A paper sheet recognition apparatus (1; 400; 500; 600) comprising: a sensor unit (23; 415; 515; 615) that measures a plurality of feature amounts of a paper sheet; a recognition unit (25; 251; 412; 512; 612) that generates recognition result information related to whether the paper sheet is genuine and fit, genuine and unfit, or counterfeit, based on the feature amounts; characterized in further comprising: a memory unit that stores therein selectable category classification tables including reference data to determine at least one of authenticity and fitness of the paper sheet for a plurality of countries, at least one of the selectable tables being previously defined; and a category determining unit (25; 251; 412; 512; 612) that determines a category of the paper sheet from a plurality of categories by comparison of the recognition result information from the recognition unit and reference data included in one of the selectable tables corresponding to a country selected by a user, wherein the category determining unit classifies the paper sheet into one of the categories based on the comparison, the categories including unrecognizable, counterfeit, suspect, genuine and fit, and genuine and unfit, an escrow unit that temporarily takes in and holds paper sheets based on a category determination result in the category determining unit (25; 251; 412; 512; 612), a bill storage or a bill vault that stores the paper sheets temporarily held in the escrow unit, wherein the category determining unit (25; 251; 412; 512; 612) determines the category of the paper sheet again when it is transported from the escrow unit to the bill storage or the bill vault. a sensor unit (23; 415; 515; 615) that measures a plurality of feature amounts of a paper sheet; a recognition unit (25; 251; 412; 512; 612) that generates recognition result information related to whether the paper sheet is genuine and fit, genuine and unfit, or counterfeit, based on the feature amounts; characterized in further comprising: a memory unit that stores therein selectable category classification tables including reference data to determine at least one of authenticity and fitness of the paper sheet for a plurality of countries, at least one of the selectable tables being previously defined; and a category determining unit (25; 251; 412; 512; 612) that determines a category of the paper sheet from a plurality of categories by comparison of the recognition result information from the recognition unit and reference data included in one of the selectable tables corresponding to a country selected by a user, wherein the category determining unit classifies the paper sheet into one of the categories based on the comparison, the categories including unrecognizable, counterfeit, suspect, genuine and fit, and genuine and unfit, an escrow unit that temporarily takes in and holds paper sheets based on a category determination result in the category determining unit (25; 251; 412; 512; 612), a bill storage or a bill vault that stores the paper sheets temporarily held in the escrow unit, wherein the category determining unit (25; 251; 412; 512; 612) determines the category of the paper sheet again when it is transported from the escrow unit to the bill storage or the bill vault. a memory unit that stores therein selectable category classification tables including reference data to determine at least one of authenticity and fitness of the paper sheet for a plurality of countries, at least one of the selectable tables being previously defined; and a category determining unit (25; 251; 412; 512; 612) that determines a category of the paper sheet from a plurality of categories by comparison of the recognition result information from the recognition unit and reference data included in one of the selectable tables corresponding to a country selected by a user, wherein the category determining unit classifies the paper sheet into one of the categories based on the comparison, the categories including unrecognizable, counterfeit, suspect, genuine and fit, and genuine and unfit, an escrow unit that temporarily takes in and holds paper sheets based on a category determination result in the category determining unit (25; 251; 412; 512; 612), a bill storage or a bill vault that stores the paper sheets temporarily held in the escrow unit, wherein the category determining unit (25; 251; 412; 512; 612) determines the category of the paper sheet again when it is transported from the escrow unit to the bill storage or the bill vault.