Simple question that I can't seem to find the answer for. I'm thinking about heading to Japan several months in advance of the start date of the language school I'm planning on attending. I'd like to do this to 1. Have plenty of time to look for apartments with my roommate (a Japanese native) and 2. Possibly travel to Hong Kong or Seoul with my roommate before he starts work.

All of the information I can find is geared toward the typical foreign student who will reside in their home country until right before classes, and thus obtain their student visa at their "local" Japanese embassy, but I can't find anything that says you CAN'T get it while in Japan.

I've never tried, so this with a grain of salt. But generally speaking, you need to leave the country for any change of status on your visa. I would recommend lining up the trip to HK or Seoul so that you can reenter on your student visa.

But why don't you call the consulate? You'll get a definitive answer.

Absolutely. You just need to go to immigration and apply for a change of status and get your new visa. You will get a stamp in your passport that will say your new visa application is being processed and it will allow you to stay in the country even if your tourist visa expires before your student visa comes in.

But call the immigration office in the prefecture your in to find out for sure.

I've done it three times before (twice from tourist to work visas and once from work to spouse visa. So, I'm pretty sure it should be no problem.

Wikipedia Wrote:A visa is an indication that a person is authorized to enter the country which "issued" the visa, subject to permission of an immigration official at the time of actual entry.

Japanese Wikipedia Wrote:査証（さしょう、英: visa）は、外国人の入国に必要な入国許可申請証明の一部であり、大多数の国が同様の制度を運用している。入国許可・在留資格とは別のものである。

Getting a permit to "enter" a country when you're already in the very country doesn't make any sense unless you want a re-enter permit or something. I'm guessing what you want to do is change your residency status (在留資格変更). I don't know if your tourist status can be converted to another one, but if you didn't search for these keywords, it might be worth trying.

mafried Wrote:I've never tried, so this with a grain of salt. But generally speaking, you need to leave the country for any change of status on your visa. I would recommend lining up the trip to HK or Seoul so that you can reenter on your student visa.

But why don't you call the consulate? You'll get a definitive answer.

You dont need to leave the country anymore. maybe that was true 20 years ago.

I have gone from tourist to students to toursit. And from tourist to working visa. the most important thing is to submit the paper work BEFORE your visa exprires. As long as all that is in order you are set. If it expirse, your in trouble.

Can't you get a student visa as long as you're registered, but before the start date?