The cabinet approved a bill amending the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act in early March. Two measures sit inside it, and they affect completely different groups of people.
JESTA: screening before departure
The first creates a Japanese Electronic System for Travel Authorization, already widely called JESTA. It would require travellers from countries and regions whose nationals may currently enter Japan for short stays without a visa to obtain authorisation online before boarding.
Around 74 countries and regions are covered by Japan's visa exemption arrangements, so the practical reach is most short-stay tourism and business travel from Europe, North America, Australia and much of East and Southeast Asia.
The stated purposes are to screen against terrorism and to identify people likely to work without permission. The system checks in advance rather than at the counter, which is what distinguishes it from the existing landing examination.
JESTA is not a visa. It does not replace the tourist visa for travellers who need one, and it does not create a right of entry — the landing examination at the airport still applies.
Fees: a much higher ceiling
The second measure is about money. The bill raises the statutory ceiling on fees for residence procedures from ¥10,000 to ¥300,000 — the first change since 1982.
A ceiling is not a price. The actual amounts are set by ordinance beneath it, and the bill itself sets none. But a ceiling thirty times higher than the current one signals room for increases well beyond anything foreign residents in Japan have seen. Reporting around the bill pointed at figures in the region of ¥100,000 for a period-of-stay extension and ¥200,000 for permanent residence.
Our 2026 fee changes page tracks the amounts as ordinances confirm them.
Timing
The bill now goes to the Diet. JESTA needs a system built behind it, so implementation is expected some years out rather than immediately; the fee provisions can move much faster once the legal ceiling is lifted.
Nothing changes for travellers or residents on the strength of a cabinet decision alone. Current visa exemption rules and current fees continue to apply until the relevant provisions commence.
Sources: Immigration Services Agency, Nikkei