Your Next Visa Renewal Will Cost 5–12× More: Japan's New Fees, Why, and How to Pay Less

Since 1 October 2026, renewing or changing your status in Japan costs ¥10,000 to ¥75,000 depending on the period you're granted, and PR costs ¥200,000. Here's the full table, who's hit hardest, and the honest ways to pay less.

Remember when renewing your visa cost about the same as a nice lunch? Enjoy the memory. For applications received from 1 October 2026, the fee for an extension of stay or a change of status no longer has one flat price: it depends on how long a stay you're granted, and for a typical 1-year or 3-year permit it's now roughly 5 to 12 times what it was in September.

Here's the full table, who feels it most, what the Immigration Services Agency (ISA) says about why, and the few honest ways to keep the bill down. Spoiler: there's no secret trick, but there are a couple of real savings.

What Changed on 1 October 2026

Until 30 September 2026, an extension (在留期間更新, zairyu kikan koshin) or a change of status (在留資格変更, zairyu shikaku henko) cost a flat ¥6,000 at the counter or ¥5,500 online, whatever period you got. That price had already gone up once, in April 2025. Now the fee follows the period of stay written on your new card:

Period granted	Counter	Online	vs. old counter fee
3 months or less	¥10,000	¥10,000	about 1.7×
Over 3 months, up to 6 months	¥18,000	¥15,000	3×
Over 6 months, under 1 year	¥25,000	¥21,000	about 4.2×
1 year	¥33,000	¥27,000	5.5×
Over 1 year, under 3 years	¥48,000	¥42,000	8×
3 years to under 5 years	¥64,000	¥56,000	about 10.7×
5 years or more	¥75,000	¥65,000	12.5×

And permanent residency went from ¥10,000 to ¥200,000. Yes, twenty times. Breathe.

Two things to know straight away:

What counts is the day your application was received. Received by 30 September 2026? You pay the old fee, even if the approval arrives in October or later.
You pay when you're approved, not when you apply. The bill comes with the good news.

Who Gets Hit Hardest

Everyone pays more, but three groups feel it most.

People who get 1-year stays

Do the math per year and the gap jumps out. A 1-year permit costs ¥33,000 at the counter, so ¥33,000 a year. A 3-year permit is about ¥21,300 a year, and a 5-year permit ¥15,000 a year. Over five years, someone renewing every year pays ¥165,000 at the counter at today's prices; someone granted 5 years in one go pays ¥75,000. Short stays used to be annoying because of the paperwork. Now they're also the expensive option.

Families renewing several cards

Each person is a separate application with a separate fee. Picture a family of four, all granted 3 years at the counter: 4 × ¥64,000 = ¥256,000. Under the old fee, that was ¥24,000. Online it would be 4 × ¥56,550 (fee plus payment charge) = ¥226,200, and parents can file online for children under 16.

Permanent residency applicants

¥200,000, paid when PR is granted. And a pending PR application doesn't extend your current stay: if your period of stay ends while you wait (ISA's standard processing time for PR is 4 to 6 months), you must file a normal renewal before it expires, and pay for that too. Our permanent residency guide covers the rest, including the stricter rules for applications from 1 April 2027.

Why Did the Fees Go Up? What ISA Says

A 2026 amendment to the Immigration Act raised the legal ceiling on these fees, and a Cabinet Order set the actual amounts from 1 October 2026. In its official Q&A, ISA explains:

The reason: ISA wants to keep running, and strengthen, its policies for the fair management of entry and residence, and considers that foreign residents should bear a corresponding share of their cost.
How the ceiling was set: by weighing the actual cost of reviewing applications, the cost of managing entry and residence, similar fees in other countries, and room to absorb future price increases.
Why it depends on the period: ISA considers that the benefit people get from these policies differs with the length of stay. It also says people granted long periods "generally have a good residence record", which is why the cost per year falls as the period gets longer.
Why online is cheaper: to push more people online, for convenience and to ease crowding at the counters.
Where the extra money goes: ISA lists digitalising immigration services, faster protection for refugees, its plan to eliminate illegal stays, considering programmes for foreigners to learn Japanese and Japan's rules, and better information and consultation services.

That's the official version. Whether you find it convincing is between you and your wallet.

How to Pay Less (Honestly)

Let's separate what you can control from wishful thinking.

Apply online if you can

This is the real saving. Even after the payment charge (¥330, or ¥550 for 3 years or more), online beats the counter for every period over 3 months:

Period granted	Counter	Online, all-in	You save
Over 3 months, up to 6 months	¥18,000	¥15,330	¥2,670
Over 6 months, under 1 year	¥25,000	¥21,330	¥3,670
1 year	¥33,000	¥27,330	¥5,670
Over 1 year, under 3 years	¥48,000	¥42,330	¥5,670
3 years to under 5 years	¥64,000	¥56,550	¥7,450
5 years or more	¥75,000	¥65,550	¥9,450

You can use the online system yourself from age 15 if you're a mid- to long-term resident; the full conditions are in our visa renewal guide. One catch: the system doesn't accept applications on the last day of your period of stay. Don't leave it to the final evening.

You don't pick your period, so don't plan on it

Immigration decides how long a stay you get, and you pay for whatever is granted. You can't choose a shorter period to pay less, and you can't "ask for 5 years" to get the better yearly rate. What you can do is keep the kind of record ISA itself associates with long periods: taxes and health insurance paid on time, address and employer changes reported within 14 days, documents that tell the same story. No guarantee, but it's the only lever that exists.

Apply on time

If your current stay is 6 months or longer, you can apply from 3 months before it ends, and in any case before the expiry date. It won't change the fee (the old-price window closed on 30 September), but it keeps you out of trouble, and trouble costs more than ¥33,000.

The hardship reduction

If you're in serious financial difficulty, the fee can be cut to ¥10,000 whatever the period. The bar is high: you must be living at roughly welfare level and fall into one of the humanitarian situations in ISA's guideline (recognised refugees and trafficking victims are among them). Being short of money isn't enough on its own. You apply at the counter with proof, such as a welfare certificate or a tax certificate plus your bank book: the online system doesn't handle reductions. For PR, the reduced fee is ¥20,000, and only spouses and children of Japanese nationals, permanent residents or special permanent residents can get it.

How and When You Pay Now

At the counter: the postcard (はがき) telling you the decision is ready also tells you the amount. You pay with revenue stamps (収入印紙, shunyu inshi). The shops inside immigration offices can run out, so ISA asks you to buy them beforehand at a big post office, in cash only, in as few stamps as possible.

Online: no revenue stamps. After the "review complete" email, a separate email arrives with a payment link and the amount. Pay at a convenience store or by bank (Pay-easy at an ATM, or internet banking). No credit cards, no QR payments, no bank counter. Each application has its own payment, so a family pays card by card. ISA asks you to pay by the day before you collect your card.

Watch out for scams. ISA says the real payment emails come only from @service-dgft.com (the payment link) and @veritrans.jp (payment confirmations). Anything else asking you to pay an immigration fee is fraud. Don't click.

Good news to finish: re-entry permits didn't change (¥3,500 single, ¥6,500 multiple; online adds a ¥220 payment charge). One extra to keep in mind: if you get the new combined My Number and residence card (特定在留カード, tokutei zairyu card) at the same time, its issuing fee can be added on top.

Your Pre-Renewal Checklist

Check your expiry date and put "3 months before" in your calendar.
Budget the fee for the period you realistically expect, times every family member. Our salary calculator helps you see what's left each month.
Decide counter or online. If online works for you, it's cheaper.
Counter? Buy the revenue stamps in cash at a post office after the postcard arrives, for the exact amount on it.
Changing jobs or status? The same table applies: see our change of status guide.
Gather your documents with the Keigo visa checklist.

It stings, no question. But a budget line you saw coming beats a postcard that ruins your month.