Approved in Tokyo, Japan 😀

Finally got the approval today, thank you to everyone for the advice and tips along the way. Here is how my process went:

February 17th: Applied under the remote work category.

February 21st: Requested additional documents: Company Registration Certificate and Recommendation Letter issued by company.

March 3rd: Requested to attend interview at Thai Embassy in Tokyo on March 6th (wasn't given choice, it just said be there at 2PM on March 6th). Fortunately I was available then.

March 6th: Interview day. It was quite rigorous and intense. Was interviewed by 3 women at once; one Japanese and two Thai. They mainly wanted to know about my employment. I work in recruitment in Japan and have been doing for 20+ years. I had to explain that I can work fully remotely and that all of my clients / business takes place in Japan. I had to show proof of 2 of my clients, proof that I can do the job remotely, they wanted to see my business card, look at my LinkedIn profile and payslips.

They they touched on other topics; they wanted to know how I know my guarantor, why I cannot speak Japanese completely fluently, where my ex-wife lives, where my adult son lives, why I like Thailand and can I speak any Thai.

I always knew that applying in Japan might be more strict than other countries, because, well, Japan is just like that.

At the end of the interview, I asked them if I will qualify since I checked all of the boxes and they said maybe. They said perhaps they might offer me another type of visa. I told them that I am not interested in any other type of visa.

The three woman were all very pleasant.

March 10th: Approved 👍