JESTA: Japan's planned electronic travel authorisation and Visit Japan Web

What JESTA is

JESTA is the short name the government uses for its planned electronic travel authorisation system. Government papers describe it as a system in which foreign nationals who want to come to Japan give the Commissioner of the Immigration Services Agency (ISA) information such as the purpose of travel and where they will stay, before departure. The ISA screens them in advance to stop the entry of people who plan to overstay or break immigration rules ^3,4.

The legal basis is an amendment to the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act and a related special measures law. The House of Councillors summary says the aim is strict immigration control together with smoother landing examinations ¹.

Who will need it

The bill outline names three groups ². The first is visa-exempt foreign nationals who plan short-term stay activities such as tourism. For them, holding a JESTA authorisation becomes a condition of landing ^1,2. The second is people seeking a port of call landing, a cruise ship tourist landing or a transit landing permit ². The third is some passengers transiting Japan without landing, who may not enter Japan without an authorisation ^1,2.

For short-stay visitors, the ISA can grant authorisation when the applicant shows four things: a valid passport, a planned activity that is not false, a stay within the period set by Ministry of Justice ordinance, and no ground for refusal under Article 5 of the Act ². For transit passengers the tests are a valid passport and a genuine intent to pass through without landing ².

What changes at the border and for airlines

When a JESTA holder passes the landing examination, the inspector can record the name, date of landing and other details in an electronic file instead of stamping the passport. The inspector must then tell the traveller the status of residence and period of stay granted ^2,1.

Airlines and shipping companies will have to report the names of booking holders to the ISA when they issue tickets. If the ISA says a person should not be allowed into Japan, the carrier must not carry that person ^1,2. The law removes provisions for the specified registrant card ².

The end of the landing stamp for some visitors affects tax-free shopping. Shops now check eligibility partly through the stamp. In requests for the fiscal 2027 tax reform, the ISA and the Japan Tourism Agency asked for the tax-free checks to be revised to work with JESTA ^3,4.

Fees

The law lets the government set JESTA fees by Cabinet Order. One fee is payable when the applicant submits information, set with reference to actual cost. A further fee applies when the authorisation is granted, set with reference to cost and the expense of managing immigration and residence ².

As of 19 October 2026, this site found no official announcement of the amounts. The same law raises the caps on fees for changing or extending a status of residence to 100,000 yen, and for permanent residence to 300,000 yen ^1,2.

Official timeline

The dates below come from the House of Councillors bill record, the bill outline and government planning papers. Japan's fiscal 2028 runs from 1 April 2028 to 31 March 2029, which matches the legal deadline for the law to take effect ^1,23.

In the House of Representatives, the Judicial Affairs Committee took the bill on 14 April 2026 and approved it on 24 April. In the House of Councillors, the Judicial Affairs Committee took it on 15 May 2026 and approved it on 28 May, the day before the final vote ¹. The Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Finance are listed as the responsible ministries ¹.

Visit Japan Web today

Visit Japan Web is a Digital Agency web service. Travellers use it to register the information needed for immigration and customs procedures on arrival, and for tax-free shopping ^6,7. Foreign visitors and people returning to Japan can use it ^6,9.

Travellers register before arrival and show a two-dimensional code at the airport. Registration can be done on a computer, but the code must be shown on a smartphone or tablet ⁹. The Embassy of Japan in the UK announced the launch of the service on 7 February 2022. At that time it covered quarantine, immigration and customs procedures for Japanese nationals and foreign nationals with re-entry permits ⁸. The Digital Agency page was last updated on 16 July 2024 ⁶.

The official sources consulted for this page do not say whether Visit Japan Web will be used to apply for JESTA, or what the JESTA application channel will be ^2,6.

What is not yet known

As of 19 October 2026, the law and the planning papers leave several practical points to later Cabinet Orders and ministry ordinances ^1,2. This site found no official answer to the questions below.

• The exact start date, beyond the fiscal 2028 target and the 31 March 2029 legal deadline ^2,3
• The fee amounts, which will be set by Cabinet Order ²
• How long an authorisation will be valid
• Which website or app will take applications
• Which transit passengers will be covered, as the law applies to some of them only ¹