Almost There

Welcome back folks! The mood has struck me again, so I will post something.

Alright, in my last post I mentioned that waiting was perhaps the hardest part of the whole study abroad process. Can you guess what comes after you've waited for a reply, hm? No, no one? Well, what you do next is...

Wait some more!

Yes folks, that's correct! After you wait for a reply and you finally receive said reply, you have to wait some more. Now, this might be different depending on your study abroad program, but in some way or form you are still going to have to wait a bit more.

Now, thanks to modern day technology you will likely receive the reply of whether or not you got accepted into the program well in advance before your information packet arrives from the university or school in which you will be studying while abroad. Hopefully however, this should arrive rather quickly. All of course depending on the postal system and what courier they decided to use.

So, why do you have to wait for this information packet? Well, within it you will find your arrival information and other important instructions that you will need at some point or another. Also, depending on the length of your program, you will receive your ever so important certificate of sponsorship (also referred to as a sponsor's note, certificate of eligibility, sponsorship, etc.). Without this certificate, it is likely that you will not be able to get a visa.

Why do you need this certificate to apply for a long term visa?

Well, this certificate basically tells the embassy, from which you are applying for a visa, that you are going to their country for the specified reason or reasons you have given them in the application. No certificate, no visa. Its that simple.

SO, while you wait for your information packet and certificate of sponsorship to arrive, you should continue trying to keep yourself busy. No sense loosing that newly acquired habit, huh?

Now, assuming you did all the required leg work at the beginning of this whole process, you should have an idea of where the embassy is. However, if you don't know where the embassy is yet (shame on you), then this is the perfect and last chance to do so. By NO means should you leave the visa application for the last possible minute. Applying for a visa can take time, and by that I don't mean hours. It can take days, weeks, and in the most drastic of cases it can take months. If you wait till the last minute possible, you can very easily find yourself on the other side of that window looking onto the tar mat as your airplane leaves without you.

As such was my luck, I received my information packet and certificate of eligibility one month before my scheduled arrival date. I mailed it to the Japanese Embassy in L.A. (yes, that's the nearest one for Arizona) as soon as it was in my hands. I had the envelope ready and all the required extra copies and my passport inside the envelope. I am glad to say that it only took them about a week and a half to receive it, process it, send it back, and for me to receive it.

That being said, my only advice for this post is that you be prepared. If you have to wait, then wait and use your time wisely. Get things ready to go because, at this point, as soon as things start getting in motion, you can and may find yourself wishing you had an extra few weeks to prepare.