Press Conferences

Foreign Press Secretary KITAMURA Toshihiro: I have one announcement at the outset.

It concerns the revision of passport fees. On this occasion, we are also joined by “Passpo-kun,” the mascot character for the Japanese passport.

On May 22, the implementation ordinance of the amended Passport Act was promulgated. The implementation ordinance sets the new passport fee amounts, based on the amended Passport Act promulgated on May 7. The new fees will apply to applications submitted on or after July 1, the effective date for these laws and regulations.

Regarding passport fees, for online applications, the fee for a ten-year passport available to those aged 18 and over will be lowered from the current JPY 15,900 to JPY 8,900. For five-year passports for those under 18, the current fees are JPY 10,900 for those aged 12 and over, and JPY 5,900 for those under 12. Both will be lowered to JPY 4,400. Further details are available on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) website.

Following this fee revision, we anticipate that the number of applications will significantly increase on or after July 1, and that passport offices in each prefecture will become crowded.

Therefore, we would ask those who are planning to travel overseas in July to apply for a passport with sufficient lead time so that they can receive their passport by the end of June.

To respond to inquiries regarding this fee revision, MOFA will operate a telephone consultation service for the general public, a Passport Consultation Helpline, from June 1 to August 31. This service will handle inquiries regarding the fee revision and passport processing status. Details including the telephone number will be posted on the MOFA website from June 1. We encourage those who have questions about passport applications to refer to the website and contact the helpline.

NHK, KAWAMURA: You said you would ask applicants receive their passport by the end of June. Does that mean you are asking people to apply in June rather than waiting for the fee revision? Could you please share your message to the public once again?

Press Secretary KITAMURA: As I stated earlier, following the fee revision, we expect that the number of applications will significantly increase from July 1, and that passport offices in each prefecture will become crowded.

For this reason, as I mentioned, we would ask those who are planning to travel overseas in July to apply for a passport with sufficient lead time so that they can receive their passport by the end of June.

For your reference, passport applications submitted in Japan typically take approximately two weeks from receipt to issuance. However, for applications submitted on or after July 1, we expect that the process will take up to approximately one month from receipt to issuance, regardless of whether the application is submitted online or at a passport office. We would ask applicants to keep this in mind when applying for a passport.