Daily Japan updates
Japan prepares new online immigration payments while studying safer digital credentials
An ISA fraud warning explains an October payment change, while the Digital Agency opens another round of work on risks and safeguards for digital credentials.
Developments
Japan’s push toward digital administration is producing two different kinds of preparatory work: immediate instructions for a payment change in the immigration system, and longer-term design work on how digital credentials should manage risk.
1. ISA warns of fraud before online residence-fee payments change on October 1
The Immigration Services Agency says that online residence procedures submitted from October 1, 2026 will use convenience-store or bank payment instead of revenue stamps. Applications accepted by September 30 continue to use revenue stamps even if permission or issuance occurs later, and window applications remain on the revenue-stamp process.
ISA says genuine payment-link messages are sent only to the email address registered to the user’s RAS ID. Its fraud warning identifies @service-dgft.com and @veritrans.jp as payment-provider domains used for different messages and says online applicants will not be asked to pay by credit card or QR code. These checks are general safeguards, not confirmation that any particular message is genuine; applicants should verify requests through the official system or ISA. (Read ISA’s fraud warning; Check the exact online-payment guidance)
2. Digital Agency work on attribute credentials remains at the risk-design stage
On September 25, the Digital Agency published materials for the first fiscal-2026 expert meeting on digital attribute verification, which had been held in writing on September 11. The broader work concerns verifiable credentials and digital identity wallets as possible tools for proving identity, qualifications, or other attributes in administrative processes.
The proposed program includes examining future implementation of credentials such as digital resident-record copies, technical requirements, operational constraints, verification tools, and responsibility among participating organizations. This remains deliberative design work, not a credential residents can already use or a binding standard organizations must follow. (Review the Digital Agency meeting materials)
What residents and organizations should take away
Near-term action belongs to online immigration applicants: check the submission date, use official channels, and scrutinize payment requests around the October transition. The credential discussions matter over a longer horizon, because convenient digital proof will depend on how privacy, authenticity, technical compatibility, and operational responsibility are designed before deployment.