Finance for long term language course???

[Tokyobay]

My friend is planning to come to Tokyo by next year....
She also decided that she is going to apply for a long term general course to learn japanese during her stay.
Now she asked me to inform her regarding:

(1.Proof that you have sufficient financial resources),

Exactly how much money does my friend need to have in order to be able to qualify for a pre-college visa ???
Including tuiton, accomodation and all other fee.
The course is for 2 years.

[KansaiBen]

My friend is planning to come to Tokyo by next year....
She also decided that she is going to apply for a long term general course to learn japanese during her stay.
Now she asked me to inform her regarding:

(1.Proof that you have sufficient financial resources),

Exactly how much money does my friend need to have in order to be able to qualify for a pre-college visa ???
Including tuiton, accomodation and all other fee.
The course is for 2 years.

I would first find out how long you can get a visa for. Immigration will be interested in how you can support yourself within the time they are prepared to give you. You might want to study here 2 years but they will only give you a 6 month visa. You need to show you can support yourself in that time.

Ballpark figures for tuition vary but for a 6 month course you are looking at $8-10,000 in tuition (20 hours a week, 20-25 week term). Tuition will be prepaid.
Rent food, living costs- $1500 a month is bare minimum. Key money? furniture? Live in a dorm or a hostel?

[rdudj]

From my experience, immigration will grant you a 1 year pre-college student visa to start out with. Then, depending on your attendance in school and your finances they'll either grant you a 6 month or 1 year extension when your first year runs out. Immigration's website doesn't spell out how much money you need. The $20,000USD figure has been thrown around a lot. I could show that amount when I first applied. I could only show about $16,000 in savings when I got my extension but apparently it was enough.

As for tuition, my own school charges a little more than $6,000USD a year. If your school sponsors your visa, you'll likely be expected to pay 6 months at a time.

I also agree that outside of tuition, $1,500 a month will likely be needed to cover rent, food, and transportation costs.