Japan Proposes Sharp Visa Renewal and Permanent Residency Fee Hikes Under Immigration Law

(JAPAN) – Japan’s House of Representatives passed a bill on April 28, 2026, to amend the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act and authorize a sharp rise in statutory fee ceilings for visa renewal and permanent residency applications.

The bill raises the legal cap for extending or changing residency status from ¥10,000 to ¥100,000. It raises the cap for permanent residency from ¥10,000 to ¥300,000.

Those figures are ceilings written into law, not the final charges applicants will pay. Cabinet ordinances will set the actual fees later.

The vote marks the first major revision to those statutory ceilings since 1982. Officials presented the change as part of a broader rewrite of how Japan funds immigration administration as the foreign resident population grows.

Figures discussed for fiscal 2026 point to much steeper charges than the current schedule. The Immigration Services Agency projects a permanent residency application would rise from ¥10,000 to about ¥200,000.

A 5-year visa renewal is projected at about ¥70,000, up from ¥6,000. A 3-year visa renewal is estimated at ¥60,000, a 1-year visa renewal at ¥30,000, and short-term status of 3 months or less at ¥10,000.

A senior ministry official disclosed those projections during a meeting of the House of Representatives Judicial Affairs Committee in mid-April 2026. Justice Minister Hiroshi Hiraguchi said at a news conference on March 10, 2026, that the measures are intended to ensure foreign nationals “bear an appropriate amount of the costs” tied to their residency and the administrative burden of examinations.

Japan’s Immigration Services Agency said the current flat-fee structure no longer covers administrative costs for a foreign resident population that reached 4.13 million by the end of 2025. Revenue from the higher charges is intended to support immigration infrastructure, Japanese language education programs, and social integration services.

The proposed shift would move Japan away from a low-fee model that has stood out among G7 countries. At the projected level of about ¥200,000, a permanent residency filing would approach the cost of applying for adjustment of status in the United States, listed at about $1,440 for I-485, while remaining below the £2,885 charged in the United Kingdom for Indefinite Leave to Remain.

Long-term foreign residents would bear the heaviest increase because the new schedule ties larger payments to longer periods of stay and more durable status. Students and workers under the Tokutei Gino, or Specified Skilled Worker, program are expected to feel the increase most sharply because many in those categories earn lower wages.

Alongside the fee increases, the bill includes stricter screening for permanent residency applicants. It also allows authorities to revoke permanent residency status if residents fail to pay taxes or social security premiums.

U.S. citizens and other foreign nationals living in Japan would fall under the new Japanese fee structure once the ordinances take effect. Short-stay visitors are largely outside the change because the U.S. State Department says U.S. citizens remain visa-exempt for tourist and business visits of up to 90 days.

That leaves the biggest effect on people already residing in Japan on work, student, or spouse visas, especially those who must renew status repeatedly before seeking permanent residency. A person renewing a long-term status several times would face higher upfront payments well before filing for permanent residency.

As of May 1, 2026, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services had issued no statement on Japan’s internal fee increases. On the same date Japan’s lower house passed the immigration bill, DHS published an interim final rule on April 28, 2026, codifying inflation-linked fee increases for U.S. immigration benefits under the HR-1 Reconciliation Bill.

That U.S. rule applies to U.S. immigration filings rather than Japanese domestic applications, but it adds a parallel rise in costs for Japanese nationals seeking U.S. residency. The overlap comes as governments on both sides of the Pacific move to link immigration systems more closely to administrative cost recovery.

Japanese authorities have not yet published the final ordinance that will set the actual amounts applicants must pay. What lawmakers approved is the legal authority to charge far more than the current rates, with permanent residency and visa renewal applications at the center of the increase.

Foreign residents tracking the changes can monitor updates from the Immigration Services Agency of Japan, while current consular fee information appears on the Consulate-General of Japan in Detroit fee table. U.S. citizens in Japan can also check the U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Japan visa pages and the U.S. Department of State’s Japan travel page, which still lists visa-exempt entry for short visits even as Japan prepares a far costlier system for long-term stay and permanent residency.