Japan to Raise Foreigners’ Residency Fees to Up to 75,000 Yen

Tokyo, July 3 (Jiji Press)–Japan announced a draft cabinet order Friday to raise the fees for permission to change temporary residence status and extend the period of stay to up to 75,000 yen from the current 6,000 yen. The new fees will range from 10,000 to 75,000 yen, varying depending on the length of the period, according to the draft, released by the Immigration Services Agency. The fee to obtain permanent resident status will jump to 200,000 yen from 10,000 yen. The agency hopes to put the fee hikes into effect in October after a public comment period from Friday. The fee changes, included in a revision of the immigration control and refugee recognition law enacted in May, are designed to help cover administrative costs resulting from a sharp increase in foreign residents in Japan. In the draft, fees for status changes and extensions will be 10,000 yen for the period of up to three months, 30,000 yen for up to one year, 64,000 yen for three to less than five years and 75,000 yen for at least five years. Discounts of 3,000 yen to 10,000 yen will be available to those applying online for status with a duration of more than three months. Permanent residency applications will be accepted only at service counters. The agency also released guidelines for those eligible for fee reductions. For applicants experiencing financial hardship equivalent to the levels of welfare recipients under the public assistance law and those requiring humanitarian consideration, fees will be reduced to 10,000 yen for stays and temporary resident status and to 20,000 yen for permanent resident status. The revised law caps the fees at 100,000 yen for stays and temporary resident status and 300,000 yen for permanent resident status. The actual fees will be set within the limits. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]