Japan raises its permanent residency fee twenty-fold to 200,000 yen and adds an income test

2 October 2026

From 1 October 2026 Japan charges 200,000 yen for a permanent residency permit, twenty times the earlier 10,000 yen.
From the same date applicants must also meet a new income condition: a stable annual income at or above the average for Japanese households, adjusted for household size, which the latest official survey puts at 5.75 million yen.
The pension and Japanese-language conditions take effect only from April 2027; the pension test asks for projected benefits equal to 30 years of enrolment in the employees' pension programme, and financial assets may cover any shortfall.
Before the change, non-permanent residents paid a flat 6,000 yen each time they changed residency status or extended a stay; the fee now ranges from 10,000 yen for three months or less to 75,000 yen for five years or more.
In July 2026 Japan had already raised visa fees five-fold, its first visa fee increase in 50 years.
Japan's foreign resident population passed 4.12 million at the end of 2025, a record increase of 9.5 per cent over the previous year.
The changes are part of the immigration policy of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.