TOKYO - The Justice Ministry will seek 80.7 billion yen ($507 million) in fiscal 2027 for measures related to immigration and foreign residents, doubling the amount in the initial budget for the current fiscal year, a plan showed Wednesday.
The government under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi aims to promote coexistence between Japanese and foreign nationals while cracking down on illegal activities amid an increase in the country's foreign population.
The amount is part of the ministry's overall request for 985.6 billion yen, a 15 percent increase from the initial budget for fiscal 2026 through next March.
The plan was presented Wednesday at a meeting of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party led by Takaichi, who aims to realize "an orderly, harmonious society."The ministry is requesting 26.3 billion yen for the development of an entry eligibility screening system called the Japan Electronic System for Travel Authorization, or JESTA.
Some 4.4 billion yen would be spent on the digital transformation of immigration control, including the installation of facial recognition gates.
The budget would allocate 15.5 billion yen for measures aimed at "realizing an orderly, harmonious society," including the development of a so-called Japanese language and life skills learning program designed to help foreign residents better grasp the Japanese language and domestic systems.
The ministry will seek 1.2 billion yen for measures targeting illegal foreign residents, including efforts to swiftly remove those subject to final deportation orders.
The Finance Ministry receives budgetary requests from other ministries and agencies by the end of August and screens them toward the end of the year.
