Most of what will change for foreign residents in Japan this year was decided in the last weeks of 2025. Three decisions in particular set the agenda.
A five-year foreign worker target
The government has put a figure on how many foreign workers it expects to admit through its main labour programmes over the coming five years: roughly 1.23 million people across the Specified Skilled Worker system and the Employment for Skill Development (育成就労) programme that replaces technical intern training in April 2027.
That is a ceiling, not a promise. Sector-by-sector caps sit underneath it, and at least one field — food service — has already run up against its limit in previous years. Anyone planning a move through the Specified Skilled Worker route should treat the sector cap, not the headline number, as the constraint that matters.
Naturalisation under review
The Justice Ministry spent December weighing a longer residence requirement for naturalisation. Nothing had taken effect by New Year, but the direction of travel was clear enough that anyone close to filing was advised to check the rules before submitting rather than assume continuity.
Naturalisation and permanent residence are separate tracks with separate criteria, and changes to one do not automatically follow in the other. Both were under active review going into 2026.
Fees are going up
The third decision concerns money. Ministers signalled in November that both consular visa fees, charged by Japanese embassies abroad, and in-country residence procedure fees, charged by the Immigration Services Agency, would rise during fiscal 2026.
The two are governed by different rules and move on different timetables, which is a common source of confusion. Our visa fees page explains which applies to which procedure, and the 2026 fee changes page tracks the revisions as they are confirmed.
What to watch this quarter
The Immigration Services Agency publishes its annual statistics in late March, covering resident numbers, overstays and status revocations. Those figures usually shape the policy arguments for the rest of the year.
Before then, expect the ordinary legislative cycle: a bill to amend the Immigration Control Act is widely expected in the spring Diet session, and any fee change large enough to matter has to pass through it.
For now, nothing has changed at the counter. Applications filed in January are assessed under the rules in force in January. The practical advice is unglamorous — keep tax and pension payments current, keep your address notification up to date, and file renewals early rather than late.
Sources: Immigration Services Agency, The Japan Times