The Immigration Services Agency's new fee schedule applies to applications filed on or after 1 October. Anything accepted on or before 30 September is charged at the current rate, even if the decision comes months later, which makes the next ten days worth something in cash terms to anyone with a renewal in reach.
What the gap is worth
A change of status or an extension of period of stay currently costs ¥6,000 at the counter, or ¥5,500 online, whatever period you are granted.
From 1 October the fee scales with the period granted: ¥10,000 for three months or less, rising through ¥33,000 for a one-year grant to ¥75,000 for five years. Online filing stays cheaper at every tier above three months, topping out at ¥65,000.
Permanent residence goes from ¥10,000 to ¥200,000.
So a family of three on one-year cycles is looking at ¥99,000 a year from October against ¥18,000 now. A permanent residence application filed on 30 September costs ¥190,000 less than the same application filed on 1 October.
Who can actually act on this
You can file an extension from three months before your period of stay expires. If your card expires before roughly the end of December, you are inside that window now and can file at the current fee.
If it expires later than that, you cannot file early to beat the deadline. The window is the window.
A permanent residence application has no such timing restriction, so anyone who already meets the criteria and was planning to apply in the next year has a straightforward reason to bring it forward. Anyone who does not meet the criteria should not rush a weak application to save the fee, because the fee is payable on approval and a refusal costs the preparation rather than the money.
Reduced fees exist, and are narrow
Applicants in financial hardship comparable to welfare eligibility can claim ¥10,000 for an extension or status change and ¥20,000 for permanent residence. Reductions have to be claimed at a counter rather than online.
Full exemptions apply to diplomatic and official statuses and to some Designated Activities categories.
Practical points for the counter
Window applications still use revenue stamps. The agency advises buying them at a post office beforehand, because immigration offices carry limited stock, and at these amounts that advice is worth following.
Online applications move off revenue stamps entirely from October, to convenience store or bank payment including internet banking, with a settlement charge on top.
Our extension and renewal page covers what a renewal application has to show, and the 2026 fee changes page carries the full table.
Narita adds joint kiosks from 24 September
Separately, Narita Airport Terminals 1 and 2 begin operating joint kiosks on 24 September. The machines collect the information customs and immigration each require at a single point rather than at two, and the same arrangement already runs at Kansai, Haneda, Fukuoka and Narita Terminal 3.
This changes the mechanics of arrival, not the rules. The landing examination still happens, and the kiosk does not decide anything: it captures the declarations. Travellers who have used the Visit Japan Web service will find the flow familiar.
For anyone flying in through Narita's older terminals in the coming weeks, expect the queue layout to have changed.
Sources: Immigration Services Agency — October 2026 fee revision, Immigration Services Agency — reductions and exemptions, Immigration Services Agency — Narita joint kiosks