Last updated: 1 October 2026
Summary
- You can apply from roughly three months before your period of stay ends. There is no reason to wait.
- The fee now depends on the period of stay you are granted. For one year it is 33,000 yen at the counter or 27,000 yen online, paid only on approval.
- There is no universal document checklist – it depends on your status of residence, and students need a confirmation document from their school, so allow time to request it.
- Whether you can apply online comes down to one thing: having a My Number card. Without it, the counter is your only route.
- Permanent residence and residence card renewal cannot be done online. Those two are counter-only.
- On the expiry date itself, the online system will not accept you. That day means going in person.
- Fees rose on 1 October 2026. A 2-year permission went from 5,500 to 42,000 yen online, and permanent residence from 10,000 to 200,000 yen. Applications accepted by 30 September still pay the old fee, even if permission comes later. See the new fee table.
Knowing this, you file three months early and never get caught waiting on a school certificate with days left on your stay.
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?
- How much does a visa renewal cost?
- What documents do you need?
- Who can file if you cannot go yourself?
- It comes down to the My Number card
- What online filing cannot do
- I filed by 30 September. Do I pay the new fee?
- Frequently asked questions
- Q. When can I apply to extend my period of stay?
- Q. How much does it cost?
- Q. What documents do I need to renew?
- Q. How long does the screening take?
- Q. Can students file online themselves?
- Q. What if the decision does not come before my card expires?
- Q. Can I apply for permanent residence online?
- Q. How much is the renewal fee since October 2026?
- In short
- Related guides
When can you apply to renew?
The expiry date slips by a few days, and you go to the counter to explain why you are late. Where you are from, that may be enough to put things right. In Japan, if the date passes with no application filed, you lose your status of residence outright.
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 (Immigration Services Agency, Extension of Period of Stay (Japanese)).
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?
Since 1 October 2026, it depends on the period of stay you are granted. The old flat 6,000 yen (5,500 yen online) is gone. A change of status of residence costs the same (Immigration Services Agency, fee revision of 1 October 2026 (Japanese)).
Online, a payment charge is added on top of the fee: 330 yen for bands up to 42,000 yen, and 550 yen for the 56,000 and 65,000 yen bands (Immigration Services Agency, online fees and payment (Japanese)).
| Period granted | At the counter | Online | Online total paid (with charge) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 months or less | 10,000 yen | 10,000 yen | 10,330 yen |
| Over 3, up to 6 months | 18,000 yen | 15,000 yen | 15,330 yen |
| Over 6 months, under 1 year | 25,000 yen | 21,000 yen | 21,330 yen |
| 1 year | 33,000 yen | 27,000 yen | 27,330 yen |
| Over 1 year, under 3 years | 48,000 yen | 42,000 yen | 42,330 yen |
| 3 years up to under 5 years | 64,000 yen | 56,000 yen | 56,550 yen |
| 5 years or more | 75,000 yen | 65,000 yen | 65,550 yen |
| Permanent residence | 200,000 yen | Not available | |
| Acquisition of status of residence | No fee | ||
At a counter you still pay in revenue stamps, which can only be bought with cash. Online applications accepted from 1 October are paid by convenience store or bank payment instead of stamps.
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.
| Always needed | Detail |
|---|---|
| Application form | Downloadable from the agency’s site |
| One photograph | 4cm tall by 3cm wide. Taken within 6 months, no hat, plain background, sharp |
| Passport | Presented at the counter |
| Residence card | Presented at the counter |
| The fee | On approval, by the period granted (33,000 yen for one year, 27,000 yen online) |
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 (Immigration Services Agency, guidelines for change of status and extension of period of stay (Japanese)).
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 (Immigration Services Agency, Q&A on online applications (Japanese)). Which means that for anyone without the card, online filing does not exist. It is the counter, the counter fee, and the queue.
The price gap depends on the period granted. For one year, the counter charges 33,000 yen and online costs 27,330 yen with the payment charge, 5,670 yen less. Only for three months or less is online 330 yen dearer. The bigger cost is still the trip. Regional immigration offices are few and open on weekdays only. Losing half a day of classes or a shift comes on top of the fee gap.
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. Applying for yourself, you can file an extension of period of stay, a change of status, an acquisition of status, and a certificate of authorized employment.
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 (Immigration Services Agency, online residence applications (Japanese)). 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. (Immigration Services Agency, online system functions by My Number card status from January 2026 (Japanese)) Your residence card and your My Number card expire on separate dates. Check both. The emails you get after filing, and what to know before choosing to receive the new card by post, are in how online visa renewal works step by step.
I filed by 30 September. Do I pay the new fee?
No. An application accepted by 30 September 2026 pays the old fee: 6,000 yen for a renewal or change (5,500 yen online), and 10,000 yen for permanent residence.
What counts is the date your application was accepted, not the date of permission. The agency states that applications accepted by 30 September pay the old amount even when permission comes on or after 1 October (Immigration Services Agency, Q&A on the fee revision of 1 October 2026 (Japanese)).
The payment method stays the old one too. An online application accepted by 30 September is paid in revenue stamps, even if permission comes in October. Your acceptance date is in the email giving your provisional application number or your application number (Immigration Services Agency, fees and payment for online applications (Japanese)).
Applications accepted from 1 October pay the new fee. The Cabinet Order was promulgated on 28 August 2026 and the new fees took effect on 1 October 2026 (Immigration Services Agency, revision of residence permit fees from 1 October 2026 (Japanese)).
If you filed online from 1 October, an email with a payment link arrives from “@service-dgft.com” after screening. You pay by convenience store or by bank payment (Pay-easy) at an ATM or through online banking. Bank counters, credit cards and QR code payments are not accepted. The deadline is the day before you collect your residence card.
The agency warns that payment requests from any address other than that one, and “@veritrans.jp” for the payment application and completion emails, are scams. Changes of status, permanent residence and the reduction for people in hardship are covered in our guide to the new fee table and how to pay.
Fees and procedures were checked on the Immigration Services Agency website on 1 October 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 / Immigration Services Agency, Q&A on online applications (Japanese) / Immigration Services Agency, online system functions by My Number card status from January 2026 (Japanese) / Immigration Services Agency, guidelines for change of status and extension of period of stay (Japanese) / Immigration Services Agency, Q&A on the fee revision of 1 October 2026 (Japanese) / Immigration Services Agency, revision of residence permit fees from 1 October 2026 (Japanese) / Immigration Services Agency, fees and payment for online applications (Japanese) (checked 1 October 2026)
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?
It depends on the period of stay granted, and you pay only on approval. Nothing is due when you apply, and nothing is due if the application is refused (what to do if it is denied is a separate guide). At a counter you pay in revenue stamps. Online applications accepted from 1 October 2026 are paid by convenience store or bank payment.
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. If you are married to a Japanese national, the spouse visa renewal guide lists the seven documents (no questionnaire).
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. Applying for yourself online covers extension of period of stay, change of status, acquisition of status, and the certificate of authorized employment.
Q. How much is the renewal fee since October 2026?
Since 1 October 2026 the fee depends on the period of stay granted: 33,000 yen at the counter or 27,000 online for one year, 48,000 or 42,000 for more than one and under three years, and 200,000 yen for permanent residence. Online adds a payment charge of 330 or 550 yen. Applications accepted by 30 September pay the old 6,000 yen (5,500 online).
In short
- File from roughly three months before expiry. Leaving it late removes your cushion
- The fee depends on the period granted (33,000 yen at the counter or 27,000 online for one year). 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
- Since 1 October 2026 the fee depends on the years granted; applications accepted by 30 September still pay the old fee
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WHO WROTE THIS
mori
Japanese. I read the ministries’ own notices, orders and Q&As in the original, and I start from what my Nepalese and Sri Lankan friends in Japan actually ran into. I do not write about what I have not checked or been told.
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