Japan is overhauling its residency and permanent resident systems for foreign nationals. The country will sharply raise fees for renewing residency status and obtaining permanent residency, while also pushing to make pre-entry screening mandatory for visitors from visa-exempt countries, including South Korea.
Permanent Residency Fee to Rise Up to 30-Fold: "Increasing the Burden on Foreigners"
According to Nihon Keizai Shimbun and Jiji Press on the 29th, Japan's House of Councillors passed a revision to the Immigration Control Act at a plenary session that day, containing measures to raise foreigner-related fees and strengthen entry screening.
The most notable change is the hike in permanent residency permit fees. The current fee for obtaining a permanent residency permit is 10,000 yen (about 94,000 won), but the Japanese government is pushing to raise it to around 200,000 yen (about 1.89 million won) through an enforcement ordinance.
The legal ceiling has been expanded from the previous 10,000 yen to 300,000 yen (about 2.828 million won). The actual amount charged will be determined by an enforcement ordinance to be set by the government later. The fee hike will take effect during fiscal year 2026 (April 2026 to March 2027).
The Japanese government said it plans to use the increased revenue for Japanese-language education, support policies for foreigners, and management of illegal residents.
Residency Fees Also Rising, with Ceiling Up to 940,000 Won
The burden on long-term foreign residents is also expected to grow. The current fee for changing or renewing residency status is around 6,000 yen (about 56,000 won), but going forward, it will be applied on a tiered basis according to the length of stay.
Under the proposal being reviewed by the Japanese government, short-term residents will pay around 10,000 yen (about 94,000 won), while long-term residents will bear fees of up to 70,000 yen (about 660,000 won).
With the legal revision, the fee ceiling itself has been raised to 100,000 yen (about 940,000 won). The structure is likely to require higher payments the longer the period of residency.
The Immigration Services Agency of Japan explained that the move follows the "beneficiary-pays principle," noting that administrative costs have risen substantially as the number of foreigners residing in Japan now exceeds 4 million.
The agency also plans to build a system for collecting and analyzing information using social media to strengthen crackdowns on illegal residents, and to operate entry screenings for short-term visitors more strictly.
Koreans Also Affected: 'JESTA' to Be Introduced in 2028
The most direct change for Korean tourists is the introduction of the pre-entry screening system known as JESTA. The revision includes a provision to introduce JESTA, similar to the U.S. Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA), during 2028.
JESTA is a system requiring foreigners visiting Japan without a visa to enter information such as occupation and purpose of travel online before their trip and obtain prior approval. Those who fail to pass screening may be barred from boarding at the airline stage.
As South Korea is currently a visa-exempt country for Japan, Korean travelers will effectively be required to obtain prior approval once the system takes effect. Some foreigners simply transiting through Japan may also be subject to screening.
The Japanese government's position is that JESTA will allow it to filter out entrants with a high likelihood of overstaying in advance, while enabling unproblematic visitors to undergo entry screening more swiftly.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi previously said in a parliamentary address: "We will block the entry of undesirable foreigners while making entry procedures even smoother for legitimate visitors."
