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D-10 job-seeker visa after a Korean degree

The job-seeker status D-10-1 (구직) for graduates of Korean universities: the Ministry of Justice's stay manual of September 18, 2026, read on October 13, 2026.

In short

First change after a Korean degree
If you graduate from a degree programme (associate degree or higher) at a Korean university on a D-2 visa, your first change to D-10-1 is not put through the points system and is granted for 1 year.
Extending it
To extend D-10-1, the points system applies: at least 20 points in the basic items and at least 60 of 190 in total. Within 3 years of the degree, a valid TOPIK level 4 or higher, or a pass in the KIIP level 4 mid-term test (or a placement result that assigns level 5), is exempt from the points.
What it allows
D-10-1 is for looking for work and for a short paid internship in a field of the E-1 to E-7 work visas; entertainment work at nightlife venues (E-6-2) is excluded. To start a regular job you change to a work visa before you start.

Not on this page: D-10-2, D-10-3, D-10-T and the other routes into D-10-1.

Who can change from D-2 to D-10 after graduating?

The stay manual of September 18, 2026 keeps a first change to D-10-1 outside the points system (점수제) for graduates of Korean universities.

Conditions
A degree (associate or higher) earned as a D-2 student at a Korean university, and a change to D-10-1 for the first time. A person who has held D-10 before is put through the points system.
Which schools
The manual's document lists say a regular Korean university and point to a clause of the Higher Education Act; its E-7 chapter spells the same clause out as universities, industrial universities, universities of education and junior colleges.
When to apply
As soon as your status changes or is about to, the stay manual says, at the immigration office for the place you live.
Who is refused
Within 5 years of applying: a sentence of imprisonment without labour or heavier under Korean law, or a deportation or departure order. Within 3 years: a fine of 3,000,000 won or more. Also immigration penalties that restrict a stay permit: 5,000,000 won or more for a first violation, 7,000,000 won or more in total within 3 years for a repeat.

After leaving Korea

  • A D-10 visa received within 1 year of graduation, after leaving Korea, is also exempt from the points system, but not if you have held D-10 before.
  • The visa manual of September 1, 2026 has missions issue, at their discretion, a single-entry D-10 visa for a stay of 6 months; nationals of a country with a multiple-entry agreement for this visa get a multiple-entry visa valid for 2 years with the same stay.
  • At registration, the stay manual says, the stay is extended to match where a single grant is 1 year, with the extension fee waived.

Documents the manual lists

  • Application form, photo, copy of passport, fee, copy of ID
  • Job-search plan
  • Degree certificate or certificate of graduation, associate degree or higher, from a Korean university
  • Proof of where you live

Proof of living costs is waived for this first change. The plan form asks for a plan covering 1 year, written in periods of at least 2 months. An immigration office may add or drop documents.

How do you extend a D-10?

The stay manual of September 18, 2026: the first D-10-1 stay is 1 year, and the points system applies when you extend. It also lists who is exempt from the points; for a graduate of a Korean university that is the Korean-language route.

Exempt from points: the Korean-language route

Who
Within 3 years of an associate degree or higher from a regular Korean university: a pass in the KIIP level 4 mid-term test (a placement result that assigns level 5 counts too) or a valid TOPIK score report of level 4 or higher. Once 3 years have passed since the degree, the points system applies.
Documents
  • Application form, photo, copy of passport, fee, copy of ID
  • Job-search plan
  • Proof of where you live

The manual's extension list for this route has no proof of living costs.

KIIP: levels, level test, test dates and fees

The points system

Pass line
At least 20 of the 50 points in the basic items (age and highest degree), and at least 60 of 190 in total.
Documents
  • Application form, photo, copy of passport, fee, copy of ID
  • Job-search plan
  • Proof of where you live
  • Proof of living costs
  • Other papers the scoring needs

Living costs: a bank balance certificate or the like for at least the year's housing-benefit standard for a single-person household, times the months of stay. The manual prints no amount.

Other items
The manual's table also scores work experience (up to 15 points), other training in Korea (up to 5), bonus points (up to 70 in all) and deductions for violations (up to 60).

Points for age

Age 20–24
10 points
Age 25–29
15 points
Age 30–34
20 points
Age 35–39
15 points
Age 40–49
5 points

Points for the highest degree

Associate degree, Korean only
15 points
Bachelor's degree
15 points
Master's degree
20 points
Doctorate
30 points

The table's legend: only a degree certificate counts for these points, not a certificate of graduation or completion. The manual's document list for the points route: a degree certificate, with a certificate of graduation or of the degree also accepted. The manual does not reconcile these lines.

Points for study in Korea

Any degree, within 3 years of graduating
30 points
Associate degree, after 3 years
5 points
Bachelor's degree, after 3 years
10 points
Master's degree, after 3 years
15 points
Doctorate, after 3 years
20 points

These points are for 2 years or more of study in Korea. A Korean degree earned with under 2 years of classes through a joint-degree arrangement, or from a cyber university or the credit-bank system, gets no study points; it still scores as the highest degree. The manual's summary table prints both figures in a single cell, as in “5 (30)”.

Points for Korean

20 points
TOPIK level 5 or higher, or KIIP level 5 completed or its final test passed
15 points
TOPIK level 4 or higher, or KIIP level 4 completed, its mid-term test passed, or a placement score of 81 or more
10 points
TOPIK level 3 or higher, or KIIP level 3 completed or a placement score of 61 or more
5 points
TOPIK level 2 or higher, or KIIP level 2 completed or a placement score of 41 or more

KIIP completion and test passes count without an expiry date; a placement result counts for 2 years from its announcement; TOPIK counts until the date on the score report.

Our own sum from the manual's table: aged 25–29 (15) + a Korean bachelor's degree (15) + 2 years or more of study in Korea, within 3 years of graduating (30) = 60 points, before any points for Korean.

How long can you stay on a D-10?

A single grant
At most 1 year at a time on D-10-1. The manual's summary lists who gets at most 6 months at a time, among them people with 60 to under 80 points and former E-1–E-7 workers. Its table of totals gives a graduate with the Korean-language result 1 year at a time, and the manual does not say which of these holds for such a graduate with 60 to under 80 points.
Total on the Korean-language route
A graduate of a Korean university with the Korean-language result: up to 3 years in total, 1 year at a time. Within 3 years of the degree that is as a person exempt from points; after that, under the points system.
Total on points
With 80 points or more: up to 3 years in total, 1 year at a time. Others, with 60 to under 80 points and in none of the groups the table gives 3 years: up to 1 year in total, 6 months at a time.
How it is counted
The manual adds up stays inside Korea and starts the count again when a person leaves for good and enters on a new visa. A change to D-10-1 from E-1–E-7 after the employer closes or the like is left out of the sum. Its table of totals has no row for the first change.
Passport
In principle a stay is granted only within the passport's validity.

Can you work on a D-10?

Internship

Who and where
A registered D-10-1 holder may intern in a field of the E-1 to E-7 work visas, entertainment venues (E-6-2) excluded. Not D-10-2 holders, and not people who changed to D-10-1 after working on E-1–E-7.
Reporting
The stay manual's text: report the start of an internship, or a change of company, to the immigration office within 15 days. The job-search plan form in the same manual: report 14 days before you start.
At the same company
At most 1 year per internship at the same company, and a report is turned back once your internships there total 1 year or more while you hold D-10.

Documents for the report

  • Report of a change in registered particulars
  • Internship contract
  • The company's registration papers, such as a copy of its business registration
  • The company's list of employment-insurance members
  • Other papers the office finds necessary

Part-time work

Who
D-10-1 holders who meet all of these: an associate degree or higher from a Korean university that can host D-2 students, earned less than 3 years ago; KIIP level 4 or higher completed, or TOPIK level 4 or higher; no earlier stay on E-1–E-7.
Fields
The fields open to student part-time work. Manufacturing only with KIIP level 4 or higher completed: a TOPIK score does not open it. The manual also lists farming “with no language requirement”, and does not say how that fits the conditions for who may apply.
Hours
25 hours on weekdays, with no limit on weekends and public holidays; 30 weekday hours with KIIP level 5 or higher completed.
Permit
A permit for activities outside your status, valid only at the permitted workplace. Working before it is granted can bring penalties for you and the employer.

Documents

  • Application form, photo, copy of passport, fee, copy of ID
  • Degree certificate
  • Employment contract
  • The employer's business registration
  • Proof of Korean ability, such as a TOPIK score report
  • The part-time work confirmation form for job-seekers

The rules for students still enrolled are different: part-time work on a student visa

What does it cost?

Fees as the stay manual of September 18, 2026 lists them. An application made online is charged less under the Enforcement Rule of the Immigration Act.

Change of status
100,000 won
Extension
60,000 won
Extension, applied for online
48,000 won
Residence card
35,000 won
Part-time work permit
120,000 won

The Ministry of Justice's list of online applications covers a D-10 extension. The change from D-2 to D-10 is not on that list.

How to extend, step by step

What comes after a D-10?

When you are hired
Apply for a change of status before you start work, the job-search plan form in the manual says. Working on D-10 without an internship report or a change of status can be punished under the Immigration Act.
A work visa
E-7 is a work status a D-10 holder can change to, for the occupations the Minister of Justice designates. E-7 visa for graduates of Korean universities

Sources

StudySunbae is independent of the Korean Government. The Ministry of Justice says its manual can lag behind a changed guideline, and an immigration office may add or drop documents: confirm with the Immigration Contact Center (1345) or your immigration office before you apply.