Hello!
I am planning to attend Japanese language school starting in July for 6+ months. I am working with GoGoNihon and anticipate to receive my COE in the next few weeks. However, I don't have a strong grasp on what that actually entails for me to do once I have it. I live in North Carolina, and having looked around a little it seems that the proper embassy for me is in Atlanta, which is a 6-hour drive for me (one-way).
From what I understand, in addition to the COE and other documents, I will have to leave my passport with the consulate for several days. It seems that this means I either will need to mail my application if that winds up being allowed (the website seems to be saying that it is not standard), use a proxy and mail to them, or drive 12 hours total to/from Atlanta twice in about a week… is that all correct? It seems like a lot more than I would expect from this "last step" in the process.
Does anyone have experience with the Atlanta embassy in general or this process? I've tried emailing them today and called a 24/7 hotline but it seemed not very helpful, so I will definitely be calling them directly tomorrow. Do I have the right jist of it that I need to strap in and prepare for some fairly massive road trips? (Or otherwise cross my fingers and hope nothing goes wrong in the mail?)
Thanks for reading
by 7thPwnist