Foreigners crowd a job fair venue in Aichi Prefecture. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

EDITORIAL: Careful thought needed before raising fees paid by foreigners

（社説）在留手数料　値上げに慎重な検討を

Legislation has been submitted to the Lower House to revise the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law to increase the residence status fees paid by foreigners.

Cautious consideration should be given because the fees are an unavoidable expense in the daily lives of foreigners and some may be negatively affected depending on the increase.

The bill sets out maximum figures for the fees.

For example, when changing residence status or renewing the period of stay, the charge could be increased from 10,000 yen ($63) to 100,000 yen.

The maximum fee for obtaining permanent resident status would be hiked to 300,000 yen from the current 10,000 yen.

Cabinet orders will determine the actual figure, but the fee for renewing or changing status may rise from 6,000 yen to as much as about 70,000 yen, while the fee for permanent resident status would be sharply increased from 10,000 yen to about 200,000 yen.

The period of stay will be determined by the residence status and categorized into three months, six months, one year, three years and five years.

It will be the same even if the individual has a Japanese spouse.

It has been pointed out that foreigners with low incomes tend to have shorter periods of stay.

At the end of 2025, there were about 4.13 million foreigners living in Japan, close to double the number of 10 years ago.

In the basic policy direction for foreigners announced by the government in January, it was stated that foreigners should shoulder a corresponding burden from the standpoint of the beneficiary.

But the logic of collecting the expenses for policies directed at foreigners from foreigners appears to be somewhat unrefined.

In a wide range of industrial sectors, such as manufacturing, restaurants, agriculture and elderly care, foreigners are filling in for manpower shortages.

As such, it can be said that it is Japanese society as a whole that is benefiting from their presence so it is wrong to seek a greater burden from only foreigners under the guise of the beneficiary shouldering the burden.

When finalizing the current fiscal year budget, the Finance Ministry compiled a document that said 40 percent (about 93 billion yen) of the increased revenues from residence status and visa fees as well as the departure tax that Japanese nationals also pay would contribute to paying for policies other than those for foreigners.

That appears to be an attempt to place the burden on foreigners who do not have voting rights because it is more difficult to secure revenues through tax hikes.

The insight of the government has to be called into question.

Government officials have said they will evaluate the fees imposed by other nations when deciding on the actual fee amounts.

But such consideration should also take into account other factors even if fees abroad are higher than in Japan, such as the contents of policies for foreigners, including language education, job training and living support, as well as the income levels of foreigners residing in those nations.

Foreigners also pay income, residence and consumption taxes.

While there is a need to find revenue sources to improve Japanese language education and strengthen the consulting and support structure, careful assessment should be made about how much of a burden to impose on which people.

Foreigners should not be presented with a message that seems to say, “You don’t have to remain in Japan if you cannot pay the higher fees.”

--The Asahi Shimbun, April 5

外国人の在留許可手数料の引き上げなどを盛り込んだ入管難民法改正案が、衆院に提出された。日本で暮らす外国人にとって手数料は生活に欠かせない出費で、値上げ幅によっては困窮に直結しかねない。慎重な検討を求める。
　改正案では手数料の上限額について、在留資格の変更や在留期間の更新では１万円から１０万円に、永住許可では１万円から３０万円に引き上げられる。具体的な額は政令で定めるが、更新や変更の場合は現行の６千円から最大７万円程度へ、永住許可は１万円から２０万円程度へ大幅に値上げされる方向だ。
　在留資格によって認められる在留期間は３カ月、６カ月、１年、３年、５年などに分かれる。日本人の配偶者であっても同じだ。所得が少ない外国人は、在留期間も短い例が多いとの指摘もある。
　昨年末の在留外国人数が約４１３万人と、１０年前の２倍近くに増えるなか、政府は今年１月に発表した外国人政策の基本方針で「受益者負担の観点から、外国人に相応の負担を求めることが必要」とうたっていた。
　「外国人政策にかかる費用は、外国人から徴収する」という考え方になるが、雑な整理ではないのか。製造業や飲食業、農業や介護事業など幅広い分野で、外国人が働き手不足の現場を支えている実態を考えれば、利益を得ているのは日本社会全体と言える。「受益者負担」を名目に、外国人にだけ負担増を迫るのは筋が違う。
　財務省は今年度の予算案決定の際に示した文書で、在留手数料とビザの発行手数料、日本人も含めて出国時に払う国際観光旅客税の三つの値上げによる増収の４割（９３０億円程度）は、外国人政策以外の施策に寄与するとした。増税での財源確保が難しい代わりに、参政権のない外国人に負担を寄せているように映る。政府の見識が問われる。
　政府は手数料の額を決める際には、他国の同種手数料の額も勘案するとしている。日本より高い場合でも、語学教育や職業訓練、生活支援といった外国人政策の中身や、その国に住む外国人の所得水準も含めて勘案すべきだ。
　外国人も所得税や住民税、消費税などを負担している。日本語教育の充実や相談・支援体制の強化などのために財源を充てることは必要だが、だれにどこまで負担を求めるのかについては精査が求められる。「高い手数料を払えないなら、日本にいなくてもよい」かのようなメッセージを外国人に与えるようなことはあってはならない。

(2026年4月5日)