Japan approves five-fold increase in visa fees for foreign nationals
MANILA, Philippines — Japan has approved a five-fold increase in visa fees for foreign nationals.
The change comes after the Japanese government greenlighted a decision that will raise the single-entry visa from 3,000 yen (around P1,131) to 15,000 yen (P5,657), according to local media reports.
Filipinos applying for a temporary visitor visa to Japan have traditionally not paid the visa fee as the Japanese government waives this for Filipino travelers. However, applicants are expected to pay the handling fee for the processing of the application.
Philstar.com has reached out to the Japanese embassy for clarification on whether this still applies given the change in visa fees for foreign nationals. We will update this article with their response.
The fee for a multiple-entry visa will also go up from 6,000 yen (P2,263) to 30,000 yen (P11,315).
The change will apply to all visa applications submitted on or after July 1.
This is the first time Japan has raised its visa fees since 1978.
“The current visa fee was set in 1978, and we have recently revised it to reflect inflation and exchange rate fluctuations since then,“ Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told a news conference Friday, as reported by Japan Times.
“We made this decision after carefully considering various factors, and we do not anticipate that it will have an immediate impact on inbound tourism,” he added.
A weaker Japanese yen in 2024 led to a spike in tourism.
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