Japan to raise residency fees by up to 2,900% despite deepening labour crisis

Japan has approved legislation significantly increasing residency and permanent residency application fees for foreign nationals, with some fees rising by up to 2,900%. The changes, approved on March 10th, will increase visa renewal fees from 6,000 yen to as much as 100,000 yen and permanent residency applications from 10,000 yen to a maximum of 300,000 yen. The government defends the move by suggesting robots and AI will fill labor shortages, while critics argue it will deter less affluent migrants and exacerbate the existing labor crisis. The revised legislation will also introduce the Japan Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (JESTA), requiring all visitors to complete online pre-arrival documents.

Explore how the topics in this article connect to other news stories

Discover articles with similar content using semantic similarity analysis.