TOKYO, Dec 24 (News On Japan) –
Japan’s Foreign Ministry introduced it would transfer to chop the applying payment for 10-year passports by 7,000 yen, bringing the associated fee all the way down to round 9,000 yen, because it prepares for a revision of the Passport Act.
Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu mentioned: “The Foreign Ministry intends to move ahead with adjustments to reduce passport fees. We hope that lowering these fees will help promote Japan as a tourism-oriented nation and encourage greater international exchange and understanding among the public.”
According to the ministry, passports for these aged 18 and over might be unified underneath a single 10-year choice, with the present 5-year passport for adults to be abolished, whereas the applying payment might be lowered from roughly 16,000 yen to round 9,000 yen.
For these underneath 18, 5-year passports presently price between about 6,000 yen and 11,000 yen relying on age, however these charges may also be lowered and standardized at round 4,500 yen.
Applicants who submit their purposes on-line pays 400 yen lower than those that apply in particular person utilizing paper varieties.
Because revising passport charges requires an modification to the Passport Act, the federal government goals to submit the required laws throughout subsequent yr’s common Diet session and hopes to implement the reductions as early as July.
At the identical time, the federal government can be contemplating elevating the so-called “departure tax” imposed on vacationers leaving Japan, with prices associated to the safety of Japanese nationals abroad—beforehand included in passport charges—to be coated by this departure tax as a substitute.
Source: TBS