Korea student visa (D-2): who gets it and how to apply

The visa manual lists 8 kinds of D-2.

• Not for remote universities (cyber, broadcast, correspondence), lifelong-education centres, polytechnic job-training courses or night colleges and graduate schools, except night graduate schools with no day course and junior colleges' advanced night courses that the immigration office has reviewed in advance.
• Nationals of India studying for D-2-1 and D-2-5: a 2-year stay on a multiple-entry visa valid 5 years, or for the course if it is shorter.
• No accompanying F-3 visa for spouses and children of associate-degree, language and short-term students, except on humanitarian grounds.

The visa manual's table of October 1, 2019 sets the route by your university's status (IEQAS) and, for some nationals, by nationality.

The steps

1. You apply to the university.
2. It issues a standard admission letter (표준입학허가서) and registers it in FIMS.
3. Only if your route needs one: a visa issuance certificate (사증발급인정서), applied for by you or the university at the campus's immigration office; online, by the university's officer only.
4. You, or someone for you, apply at a Korean mission; an e-visa is applied for online (www.visa.go.kr).
5. You enter Korea.

Still in your final school year? An expected-graduation certificate is accepted, but the visa is then issued, and you enter, only in your final term (handbook).

At every university, nationals of Cuba, Syria, North Macedonia, and Kosovo get a visa issuance certificate only, never an e-visa.

Find your university's status. One on no public list is general or consulting (the release of February 12, 2026 names no consulting university); for China, Vietnam, Mongolia, and Uzbekistan exchange and visiting students that changes the route, so ask the university.

Fee and processing time

Fee

The Enforcement Rule (Art. 71) sets USD 60 for a single-entry visa for a stay of 91 days or more, and USD 70 (double entry) or USD 90 (unlimited) for a multiple-entry visa. A mission may charge in local currency at the exchange rate; a different amount needs the Ministry of Justice's approval.

Processing time

None of the visa manual, the stay manual or the handbook prints one; your mission sets it.

Every applicant gives 7; research and exchange students add their own.

1. Application form, passport copy and a photo taken within 6 months
2. A copy of the university's business registration (사업자등록증) or unique-number certificate
3. Standard admission letter (표준입학허가서) from the president; NIIED's and the Defence Ministry's scholars give their invitation instead (GKS visa)
4. Tuberculosis certificate, if it applies to you (below)
5. Family-relation document, if a parent's bank certificate is used
6. Proof of your last schooling (below)
7. Proof of funds (how much)

Proof of schooling

Originals are examined as a rule. From most countries: the certificate the manual's table names for your course, with an apostille or a consul's confirmation (a Korean consul in the school's country, or that country's consul in Korea). Schooling in China: a verification report from CHSI or CDGDC, as the manual's China table sets.

Tuberculosis certificate

Nationals of the 35 countries the visa manual lists submit one for any long-stay visa such as D-2, even for a stay of 90 days or less. With an e-visa, you submit it when you register in Korea.

Research and exchange students add

• Research study (D-2-5): a master's or higher, or bachelor's study at home if the inviting university is a designated research institute or in the THE top 200 or QS top 500 (science and engineering); a guarantee or proof of funds; the president's confirmation of the course.
• Exchange (D-2-6): your home university's recommendation, proof of the exchange, and proof of at least 1 semester at a regular university abroad.

A mission may add or drop documents.

For degree courses, at least 20,000,000 won a year at a university in the capital region and 16,000,000 won elsewhere: the Ministry of Justice's standard since July 3, 2023, and the sums the Ministry of Education's handbook (March 27, 2026) has universities check. The visa manual asks for a year's tuition and living costs.

Degree, capital region

20,000,000 won

Degree, elsewhere

16,000,000 won

What counts, and for whom

Under a year

Tuition, plus living costs only for the months of your stay (handbook).

Bank certificate

Issued within 30 days of applying; if it states its own validity, until then, up to 6 months from issue (the handbook's rule for the university's admission check).

Scholars and exchange students

A scholarship certificate; for an exchange student, the president's invitation and a tuition-waiver letter (handbook).

Nationals of Vietnam

A separate bank certificate for study funds, on deferred withdrawal (visa manual).

Regional visa pilot

In some cities and provinces, only the student groups their rules name show at least 8,000,000 won a year, until December 31, 2026 unless that region's period changes; consulting and visa-restricted universities are excluded (stay manual).

Nationals of the 21 notified and 5 key-management countries are checked more closely: who is asked for more.

A plan, not yet a rule when this page was checked (October 20, 2026): on October 7, 2026 the Ministry of Justice announced it plans to waive proof of funds for TOPIK level 4 or above or KIIP level 4, in stages from the second half of 2026. Other planned changes

Registration

If you stay more than 90 days, register within 90 days of entry (Immigration Act). Residence card

Health insurance

D-2 holders are enrolled from the entry date, or from the registration date if that is later (NHIS).

Extension

A degree student at a certified university averaging C or better skips the funds documents, except nationals of the notified and key-management countries. At a lower-tier (now strengthened-review) university, a degree student averaging D or below gets one extension of up to 6 months with a written reason; still D or below at the next one, the extension is restricted. Extending your stay

Part-time work

Allowed with a permit, except for D-2-5 students; D-2-8 students only 6 months after their entry or change of status. Hours depend on your Korean level. Part-time work rules

Already in Korea

Registered residents may change status, except D-3, E-8, E-9, or E-10 holders and most G-1 holders. Short-term visitors, visa-free entrants included, may only in listed cases, while staying lawfully and when the course starts before their stay ends; nationals of the notified and key-management countries only from C-3-8. Visa-free entry by nationals of Russia, Lithuania, and Dominican Republic excludes study (stay manual). Ask the Immigration Contact Center (1345).

From D-4 to D-2: Language student to degree · After graduation: Job-seeking (D-10) or work (E-7).

An independent summary of the ministries' documents, not the documents themselves; the mission and the immigration office decide each application.

• Ministry of Justice, visa and stay manuals (September 2026)
• Ministry of Education, international-student handbook (March 27, 2026)
• Enforcement Rule of the Immigration Act, Art. 71 (in force September 15, 2026)
• Ministry of Justice, proof-of-funds standard (June 23, 2023)
• Ministry of Justice, student-visa plans and annexes (October 7, 2026)
• National Health Insurance Service, foreign residents