Japan hikes visa fees by 400% for Nigerians, other nationals

The Japanese government has approved an increase in visa fees for Nigerians and other foreign nationals following a revision of a related Cabinet order. The country s local media, Japan Times, reported on Saturday that the decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting on Friday and marks the first revision of visa fees in 48 years, since 1978. Under the new structure, the fee for a single-entry visa will rise from ¥3,000 ($18.60) to ¥15,000 ($92.99), while a multiple-entry visa 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 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 on Friday. “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. Last month, Japan’s Upper House enacted a bill to raise visa-related fees for foreign nationals by up to 30 times current levels. The measure is intended to generate additional revenue to help cover the administrative costs of managing the country’s growing foreign population. The bill had earlier cleared the Lower House in April. Related News St Lucia screens 75 Nigerians for passport-for-cash scheme South Africans are not xenophobic, Minister urges citizens against profiling foreigners How Germany turned my trip into nightmare – PUNCH editor 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 ($63), while the cap for permanent residency applications was also ¥10,000. Under the revision, those ceilings have been raised to ¥100,000 and ¥300,000 respectively. Under the revised framework, actual fees will be set by Cabinet order within the new statutory limits. The government has proposed increasing fees for residency status changes and stay extensions from the current range of ¥5,500–¥6,000 to between ¥10,000 and ¥70,000, while permanent residency application fees would rise from ¥10,000 to ¥200,000. The 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 in the United States and €93 ($107) to €98 in Germany. Saheed Oyelakin Saheed is a journalist at Punch Newspapers with over two years of experience covering metro, technology, sports, politics, and human-interest stories. He focuses on producing clear, engaging reports across diverse beats. Saheed’s work reflects hands-on newsroom experience and a commitment to accurate and balanced journalism.