(IMPORTANT) Visa for IROS2022

  1. Change in Japan Government’s visa policy

  2. Documents for your visa

  3. IROS policy and action

  4. Refunds

1) Change of Japan Government’s Visa Policy

We have excellent news.

Japan’s Prime Minister announced a new visa exemption rule a few days ago. As a result of this change, visas are no longer required for countries that required no visas before COVID-19, effective October 11. In addition, registration in ERFS is no longer necessary. As a result, eligible people can enter Japan visa-free as before COVID-19.

More details are announced on the web pages of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare.

https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/covid-19/bordercontrol.html

https://www.mofa.go.jp/j_info/visit/visa/short/novisa.html

2) Documents for Your Visa

The participants from countries and regions that were not visa-free still need visas.  If you need a visa but have not yet received the documents from JTB, please contact JTB immediately with the e-mail subject ‘VISA EMERGENCY.’ Please do not use this subject for any other inquiries.

How to get in touch with our agency (JTB):

JTB Corp., Western Japan MICE Branch
JTB Bldg. 6F, 2-1-25, Kyutaromachi
Chuo-ku Osaka 541-0056
TEL: +81-6-6210-5405 FAX: +81-6-6210-5423
Email: iros2022-registration(at)jtb.com

*Please replace “(at)” with “@” when you send an email.

3) IROS Policy and Action

Due to this policy change, many people who have applied for visa documents will no longer need a visa. While the policy change is obviously good news, the fees paid will be wasted because the visa documents issued will no longer be required.

IROS has taken several measures, including some that may not be necessary, to ensure that all participants can attend the conference as much as possible. The situation of COVID-19 has changed rapidly since we started preparing for the conference. The government policies have changed accordingly. IROS Executive Committee has tried hard for the best action based on the analysis of situations.

Especially about the issuance of documents required for visa application, many participants were concerned because the allocation of human resources for the issuance of the documents was not completed in time, as the number of in-person participants became much higher than initially expected due to the normalization of COVID-19.

The current governmental policy change was so sudden. Its starting date was announced a few days ago. And it was announced today that ERFS is not needed anymore. Therefore, the IROS Executive Committee was only able to decide on the change in the document issuance policy today.

There happen pandemics, disasters, and warfare unexpectedly. It is imperative to take action to increase certainty even under such circumstances. This means operating with redundancy is essential. It is impossible to avoid the occurrence of waste due to changing conditions. On the other hand, if we do not prepare for unforeseeable events to prevent waste, it will lead to a significant accident, as numerous historical examples have shown.

From the above, we believe that the various measures taken by the IROS Executive Committee and by our participants were, to some extent, appropriate, if not the best.

4) Refunds

The visa document fees will be handled as follows.

– For participants who have not yet received the documents from JTB

Since the documents have not been issued, the service to the participant has not been completed. Therefore, a 100% refund will be made. Due to the limited human resources required to prepare for the conference, refunds will be made after the conference. JTB will contact you about the refund method.

– For participants whose documents have already been sent from JTB

Documents have been issued, and the service to the participants has been completed. Therefore, the IROS 2022 cancellation policy will be applied. i.e., the fee for the documents is not refunded.