Japan increases visa fees by 500% for Nigerians, and others

The Japanese government has announced a 500% increase in visa fees for Nigerians and other foreign nationals wishing to enter the Asian country.

According to local media, the Japan Times on Saturday, the move follows a revision of related orders at a Cabinet meeting on Friday and marks the first revision of visa fees in 48 years, since 1978.

Based on its report, the media outlet stated that under the new structure, fees for a single-entry visa will increase from ¥3,000 ($18.60) to ¥15,000 ($92.99), while multiple-entry visas will increase from ¥6,000 ($37.20) to ¥30,000 ($187.97).

The revised fees will apply to applications submitted on or after July 1.

“The current visa fees were set in 1978, and we recently revised them to reflect inflation and exchange rate fluctuations since then,” Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said at a press conference on Friday.

“We took this decision after carefully considering various factors, and we do not expect this to have an immediate impact on inbound tourism,” he added.

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Last month, Japan’s Upper House passed a bill to increase visa-related fees for foreign nationals by up to 30 times the current rate.

The move is intended to generate additional revenue to help cover the administrative costs of managing the country’s growing foreign population. The bill was previously approved by the Lower House in April.

Before this bill was passed, the upper limit for the fee for changing the status of a residence permit or extending the period of stay according to the law was ¥10,000 ($63), while the upper limit for applying for a permanent residence permit was also ¥10,000. Based on the revision, these ceilings have been raised to ¥100,000 and ¥300,000 respectively.

Under the revised framework, the actual costs will be determined based on Cabinet orders within the limits of the new law.

The government has proposed increasing fees for changes in residence status and extension of stay from the current range of ¥5,500–¥6,000 to between ¥10,000 and ¥70,000, while permanent residence permit application fees will increase from ¥10,000 to ¥200,000.

These changes are expected to be implemented before the end of the next financial year on March 31, 2027.

Officials said the additional revenue will be used to manage Japan’s growing foreign population, which reached a record 4.13 million by the end of 2025, expand Japanese language education programs, and strengthen measures against illegal overstayers.

The government also justified the increase by saying Japan needed to align visa and residence permit costs more closely with those of Western countries.

Visa extension fees, for example, range from $420 to $470 in the United States and €93 ($107) to €98 in Germany.