How to apply to a Japanese Language School with Go!Go!Nihon

Hello everyone!

In this video, we talked about the procedures of going to Japan with Go!Go!Nihon. We are going to talked about this subject in more depth.

1. Contact Go!Go!Nihon
http://gogonihon.com/en/learn-japanese-study-in-japan
First, you need to take a look a Go!Go!Nihon's website. All the informations can be found there. They have a description of all schools you can attempt, the different types of accomodation, etc. You can already get an idea of where you want to study by looking at their website. Then, you can contact them. If you are not sure about which school you like the best or where you want to study, they will guide you. They will make sure to find the school that best find your need.
By the way, Go!Go!Nihon's service is completely free.

2. Paperwork
After you are settled on a school, Go!Go!Nihon will send you an email with two forms that you have to fill. It's not really complicated to answer them. They ask you if you have already studied Japanese, how long you want to study, who will be your sponsor, etc. You also have to pay an application fee (to the school, not to Go!Go!Nihon). You can do it easily on Paypal.
You also need to send a few HQ scans of the following:
- Passport
- A photo different from your passport with a white background
- Diploma from thee last school you graduate
- Bank Statement of you or your sponsor
- Payslip, income tax return or proof of annual income of you or your sponsor.
If your documents are not in English (like your diploma) you need to translate them. Fortunately, it's not too hard to translate them. We translated them ourselves and they accepted our documents.

Please note that you need  2,000,000 yen for a year. (about 20 000$CAD) Also, you need to have worked full-time for at least three years to be your own financial sponsor.
We both had our parents as our financial sponsors.
Then, Go!Go!Nihon will send everything to the school.
You might have to clarify a few things on the way, but usually it's nothing too complicated.
Go!Go!Nihon will send you an email when you will be accepted at your school. It will contain informations about the whole process.

3. Book your flight and request for accomodation
About three months before the beginning of your studies, you will receive another email from Go!Go!Nihon. It's the next step! We received the email mid-January. It's time to book your flight. They advice you not to book your flight too early to make sure you have enough time to receive your visa before leaving for Japan. When it will be done, you can fill in the form to request accomodation. You don't have to fill this form as soon as you receive it. You have until the end of the next month to do so. (It was the end of February for us).

You have a lot of options that are explained to you on Go!Go!Nihon's website.
They tell you that you will be sent suggestions of accomodation a month before your departure.
However, we never received these suggestions. We got an email about Akamonkai's dormitory and if we would like to book a room. We weren't sure of where we wanted to live, so we filled in the form and paid the reservation fee. So maybe they thought that we had already chosen, which was not exactly the case. Finally, we decided to stay in the dorms, so it was fine.

4. CRAZY TIME~! (One month before leaving)
A month before leaving, that's when things get pretty hectic. You have a lot of things to do and it get pretty stressful. You will receive an email from Go!Go!Nihon. They will explain to you the next steps. In this email, you will also have a digital copy of your Certificate of Eligibility (COE).

The first thing to do is to pay the school. We had to pay for the first six months. You have to do it by international bank transfert. You might be able to do it online, but we both did it at our bank just to make sure. Then, you wait and hope your money has been sent to the right account. This can take a couple of days, so try to make sure to do it as soon as possible. I (Andiie) had a small problem at that point. The school didn't send the good COE to me. So I had to wait until they sent mine to pay the school. I wanted to make sure everything was alright. It didn't take too long, fortunately.

Then, Victor and I realized that we didn't have to pay the same amount. We were wondering why, since we were doing the same course. It ended up that Victor was registered in a University Preparatory Curriculum instead of the General course.  Everything was fine in the end and Victor is registered in the General course.

Then, they will tell you that your COE has been sent. You have a tracking number and it's quite fast. (It took 2-3 days for us to get it and we're in Canada.) Once you get it, you have to go to your local Embassy or Consulate of Japan to get your visa. We sent our document by the post since we live 6 hours away from the closest Consulate.

At this point, my advice is to contact the nearest embassy. They will tell you everything you need to know. They were really nice to us and even though we were super stressed out, everything went well. There is also something very cool about being answered on the phone in Japanese!

 We both have our visa right now.


This is how it works to go to Japan with Go!Go!Nihon! It might seems complicate at first, but it's not that hard, actually.
Go!Go!Nihon are really helpful and they answered really quickly. They are really kind and we didn't have major issues with them. We are glad that we could get their help.

If you need more informations, Go!Go!Nihon also has a FAQ page.

Thanks for reading and if you have questions about the whole process, feel free to comment!