The fee required for foreign nationals applying for permanent residency in Japan has increased 20-fold starting today (October 1).

Fees for changing residency status or renewing the period of stay have also been significantly raised.

The Japan Immigration Services Agency raised the fee for permanent residence permits starting October 1 from 10,000 yen (approx. 86,000 KRW) to 200,000 yen (approx. 1.72 million KRW), a 20-fold increase.

The counter application fee for renewing residency status, which was previously a flat 6,000 yen (approx. 51,600 KRW), has been divided into seven tiers based on the period of stay, increasing by up to 12.5 times.

The counter application fees by period of stay are: ▲10,000 yen for stays of 3 months or less; ▲18,000 yen (approx. 155,000 KRW) for 3 months to less than 6 months; ▲25,000 yen (approx. 215,000 KRW) for 6 months to less than 1 year; ▲33,000 yen (approx. 284,000 KRW) for 1 year; ▲48,000 yen (approx. 413,000 KRW) for 1 year to less than 3 years; ▲64,000 yen (approx. 550,000 KRW) for 3 years to less than 5 years; and ▲75,000 yen (approx. 645,000 KRW) for 5 years or more.

Online application fees have also changed from a flat 55,000 yen (approx. 473,000 KRW) to a range of 10,000 to 65,000 yen (approx. 86,000 to 559,000 KRW).

This fee hike follows the revision of the Immigration Control Act last May.

Previously, the Immigration Services Agency pushed for the legal revision based on the "beneficiary pays" principle, stating that costs related to foreign resident policies are increasing alongside the growing population of foreign residents.

In addition, the agency announced plans to use the increased revenue from the fee hikes for foreign education programs and initiatives such as achieving "zero illegal residents."

(Photo: Captured from the website of Japan's Immigration Services Agency, Yonhap News)