Japan significantly increases fees for foreign nationals' residence permits

Tokyo (ANTARA) - Japan significantly increased on Thursday (1/10) the fees that foreign nationals must pay to change their residence status or extend their period of stay.

Previously, non-permanent residence applicants applying in person paid 6,000 yen (1 yen = Rp113) to change their status or extend their stay. Meanwhile, those applying for permanent residency were charged 10,000 yen.

Starting Thursday, fees for in-person applications vary depending on the granted period of stay, ranging from 10,000 yen for a stay of three months or less to 75,000 yen for a stay of five years or more.

Online application fees are slightly cheaper. Meanwhile, the fee for permanent residence applications has surged twentyfold to 200,000 yen.

This increase in costs triggered a surge in last-minute applications at the beginning of this week, as applicants rushed to submit their requests to still be subject to the old rates.

Long queues formed at immigration offices, and the surge in traffic caused some individuals to experience difficulties using the government’s online application system.