By Editor in Chief
on Thu Mar 20 2025
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will begin accepting new passports (2025 passports) on March 24.
The new passport is based on the recommendations of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and has greatly strengthened anti-counterfeiting and anti-tampering measures. The photo page is now made of a plastic substrate and printed and imprinted with a laser.
Currently, passports are prepared at prefectural passport offices, but the new passport will be prepared centrally at the National Printing Bureau and delivered to the prefecture, which will then issue the passport to the applicant. Therefore, it takes about two weeks from application to issuance, and about two weeks to one month for applications from outside Japan (embassies and consulates general).
In addition, all prefectures will support online application for new issuance and changeover, so that a visit to the counter will only be necessary once to pick up the document. In addition, since family register information is linked to the system for online applications, it is no longer necessary to submit a copy of the family register.
Fees vary between online and at the counter, and are as follows
10-year passport (current 16,000 yen): online application 15,900 yen, over the counter application 16,300 yen
5-year passport (current 11,000 yen): online application: 19,900 yen, over the counter application: 11,300 yen
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