Japan To Hike Its Visa Fee For Tourists And Foreign Redisdents By Five Fold

Is Japan on your tourism bucket list? Well, bad news is on the horizon. In one of its biggest immigration policy shifts in decades, the Asian country is seeking to raise its tourism fee starting in the fiscal year 2026. The new policy, approved by the Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s Cabinet for the Immigration Services Agency, will see a five- to tenfold increase in fees for a range of visas and residency permits.

So what is changing?

For those who were applying for or renewing or extending their visa or changing residential status will now see an increase from the current 6,000 Yen to anywhere between 30,000 Yen (Rs 17,180) and 40,000 Yen (Rs 23,000), report NDTV.

However, the steepest hike will be seen in those applying for permanent

residency, as the fee will now cost 100,000 Yen (Rs 57,352), instead of the earlier amount of 10,000 Yen (Rs 5,735).

Tourists won’t go scot-free.

If you have Japan on your places to visit this year, prepare to dig deeper into your pockets, as that trip might soon become more expensive. Visa fees will see a hike as well according to officials. Currently, a single-entry tourist visa costs 3,000 Yen (Rs 1,720), and a multiple-entry visa costs 6,000 Yen (Rs 3,441). These visa fees are under the average according to international standards and will soon be increased to match G7 norms like the US (28,000 Yen), UK (27,000 Yen), or Schengen (15,000 Yen) as Japan grapples with an unprecedented tourism boom.

Why is Japan increasing its fees right now?
The main driver for the change is that Japan feels its immigration fees are outdated. They haven’t been increased in recent years, and this move is designed to bring processing fees to the same levels as the United States and European nations. In fact, most fees haven’t been changed since the 1970s and early 1980s.

This move also follows a recent hike in Japan’s departure tax, which rose from 1,000 Yen (Rs 573) to around 3,000 Yen (Rs 1,720), which tightened the travel budgets for tourists and expats alike.

It is not unknown that Japan is seeing a massive tourism push, with 21.5 million international visitors arriving in just the first half of 2025. It is also home to 3.96 million foreign residents, the highest ever recorded. This push has put the immigration offices, border screening systems, and enforcement operations under a lot of stress as they are handling over 70,000 overstayers. Officials say rising staffing and administrative costs have made the first major fee revision in more than 40 years unavoidable. Foreign Ministry officials also said the low fee has led to false or incomplete visa applications, and they hope the higher fee will discourage the filing of frivolous applications, reports The Asahi Shimbun. The new budget proposal foresees about 120 billion yen in revenues from the processing fees.