Link to article: 外国人の在留手続き手数料、欧米並みに値上げへ…来年度から更新で３～４万円程度を検討 : 読売新聞
Translation:
The government has solidified a policy to raise fees for foreign residency procedures to levels comparable to those in Europe and the United States during the next fiscal year. The plan is to submit a proposed amendment to the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act to next year's ordinary Diet session. The increased revenue resulting from the hike will be allocated to funding foreign national policies, such as improving the environment for accepting the rapidly increasing number of foreign residents and the forced deportation of illegal overstayers.
This was revealed by multiple government and ruling party officials. The government is making adjustments to specify in the upcoming comprehensive economic measures that it will "review and implement increases in residency-related fees and visa fees in FY2026, taking into consideration the standards of major countries."
Regarding residency procedure fees, they were recently raised by a maximum of 2,000 yen in April of this year via a cabinet order amendment, accounting for rising prices and labor costs. Currently, the fee for a Change of Status of Residence and Extension of Period of Stay is 6,000 yen, and the fee for a Permanent Residence permit application is 10,000 yen.
Under the new proposal, the government is centering its consideration on raising the fees for Change of Status and Extensions (for periods of 1 year or more) to approximately 30,000 to 40,000 yen, and raising the fee for Permanent Residence to over 100,000 yen. As the current Immigration Control Act sets a fee cap of 10,000 yen, a legal amendment is required for any further increases. This would be the first legal amendment regarding fee increases since 1981.
Fees in Western countries are higher than in Japan. For the change or renewal of work visas:
- United States: $420–470 (approx. 65,000–73,000 yen)
- United Kingdom: £827 (approx. 169,000 yen)
- Germany: €93–98 (approx. 16,000–17,000 yen)
According to the Immigration Services Agency (ISA), the number of foreign residents reached a record high of approximately 3.96 million as of the end of June this year. The government intends to use the additional revenue from the fee hike to improve the acceptance environment, such as by speeding up immigration inspections and enhancing Japanese language education. Measures against the approximately 70,000 illegal overstayers will also be strengthened.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) also plans to raise visa issuance fees for foreign nationals to Western levels during the next fiscal year. If realized, this would be the first increase since 1978, and the increased revenue would be applied to measures against overtourism (tourism pollution).
Current visa fees are 3,000 yen for a "Single-entry Visa" (required for each visit) and 6,000 yen for a "Multiple-entry Visa" (allowing multiple entries within the validity period). Short-term stay visas in the West are significantly higher, with the US at $185 (approx. 28,000 yen) and the UK at £127 (approx. 25,000 yen); the government will consider the scale of the increase using these figures as a reference.
by Rheagon