🛂 Applying for permanent residency in Japan has cost 10,000 yen for as long as most people can remember. From October 1, 2026, it is set to cost 200,000. Twenty times. The same amended law creates JESTA, an electronic travel authorization system modeled on the US ESTA. Tourists from visa-waiver countries will be screened online before they travel, and airlines will be legally required to refuse boarding to anyone without clearance. The law passed on May 29, 2026. The ordinance that sets the actual numbers is out for public comment right now.

The Bill Passed on May 29

The cabinet approved the amendment to the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act on March 10, 2026. It is the third major overhaul in a row, after the 2023 revision of special permission to stay and the 2024 creation of the employment-for-skill-development system alongside tightened permanent residency requirements.

On May 28 the House of Councillors judicial affairs committee passed it, carried by the LDP, Ishin, the DPP and Komeito. The CDP and the Communist Party voted against. The full chamber passed it the next day, and it was promulgated on June 5.

What the law set was ceilings, and only ceilings. 100,000 yen for status-of-residence changes and renewals, 300,000 for permanent residency. What you actually pay at the counter gets fixed by ordinance, within that frame. That ordinance was published in draft on July 3, and it brought the numbers that matter.

JESTA Is a Gate Before the Plane

JESTA, the Japan Electronic System for Travel Authorization, applies to visitors from the 74 countries and territories with short-stay visa exemptions. Before traveling, you file your name, date of birth, passport details, occupation, purpose and accommodation online, and the Immigration Services Agency screens it against criminal and deportation records. Clear, and you get authorization.

Three groups are covered: short-stay visitors from visa-waiver countries, arrivals on passenger ships designated by the agency's commissioner, and some people entering briefly in transit.

The teeth are in the obligations. The amended law requires carriers issuing tickets to report passengers' names to the commissioner, and forbids them from boarding anyone flagged as inadmissible. Without authorization, you don't get on the plane to Japan at all.

There's an upside for the cleared. If you meet the landing conditions, the passport stamp is skipped and you can use a walk-through gate. Airport queues shrink accordingly.

The provision takes effect on a date to be set by ordinance, no later than March 31, 2029, with implementation expected during fiscal 2028. The authorization fee will also be set by ordinance and is unknown for now. The US ESTA it was modeled on launched in 2009 and runs at $21 for two years.

Why the Hurry

The numbers explain most of it. Immigration Services Agency figures put new entries in 2025 at a record 39.18 million. About 98% were short-stay visitors, and roughly 80% of those came from visa-waiver countries. The government's target for 2030 is 60 million a year.

The current system receives passenger data from airlines within 30 minutes of departure and checks it against watchlists. That cannot stop anyone from arriving.

The other driver is overstaying. The Justice Ministry's 2025 "zero illegal residents" plan reports that roughly 60% of foreign nationals residing illegally arrived from visa-waiver countries. Screen them before departure and they never come.

July 3: The 200,000 Yen Number Landed

The statutory ceiling on residence procedure fees has sat at 10,000 yen since 1981. In practice, a status change or renewal costs 6,000 yen at the counter, 5,500 online, and permanent residency costs 10,000 with no online option.

On July 3, the agency published the draft ordinance with the new amounts. Changes and renewals drop the flat 6,000 and go tiered by the length of stay granted: 10,000 yen for three months or less, 33,000 for one year, 64,000 for three-to-five years, 75,000 for five years and up. Permanent residency goes from 10,000 to 200,000.

Online filing gets a discount of 3,000 to 10,000 yen depending on the tier, but three-months-or-less and permanent residency are excluded. There is a reduction for people in financial hardship: 10,000 yen for residence procedures, 20,000 for permanent residency.

Public comment opened the same day and runs to August 2. The agency intends to apply the new fees to applications accepted from October 1. The trigger looks like the date of acceptance rather than the date of approval, which means anything filed in September gets the old price.

The government's arithmetic is on the table too. The agency estimates the annual cost of immigration and residence administration at roughly 57.2 billion yen, about 20,000 yen per foreign resident per year. It expects the increases to bring in 69 to 92 billion yen annually, earmarked for foreign resident policy.

"That's Too Expensive"

There is pushback, obviously.

Foreign residents told Tokyo Shimbun the fees are simply too high, and experts warned that some people will lose their status of residence because they cannot pay. A family of four applying for permanent residency together goes from 40,000 yen to 800,000. Justice Minister Hiroshi Hiraguchi said on July 3 that he was aware interest was high and opinions varied, and that the ministry would consider the public comments appropriately.

Immigration lawyers are fielding a rush of clients trying to finish permanent residency and renewal applications before October. The gap on permanent residency is 190,000 yen, which is where filing early pays most.

For what it's worth, JESTA is a short-stay system, so it doesn't directly touch anyone already living in Japan on a work or student visa. It's also a different animal from the existing Visit Japan Web: JESTA screens you before you travel, Visit Japan Web digitizes the paperwork when you land.

Tourists get pre-screening, long-term residents get the bill. Both are answers to the same question about who pays for the growing cost. It's just that the first answer is a few thousand yen and the second is 200,000.

What does your country require before you're allowed to board? And what does permanent residency cost to apply for?

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