Tourists at the Golden Temple in Kyoto, Japan. Marc Veraart/CC BY
Japan eases visa requirements for Filipinos
MANILA, Philippines — In an effort to boost tourist arrivals from the Philippines, Japan on Tuesday started to simplify the Filipinos' procurement of visas.
In a statement, the Japanese Embassy in Manila announced that the "substantial relaxation of multiple visas" is coupled with the extension of visa validity for up to five years.
"Additionally, for those applicants residing outside of their countries of origin, it will now become possible to apply at the diplomatic mission which has jurisdiction over their place of residence," the embassy noted.
Besides the Philippines, Japan also eased visa requirements for nationals of Indonesia and Vietnam.
The process for acquiring single-entry tourism visas by registered travel agencies, meanwhile, will also be simplified by November.
According to the embassy, the measures benefiting three of its Asian neighbors aim to make Japan a "tourism-oriented" economy as well as promote people-to-people exchanges.
The new policies came after a June 17 announcement of the embassy vowing to relax multiple-entry visa processing "to a quasi-exemption-equivalent level when applied via specified travel agencies." - philSTAR