Visa Renewal in Japan: Timing, Cost and the Documents You Need

Last updated: 2 September 2026

Extension of Period of Stay (在留期間更新許可申請) keeps your current status of residence and adds more time to it. Nothing about your job or school changes – that would be a change of status, a different application, covered in moving from a student visa to a work visa. It is also not the same as renewing the plastic residence card itself, which is its own procedure.

When can you apply to renew?

The date on the card gets closer and the unease starts. Far fewer people know when they are actually allowed to act.

If your period of stay is six months or longer, you can apply from roughly three months before it expires. With a special circumstance – hospitalisation, a long business trip – offices will sometimes accept an application even earlier.

That three-month window exists because screening takes time, and because being called back for a missing document is normal. File at the last minute and the entire cushion disappears.

One more thing worth knowing, because it removes most of the fear. If your application is filed by the expiry date, you may stay in Japan while it is being decided – a grace period of up to two months. Let the date pass without filing and you lose your status of residence outright. The deadline applies to filing, not to being approved.

How much does a visa renewal cost?

6,000 yen on approval, or 5,500 yen if you applied online. At a counter you pay in revenue stamps. The fee went up from 4,000 yen on 1 April 2025, so older articles and forum posts will quote the wrong number.

You pay only when it is approved. Nothing is due when you file, and nothing is due if the answer is no.

What documents do you need?

There is no single set of documents that applies to everyone. The Immigration Services Agency asks for “an application form and materials according to your activity in Japan (your status of residence)”. A student and an engineer submit different things. Any page handing you one universal checklist is already wrong.

That said, some items are needed whatever your status.

On a student visa, two more items are added: a declaration covering how your living costs are paid, and a confirmation document issued by your school. The requirements for enrolment and academic transcripts sit inside that school document.

This is the real reason to start early. You cannot produce the school’s paperwork yourself. You have to ask the office and wait for it, and if that lands during exams or a long holiday, the wait stretches. The three-month window exists because of this queue, not in spite of it.

One more item never appears on the document list and is asked for at the counter anyway: your health insurance card. Since 2 December 2024, anyone without one shows the qualification screen in Mynaportal, the “qualification information notice”, or a qualification confirmation document. Unpaid national health insurance premiums become visible right here, and large or long-running arrears are weighed as a negative factor in serious cases.

Screening takes its own time. The standard processing period is two weeks to one month, longer if something is missing and you have to file again.

Who can file if you cannot go yourself?

Applications may be filed by you, a legal representative, or an authorised agent (certain staff members, lawyers, and immigration lawyers). In special circumstances a relative or someone living with you may file instead.

One line is worth reading carefully. “Being busy with work, or commuting to work or school” does not count as being unable to appear in person. Being busy is not a reason to send a family member. If your school or employer has staff authorised to file on your behalf, that is the route to ask about.

It comes down to the My Number card

Online filing is not reserved for company staff and immigration lawyers. Foreign nationals can use it themselves. There is a condition attached.

You need a My Number card and a smartphone with the Mynaportal app installed. Without those you cannot even register to use the system. Which means that for anyone without the card, online filing does not exist. It is the counter, 6,000 yen, and the queue.

The gap is 500 yen. Small, on paper. The part that actually costs you is the trip. Regional immigration offices are few and open on weekdays only. If getting there means losing half a day of classes or a shift, that is worth considerably more than 500 yen.

The card is quietly becoming necessary elsewhere too – identity checks for phone contracts changed as well. If you do not have one, applying for it before your renewal comes due is time well spent.

What online filing cannot do

It is convenient rather than universal. You can file an extension of period of stay, a change of status of residence, and a certificate of eligibility application.

Permanent residence and renewal of the residence card itself cannot be filed online. Both are counter-only, so if you are applying for permanent residence, plan on going in person.

And here is the trap that catches people. On the expiry date itself, the online system will not take your application. That is stated plainly by the Immigration Services Agency. Put it off to the final day, open your phone, and there is no route there. That day means travelling to the office with jurisdiction over your address.

One change arrived in January 2026 as well. If you enter the grace period without having extended the validity of your My Number card, you can no longer submit documents through the online system. Your residence card and your My Number card expire on separate dates. Check both.

Has the fee increase been decided?

Yes. The Immigration Services Agency published the details on 28 August 2026, and the new fees take effect on 1 October 2026.

It is not only the amount that changes. What used to depend on the procedure alone now depends on the period of stay you are granted. The rows most renewals land on:

Period granted	At the counter	Online
(now, flat rate)	6,000 yen	5,500 yen
1 year	33,000 yen	27,000 yen
Over 1 year, under 3 years	48,000 yen	42,000 yen
3 years up to under 5 years	64,000 yen	56,000 yen

Permanent residence goes from 10,000 yen at the counter to 200,000 yen.

The expectation this page set out in August turned out to be right: what counts is the date your application was accepted. The agency’s official Q&A states that anyone who filed before 1 October pays the old amount even when the permission arrives later.

So an application accepted by 30 September 2026 still costs 5,500 yen. Because a renewal can only be filed from 3 months before expiry, though, this only reaches people whose residence card expires on or before 30 December 2026. The full table, the rules for changes of status and permanent residence, and the new reduction scheme are in our residence permit fee increase article.

Fees and procedures were checked on the Immigration Services Agency website on 2 September 2026. Rules change – always confirm on the official site before you file. Official sources: Immigration Services Agency, Extension of Period of Stay / the same agency on online applications

Frequently asked questions

Q. When can I apply to extend my period of stay?

If your period of stay is six months or longer, from roughly three months before it expires. With a special circumstance such as hospitalisation or a long business trip, an office may accept an application earlier.

Q. How much does it cost?

6,000 yen on approval, or 5,500 yen if you filed online. Nothing is due when you apply, and nothing is due if the application is refused. The fee rose from 4,000 yen on 1 April 2025.

Q. What documents do I need to renew?

There is no single list that applies to everyone – the agency asks for materials matching your status of residence. Whatever your status you need the application form, one photograph (4cm by 3cm, taken within six months, no hat, plain background), your passport and your residence card. On a student visa, add a declaration of how your living costs are paid and a confirmation document from your school, which you cannot produce yourself, so ask early.

Q. How long does the screening take?

The standard processing period is two weeks to one month, longer if a missing document sends you back. As long as you filed by the expiry date, you may stay in Japan while you wait.

Q. Can students file online themselves?

Yes. Foreign nationals can use the online system directly, but it requires a My Number card and a smartphone with the Mynaportal app. Without the card, the counter is the only route.

Q. What if the decision does not come before my card expires?

You can stay. As long as the application was filed by the expiry date, you may remain in Japan for up to two months while it is decided. The deadline applies to filing, not to approval.

Q. Can I apply for permanent residence online?

No. Permanent residence and renewal of the residence card are counter-only. Online filing covers extension of period of stay, change of status of residence, and certificate of eligibility applications.

Q. I heard fees rise in October 2026. To what?

As of 22 August 2026 that is not settled. Public comment on the draft order closed on 3 August and promulgation is still pending. Some articles quote exact figures, but nothing is fixed until the order is issued. If it worries you, file before the change takes effect.

In short

• File from roughly three months before expiry. Leaving it late removes your cushion
• 6,000 yen, or 5,500 yen online. Payable only on approval
• No universal document list – it varies by status, and students need their school’s confirmation document
• The My Number card decides whether online is open to you. Without it, counter only
• No online filing for permanent residence, residence card renewal, or on the expiry date
• File in time and you may stay while waiting – a grace period of up to two months
• The increase is planned but unconfirmed as of 22 August 2026

Related reading

• Permanent residence: how many years you need
• From student visa to work visa
• Register your address within 14 days of moving
• Renting without a guarantor