Beginning 1 July, Japan raised its standard single-entry visa fee from 3,000 yen to 15,000 yen and its multiple-entry fee to 30,000 yen, the first across-the-board hike in more than two decades. However, as highlighted in India Today’s 18 July travel round-up, Indian passport holders remain on a special reciprocal tariff of just ¥ 1,000 (approximately ₹ 500). Japanese officials say the increase better reflects processing costs and aligns consular revenues with the value of visas in secondary markets. Countries retaining special rates—India, Indonesia and Vietnam among them—were deemed strategically important to Japan’s talent and tourism pipelines. For Indian corporates, the exemption preserves Japan’s competitiveness for short-term engineering teams and management rotations linked to ‘China-plus-one’ supply-chain realignments. Travel managers should, however, budget for longer appointment lead times: VFS Global, now the exclusive facilitator for western India, reports average turnaround of five working days versus three earlier. Legal experts caution that Indian applicants who hold third-country passports will be charged the higher fee in line with that passport’s schedule. Multinational HR teams should therefore verify the nationality used for travel to avoid reimbursement disputes. Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has hinted that digital e-visa issuance—now limited to selected Chinese and U.S. travellers—could reach India by late 2027, potentially offsetting remaining friction points.
Source: India Today
