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Tourists walk along the path leading to Kiyomizu-dera Temple in Kyoto, Japan, on January 13, 2025. Photo: Paul Miller . |
On March 27, the Japanese Embassy in Vietnam announced an increase in visa application fees for applications processed between April 1, 2026, and March 31, 2027. The new fees apply to visitors applying for visas with ordinary passports.
Specifically:
- The fee for a single-entry visa has increased from 500,000 VND to 520,000 VND.
- For multiple-entry visas , the fee has increased from 1,000,000 VND to 1,030,000 VND.
- The transit visa fee remains unchanged at 120,000 VND.
In its announcement of the planned adjustment in October 2025, Japan stated that the fee increase was intended to help curb tourism overcrowding. The government argued that adjusting visa fees could help control the number of international visitors amid high demand.
Currently, Japan requires short-term visas for citizens of over 120 countries, including China, Vietnam, and the Philippines. Last year, Japan issued 5.24 million visas to Chinese citizens, accounting for approximately 70% of the total. The Philippines ranked second with 570,000 visas, followed by Vietnam with 320,000. These three markets accounted for nearly 90% of the total visas issued.
Meanwhile, Japan grants short-term visa-free entry to citizens of 74 countries and territories, including the United States, South Korea, and Australia.
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Tourists take boat rides and pose for photos with cherry blossoms at Chidorigafuchi Park in Tokyo, Japan, on March 26. Photo: Reuters. |
In 2025, approximately 678,500 Vietnamese tourists visited Japan, a 9.2% increase compared to the previous year and marking the third consecutive year that the number of visitors reached its highest level in history. Vietnam currently ranks 11th among international tourist markets to Japan and 4th in Southeast Asia.
However, the purpose of most Vietnamese tourists is not purely tourism. Only about 32% of visitors to Japan are for tourism, lower than the 35% in 2019. Approximately 5% are for business trips, while 63% come for other purposes such as studying, technical training, or visiting relatives.
Vietnamese tourists still mainly choose peak seasons such as cherry blossom season (March-April) and autumn foliage season (October-November). Meanwhile, early summer (May-June) and winter (November, December, January) are considered off-peak seasons in Japan.
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Tourist Mei (in the blue shirt), from Japan, experiences wearing a traditional Vietnamese ao dai. Photo: Linh Huynh. |
Conversely, Vietnam is expected to welcome approximately 800,000 Japanese tourists in 2025, an increase of about 14% compared to 2024. Japan continues to be among Vietnam's top 5 largest international tourist markets.
Japanese citizens are exempt from visa requirements when entering Vietnam, in the context of increasingly convenient air connections between the two countries with many regular flights between major cities.
Mr. Hironobu Nara, Deputy Director of the Japan Tourism Agency, predicted that tourist exchanges between Vietnam and Japan will continue to grow in 2025. Although the number of Japanese tourists to Vietnam has not reached its peak as before the pandemic, the figure of over 800,000 is still considered positive in the context of post-Covid-19 recovery.
Source: https://znews.vn/nhat-ban-tang-phi-visa-tu-14-post1638632.html
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