COE Application Handbook

For students who need COE

November 30, 2021

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COE Application Handbook

I. APPLICATION OF COE BY PROXY ............................................................................................................ 2

II. SUBMISSION OF COE APPLICATION DOCUMENTS .............................................................................. 3

1. Before Starting .............................................................................................................................................. 3

2. Required Documents & Deadlines ............................................................................................................... 3

3. Validity of the COE Application Documents ................................................................................................. 4

4. The Language of the COE Application Documents ..................................................................................... 4

5. Submission of Documents ............................................................................................................................ 5 1) Upload via Ritsu-Mate .............................................................................................................................. 5

A. Scan(s) of Passport .......................................................................................................................... 5 B. Form-1. Request Form for Confirmation of Scheduled Enrollment ................................................. 5 C. Form-2. Personal Data for Application for Certificate of Eligibility .................................................. 6 D. Form-3. Planning Form for Payment of Expenses in Japan and Statement of Financial Support 6

2) Upload via Ritsu-Mate & Send by Post .................................................................................................... 7 A. Certificate of Bank Balance of the Financial Supporter(s) or Yourself ........................................... 7 B. Proof of Annual Income of the Financial Supporter(s) .................................................................... 8 C. Certificate of Award of Scholarship .................................................................................................. 8 D. ID Photographs ................................................................................................................................. 9

3) Additional Documents for student who lives/lived in Japan under certain circumstances ................... 10

III. THINGS TO CHECK WHILE WAITING FOR COE ISSUANCE .............................................................. 10

IV. SAMPLE .................................................................................................................................................... 11


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I. APPLICATION OF COE BY PROXY

As a COE can only be issued from the Immigration Services Agency (ISA) offices in Japan, a student who

lives outside of Japan must have someone to apply for COE on their behalf (proxy). Therefore, We,

Ritsumeikan University, will serve as a proxy for the students who fulfil all requirements below. If we

judge any of the requirements listed below is not met, we will not apply for the student’s COE. In some

cases, we may decide not to apply for a COE as a proxy even if students meet the requirements.

A) Resides outside of Japan. B) Showed intention of enrollment by paying all the fees necessary by the deadlines.

C) Plans to obtain status of residence “Student” to attend the University. *

D) Provides proof that the student has sufficient funds to cover expenses of their period of study.

E) Submits all required COE application documents in acceptable form by instructed deadline. ** F) Appoints only the University as proxy for COE application. ***

* A student planning to acquire a status of residence other than “Student” must apply for COE by

themselves.

** The ISA will take a month to three to review a COE application. If submission of application is not

completed by the designated deadline, risk of COE not issued by the dorm move-in day or even worse,

beginning of new semester will increase.

*** A person can only apply for one COE at a time. Therefore,

・If a student was accepted to another institute before the University and has already applied

COE through them, notify them immediately on cancellation of COE application before requesting the

University for COE application, since a COE must be applied through the institute a student is enrolling

to. On the other hand, if a student decided to cancel enrollment to the University after submitting

COE application documents to the University, he/she must inform as soon as possible to cancel COE

application. If a student applies for COE from more than two institutes, the ISA will take it as multiple

application and may reject all of the student’s applications.

・If a student recently lived in Japan with a residence card (在留カード), make sure that it was

expired or returned/had a hole punched at airport upon departure from Japan before applying for COE.

The ISA will halt COE review if their record shows that the student already have a valid residence card.

NOTE: The University will take no responsibility if a COE is not issued as result of review by the ISA.

The University will not answer the question on when a COE is issued, for the ISA is clear that after

submission of the application, the only information they will give is the result of the COE review.


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II. SUBMISSION OF COE APPLICATION DOCUMENTS

1. BEFORE STARTING If you have any inquiries on your COE application materials, try to search for necessary information

by yourself first wherever possible. When you find it difficult to handle on your own, email to

International Admissions Office, Ritsumeikan University. E-mail: [email protected]

We may contact you on the matter such as confirmation of contents of COE application documents

and request of resubmission of document rejected by the agency. It will be your responsibility to

check E-mail in a regular manner, responding as soon as possible when we contact you.

2. REQUIRED DOCUMENTS & DEADLINES Followings documents are required for COE application.

Forms/Documents Upload via Ritsu-Mate

Send the Original by post using services such as FedEx and DHL

Scan(s) of Passport ○

Form-1. Request Form for Confirmation of Scheduled Enrollment ○

Form-2. Personal Data for Application for Certificate of Eligibility ○

Form-3. Planning Form for Payment of Expenses in Japan and Statement of Financial Support ○

Certificate of Bank Balance of the Financial Supporter(s) or Yourself ○ ○

(If necessary) Translation to English or Japanese ○ ○

Proof of Annual Income of the Financial Supporter(s) ○ ○


Certificate of Award of Scholarship ○ ○


ID Photographs ○ ○

Additional Documents for student who lives/lived in Japan under certain circumstances Refer to instruction on additional documents.

Read following instructions and make submission by designated method and deadline.

Submission periods are as follows. Upload and post the documents by the end of the periods.

Notification of Results All documents must be issued or prepared AFTER

On or Before 2021/10/26 Tue. 2021/11/19 Fri. -2021/12/2 Thu.

On and After 2021/11/4 Thu. 2021/12/10 Fri. – 2022/1/6 Thu.

NOTE: Ritsu-Mate will open for upload on the day period opens.

mailto:[email protected]


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3. VALIDITY OF THE COE APPLICATION DOCUMENTS For April 2022 enrollment


On or Before 2021/10/26 Tue. 2021/11/19 Fri.

On and After 2021/11/4 Thu. 2021/12/10 Fri.

For September 2022 enrollment


On or Before 2022/3/31 Tue. 2022/4/1 Fri.

On and After 2022/5/26 Thu. 2022/5/27 Fri.

4. THE LANGUAGE OF THE COE APPLICATION DOCUMENTS All documents must be written in English or Japanese. If a student can only obtain the following

documents in a language other than the two, the documents must be translated into English or Japanese.

Certificate of Bank Balance of the Financial Supporter(s) or Yourself

Proof of annual Income of the Financial Supporter(s)

Certificate of Award of Scholarship

A student may translate the documents by themself.

The translation must have the following pledge at the end.

Pledge: Translation to English Date (yy/mm/dd) I, (Translator’s name), declare that the foregoing document is a true and faithful translation from (language it is issued) into English of the original version. Translator’s name

Signature of the translator (must be handwritten)

Pledge: Translation to Japanese 翻訳年月日 (yy/mm/dd) 私、（翻訳者の名前）は、（原文の言語）から日本語へ、原文と相違なく翻訳したことを証明いたします。翻訳者の名前翻訳者の手書きの署名

NOTE: If the translation is not true to the original certificate, the translator will face the consequences.


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5. SUBMISSION OF DOCUMENTS

1) UPLOAD VIA RITSU-MATE

A. SCAN(S) OF PASSPORT The scan must be

Of the passport valid at least to the first day of the semester.

In color, face recognizable, letters must be all legible AND the information on the page must not be cut

in anyway.

The pages must be submitted are as follows.

・ ID page

・ All pages with past entry/departure stamps, if visited Japan in the past.

If a student has renewed their passport after the visit to Japan, submit ID page and copy of all

page(s) with entry and exit stamps from Japan of the old passport as well.

If a student lost the passport or used biometric eGate, ask the Immigration Office of their

county if they can issue a record of entry/departure, possibly with the name of country went

to/came back from. If the record is not available, let us know.

・ If a student is currently visiting/living in Japan and will leave after submission of COE documents,

submit the entry page along with other pages with the stamps and submit departure record page as

soon as leaving Japan.

If a student is planning to visit Japan after submission of COE documents, let us know the duration of

the stay. Once land in Japan, email us the page of passport with entry record to Japan.

NOTE:

If expiration date of passport is within six months of planned entry date to Japan, we strongly

recommend to renew the passport before applying for the visa.

B. FORM-1. REQUEST FORM FOR CONFIRMATION OF SCHEDULED ENROLLMENT

The Confirmation of Scheduled Enrollment will be required when applying for visa and in other occasions

such as applying for scholarship and renting a room in Japan. After issuance, it will be sent along with

COE and other enrollment documents. If this document is needed earlier, email [email protected]

This document is issued only once. Make sure to hold onto its original hard copy as it must be

submitted at immigration process at port of entry in Japan. For purpose such as applying for scholarship

and renting a room, make a copy and use it.



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C. FORM-2. PERSONAL DATA FOR APPLICATION FOR CERTIFICATE OF ELIGIBILITY

Information on this form will be used to complete COE application form. The form has two sheets.

Personal Data Form 1: must be completed by everyone.

Personal Data Form 2: must be completed by those who have visited/lived in Japan, including those who

are visiting/living in Japan at the time they submit COE application documents.

When completing the form,

・ DO NOT print out and handwrite; directly type into the Excel file.

・ All ※marked fields must be answered. For non-※marked fields, if there are no answer, type “none”

or “N/A”.

・ Upload as an Excel file.

D. FORM-3. PLANNING FORM FOR PAYMENT OF EXPENSES IN JAPAN AND STATEMENT

OF FINANCIAL SUPPORT

Information on this form is to show how a student is planning to pay for expenses during study in

Ritsumeikan University and to pledge that they have enough funding to pay the expenses without working

full-time.

When uploading this form to Ritsu-Mate, choose space for either of “Planning Form for Payment of

Expenses in Japan” or “Statement of Financial Support”.

If there are more than one financial supporter, each of the supporters must sign the form.

To sign this form, choose a. or b. as method.

a. Sign electrically by using digital ID.

b. After completing typing part of the form, print it out and the financial supporter to handwrite

signature, take a legible scan or photo for upload.

Refer to the sample at the end of this document to complete this form.

Refer to following to find tuition fee for one year and Ritsumeikan University Tuition Reduction

Scholarship for International Students.

Tuition Fees for 1st year (2 semesters approx.)

Programs Total

GS & JD ¥1,267,600

CRPS ¥1,169,400

GLA ¥2,300,000

ISSE ¥1,570,800

Calculation of the amount of the Tuition Reduction Scholarship [Calculation Formula]

Tuition Fees for 1st year × Percentage of Tuition Reduction Scholarship (20%/50%/100%)


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[Example]

GS major student awarded with 20% Tuition Reduction Scholarship

¥1,267,600 (GS Tuition Fee for 1st year) × 0.20 = ¥253,520 (Amount of Tuition Reduction)

2) UPLOAD VIA RITSU-MATE & SEND BY POST Send "The Original (原本)” of following documents after uploading to Ritu-Mate.

"The Original (原本)” means

Paper document issued and has wet signature, wet stamp and/or dry stamp (embossed) by an

institute and/or an individual with authority to issue and verify such document. If the financial

institute or financial supporter’s employer issue certificate only as electric document, please let

us know.

Note:

Submitted documents will not be returned under any circumstances. Do not write name/message or make marking on the issued certificate(s) or the proof(s). Japanese

Immigration Office will not accept certificate/proof with such writing or marking as they judge those

writing as alternation or defacing of the document. Use sticky note (post-it) or write it on another piece

of paper and fasten to the document with a clip.

A. CERTIFICATE OF BANK BALANCE OF THE FINANCIAL SUPPORTER(S) OR YOURSELF

This will serve as proof that designated financial supporter(s) and/or the student are capable of paying for

expenses in Japan as claimed on Form-3. Planning Form for Payment of Expenses in Japan and

Statement of Financial Support.

We recommend to have deposit about 2,000,000yen.

The figures on each certificate must equal or more than the figure stated on each section of Form-3. Planning Form for Payment of Expenses in Japan and Statement of Financial Support.

However, if a student is to pay all the fees by themself or only have one financial supporter who is

planning to submit only Certificate of Bank Balance as proof of financial capability, the certificate

must have enough amount to cover the tuition fees (assuming tuition reduction or scholarship is not

awarded) and living expenses throughout four-year study at university.

Before submitting the certificate, make sure that it meets following conditions.

□ Issued on a A4 (H: 297mm x W: 210mm) size paper or a size closest to it.

□ Issued by a Financial Institution, with hand-written signature or hand-stamped seal to verify it as

an official statement.

□ Contains the Financial Institution’s name, the depositor’s name, account number, amount of

deposit and date of issue.


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□ Should be valid throughout the reviewing period, which is one or three months, by the ISA and

visa application. If the type of the certificate bank issues is the type with an expiration date, ask

them to issue one with an expiration date after enrollment date.

The following will not be accepted as Certificate of Bank Balance

・ Bank passbook or its copy

・ Copy of certificate of bank deposit

・ Any kind of financial record, including the credit-card transactions, investment documents or

capital assets documents

If not sure if the certificate issued by the bank is the one we are asking for, please email its scan before

posting it.

B. PROOF OF ANNUAL INCOME OF THE FINANCIAL SUPPORTER(S)

This is to prove that designated financial supporter(s) are capable of paying for expenses in Japan as

claimed on Form-3. Planning Form for Payment of Expenses in Japan and Statement of Financial Support.

Submit Proof of Annual Income if the financial supporter plans to provide funds from their income.

Examples of documents considered as proof of annual income are:

A) A certificate issued by a government office clearly stating the amount of annual income (e.g.

certificate of income, tax payment certificate etc.)

B) A certificate of issued by the supporter’s employer (i.e., certificate of employment, certificate of

annual salary), stating annual salary. Any format is acceptable as long as the certificate is signed

or stamped by the employer and having date of issue. If the employer has official letterhead, have

it on the certificate.

C) Notarized copy of bank passbook, showing constant and periodical deposit at least for a year.

If a student is not sure if the type of certificate they have is the one we are asking, please confirm with

International Admissions Office of the detail of the certificate before posting.

C. CERTIFICATE OF AWARD OF SCHOLARSHIP

Submit if a student was awarded a scholarship(s) by organization(s) other than Ritsumeikan University.

On Form-1. Request Form for Confirmation of Scheduled Enrollment and Form-3. Planning Form

for Payment of Expenses in Japan and Statement of Financial Support, write the name of the

organization and figures as written on the certificate.


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D. ID PHOTOGRAPHS

The photos will be used on COE and Residence Card, an ID card which verify that a non-Japanese

national is legally staying in Japan.

Post 2 identical photos, printed on photo quality paper and upload its data to Ritsu-Mate. The

data is a backup in case the photos were lost or damaged during shipping. Do not upload scan of

the photo for scanning will downgrades its quality. When a student takes ID photo at a photo studio

or at a photo booth, get both hardcopy and data if possible.

The ISA of Japan demands submission of the ID photo fully meeting the following

requirements.

□ Taken within three months of date of submission.

□ If you are taking the photo by yourself and printing out at home, printed on photo paper with

professional quality.

□ The size must be 4 centimeters high, 3 centimeters wide

□ Dimensions of parts excluding the edges satisfy the

dimensions shown in the diagram to the left (Dimensions of

the face: the top of the head [including the hair] to the tip of the

chin.)

□ Subject facing straight forward

□ Contains no other objects or people

□ Nothing in the background (including shadows)

□ Clear and in focus

□ In color

□ No head covering (except for religious or medical reasons).

□ Applicant’s name and application number must be written on the back of the photo. Write

lightly, so dent from writing would not appear on the front of the photo.

□ Refer to the samples of acceptable and unacceptable photos on the following webpage of the ISA

and see if the photo looks OK or not.

https://www.isa.go.jp/en/applications/guide/photo_info.html

The ISA demands the ID photo to be not damaged in any way. The ID photo must not be

discolored, creased or torn. Send them in a small envelope or plastic bag or wrapped in paper for

protection. Do not use paper clip to keep the photos and other documents together, because

paper clip would damage the photo.

The ISA WILL NOT accept any photo not meeting their requirements, which means they will

freeze COE application review until proper photo is submitted. Every year some newly incoming

students must resubmit the ID photo and wait longer than expected for their COE, leaving them with

barely enough time to make to the first day of the semester.

https://www.isa.go.jp/en/applications/guide/photo_info.html


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3) ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS FOR STUDENT WHO LIVES/LIVED IN JAPAN UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES

Following students must submit additional documents. ・A student who had withdrawn/will withdraw from another Japanese university in Japan. ・A student who had enrolled to a Japanese language school in Japan. Download a list of additional documents from following link.

http://en.ritsumei.ac.jp/file.jsp?id=458878 ・A student who had graduated or withdrawn from a formal education institute (high school, university) five

or more years before enrolling to Ritsumeikan University, regardless of the country the institute is located.

Email [email protected] and ask for a Personal History Questionnaire form. Complete it and send it by post along with other COE documents.

III. THINGS TO CHECK WHILE WAITING FOR COE ISSUANCE

Check the documents necessary for visa application with Japanese Embassy/Consulate General

where a student plans to make visa application as the documents differ by applicant’s nationality and

place of application.

The following link has a list of location of Japanese Embassy/Consulate General.

https://www.mofa.go.jp/about/emb_cons/mofaserv.html

http://en.ritsumei.ac.jp/file.jsp?id=458878


https://www.mofa.go.jp/about/emb_cons/mofaserv.html


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IV. SAMPLE

Write your signature by using Digital signature

or Print out this form and handwrite signature and take a legible scan or photo for upload

Should equal the amount on CERTIFICATE OF BANK BALANCE or PROOF OF ANNUAL INCOME of the supporter.

This sample is made assuming that the student ・Will enroll to GS major with 20% tuition reduction. ・Has two financial supporters.

Refer to P6 “Tuition Fees for 1st year (2 semesters approx.)” and calculate the amount.

Put the amount necessary to live in Japan for 12 months. The living expenses in Japan are approximately 100,000 JPY per month.

Fill in only if you are awarded with scholarship other than Ritsumeikan University’s Tuition Reduction Scholarship.


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Have your financial supporter sign the form by Digital signature

or Print out this form and handwrite signature and take a legible scan or photo for upload

The total amount here must be equal or more than the amount pledged by each of the supporters on section “*Amount of Support (Yearly)” of the 1st page

COE Application Handbook

Documents

Transcript of COE Application Handbook