Waiver of Visa Fees for Foreign Nationals Who Visit Three Prefectures in Disaster-Afflicted Areas

In the light of the Great East Japan Earthquake in March of this year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan decided to take measures to waive visa fees for foreigners who would be visiting Iwate, Fukushima, and Miyagi, (the three prefectures among the disaster-afflicted areas that have been suffering from particularly serious damage) to support reconstruction in these three prefectures.

1. This measure will be applied to the visa applications submitted from November 15th, and the implementation period of this measure shall be for five years, which coincides with the “concentrated reconstruction period” under the “Basic Guidelines for Reconstruction.”
2. We hope that the implementation of this measure will contribute to the reconstruction of the disaster-afflicted areas, by increasing the number of foreigners visiting the areas.