Japan Raises Visa Fees by 400 Percent for Nigerians and Other Foreign Nationals

The Japanese government has approved a significant increase in visa fees for Nigerians and other foreign nationals, marking the first revision of visa charges in nearly five decades.

According to local media reports, the decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting on Friday and represents the first adjustment since 1978. Under the new structure, the fee for a single-entry visa will rise from 3,000 yen, approximately 18 dollars, to 15,000 yen, about 93 dollars. A multiple-entry visa will increase from 6,000 yen, roughly 37 dollars, to 30,000 yen, approximately 188 dollars. The revised fees will apply to applications submitted on or after July 1.

Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told a news conference on Friday that the current visa fee was set in 1978 and that the revision reflects inflation and exchange rate fluctuations since then. He added that the government does not anticipate an immediate impact on inbound tourism.

The increase follows the enactment of a bill by Japan’s Upper House last month allowing visa-related fees for foreign nationals to be raised by up to 30 times current levels. The bill had earlier cleared the Lower House in April. The measure is intended to generate additional revenue to help cover the administrative costs of managing the country’s growing foreign population.

Prior to the bill’s enactment, the statutory upper limit for fees to change residency status or extend a period of stay was 10,000 yen, about 63 dollars, while the cap for permanent residency applications was also 10,000 yen. Under the revision, those ceilings have been raised to 100,000 yen and 300,000 yen respectively. The government has proposed increasing fees for residency status changes and stay extensions from the current range of 5,500 to 6,000 yen to between 10,000 and 70,000 yen, while permanent residency application fees would rise from 10,000 to 200,000 yen. These changes are expected to be implemented before the end of the next fiscal year on March 31, 2027.

Officials say the additional revenue will be used to manage Japan’s growing foreign resident population, which reached a record 4.13 million at the end of 2025, expand Japanese-language education programmes, and strengthen measures against illegal overstayers. The government has also justified the increases by saying Japan needs to align visa and residency-related charges more closely with those of Western countries. Visa renewal fees, for example, range from about 420 to 470 dollars in the United States and 93 to 98 euros in Germany.

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