Japan Raises Permanent Residency Application Fee Twentyfold

Japan raised the fee for foreign residents seeking permanent residency from ¥10,000 to ¥200,000 on October 1, a twentyfold increase. Applications filed by September 30 remain subject to the previous fee even if they are approved later.

The increase is part of a broader tightening of permanent residency rules. Revised guidelines add stricter income and pension standards and introduce Japanese-language proficiency as a consideration in screening. Most of the new criteria will apply to applications submitted from April 2027, although revised income requirements may affect applications filed as early as April 2026.

Applicants will generally need income that continuously exceeds the average for comparable Japanese households. Projected pension benefits will also be assessed against a benchmark based on 30 years in the employees’ pension system, with savings and other assets potentially considered when benefits fall short.

The changes follow growth in Japan’s foreign resident population, which reached 4.125 million at the end of 2025, according to the Immigration Services Agency, up from about 2.23 million a decade earlier. The government has cited the increased administrative burden. A law enacted in May raised the statutory ceiling for permanent residency fees to ¥300,000, allowing officials to set the new charge at ¥200,000.

Immigration offices saw heavy demand before the increase, with some applicants at Tokyo’s main bureau reporting waits of up to seven and a half hours.