokyo "may take more than a month", which happens more often with multiple-entry requests and with first-time travellers. The embassy will not take an application "more than 3 months before the date of arrival", and a single-entry visa must be used within three months of issue. So the window is tight at both ends: too early and the counter hands the file back; too late and 5 working days plus the appointment wait runs past your flight. Edinburgh says it "cannot accept requests for fast processing time".

The eVisa for tourism

Since 2026 the JAPAN eVISA has been open to "all foreign nationals/people residing in" the United Kingdom who are not visa-exempt, which includes Indian nationals here. It covers a single-entry tourist visit of under 90 days, paid online by your own card at the £4 equivalent, with no appointment unless the embassy calls you for an interview. It takes about 2 weeks on average and cannot be used for visiting relatives, business or multiple entry. We offer it at the plan step for tourism-only trips; for a family visit or multiple entry, the counter is the only route.

Refusals and the six-month rule

The embassy does not give reasons for a refusal and no fee is charged. The Ministry's FAQ says a new application for the same purpose within six months is not accepted unless circumstances "have changed significantly". If Japan has refused you before, tell us before you pay and we will say plainly whether applying now is sensible rather than take the fee.

Doing it yourself, or with us

You can do all of this yourself. The embassy publishes the checklist, the form and the multiple-entry procedure, the appointment is free to book, and applying yourself costs only the official fee, £4 for Indian nationals. Use the Bundler to gather your scans and the Compressor to size the bank PDFs.

Our prepared-for-you Japan visa service is for people who would rather have it done. For a £99 service fee, plus £69 for each extra traveller on the same trip up to five, we complete the form for you to sign, write the Schedule of Stay, build the pack to the right checklist, including the multiple-entry file if you qualify, and book your London or Edinburgh appointment in your own name. Your file is ready within 24 hours of your complete documents and the appointment is booked within 3 working days subject to availability, or your service fee back. You attend, you pay the £4, and the visa section decides. Full refund if you cancel before we start work. WayaNerd Ltd, company 16269713. Start at the plan step.