Japan has increased visa fees for foreign nationals fivefold in one go. It is the first time the country has raised visa fees in about the past 50 years. The new, higher fees are due to take effect from July 1.
Japan’s foreign ministry said that, under the new decision, the single-entry visa fee is being raised from the current 3,000 yen (about US$18.69) to 15,000 yen. The multiple-entry visa fee, meanwhile, is being raised from the current 6,000 yen to 30,000 yen.
It is the first time Tokyo has revised visa fees since 1978. Speaking to reporters last Friday, Japan’s foreign minister, Toshimitsu Motegi, said: ‘This fee revision has been made to reflect inflation and fluctuations in the currency exchange rate.’
He does not believe the decision will deal any major blow to Japan’s growing tourism industry, however. ‘We do not think this will have any immediate negative impact on the number of international tourists coming to Japan,’ the foreign minister said.
The value of the Japanese yen has been falling steadily since 2021. The currency is currently at its lowest level in 40 years.
This fall in the yen and the lifting of post-Covid travel restrictions have brought a flood of foreign tourists to Japan. With cheaper travel on offer, a record 42.7 million international tourists visited the country last year. According to analysts, this record arrival of tourists has also indirectly played a part behind the fee increase.
It is not only visas; the process of sharply raising other fees for foreigners living in, or wishing to live in, Japan has also begun. Last May, a bill raising other fees related to foreigners was passed in the upper house of Japan’s parliament.
Under the new amendment, the statutory maximum fee for a permanent-residency application may be set at up to 300,000 yen, from the current 10,000 yen, which is 30 times the present level.
In addition, the fee for extending residency status may be raised from the current 10,000 yen to a maximum of 100,000 yen.
Japanese policymakers say the step has been taken with the aim of bringing visa and residency fees closer to those of the other advanced economies in the Group of Seven (G7). Until now, Japan’s visa fees had been considerably lower than those of other developed countries.
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