What documents are required for GKS?

There is no single GKS document list. Each application needs a set of GKS forms plus authenticated certificates, but which forms and which certificates depend on the program (GKS-U or GKS-G), the track (Embassy or University), and the stage. In the 2026 cycle GKS-U used Forms 1–6 and GKS-G used Forms 1–10, and both required proof of citizenship and family relationship, graduation certificates and academic transcripts.

Are GKS-U and GKS-G application documents the same?

No. The 2026 GKS-U guideline lists six forms and seventeen numbered documents; the 2026 GKS-G guideline lists ten forms and twenty-two. Form 4 is not even the same document: it is the Recommender's Information for GKS-U and the Research Proposal for GKS-G. Use the guideline for the program you are applying to and do not reuse the other one's list.

Are the documents different for the Embassy Track and the University Track?

The list of documents is largely shared within a program, but the submission route is not, and a few rows are track-specific. In the 2026 GKS-G cycle the Embassy Track first round went through the Study in Korea System, while University Track first-round requirements were set by each university — and the research-program rows (Research Proposal, Letter of Invitation) appear only in the University Track table. In the 2026 GKS-U cycle the first round was set by each embassy or university for both tracks, and the number of copies for the later NIIED round differed by track.

Do GKS documents need an apostille or consular confirmation?

The required certificates do, at the NIIED stage — not the forms. Both 2026 guidelines say that if your country is a member of the Apostille Convention you submit the required certificates with an apostille, and otherwise with consular confirmation. The completed GKS forms are submitted as signed originals and explicitly do not need to be apostilled or consular confirmed.

Do translated documents need to be notarized?

Usually the guidelines ask for a certified translation rather than notarization, but there are real exceptions and they are easy to miss. The general rule is that a document written in a language other than English or Korean must be submitted together with a certified translation, and the apostille or consular confirmation goes on either the original document or that translation. However, the 2026 GKS-G guideline requires Chinese-language documents to be translated and notarized and submitted with an apostille, and the 2026 GKS-U guideline asks for a notarized certificate of expected graduation where that certificate itself cannot be authenticated. Both guidelines separately state that a notarized copy of an already-apostilled document is not accepted.

Do I submit originals or copies in the first round?

That is the one thing you cannot answer from the guideline alone. For the 2026 GKS-U cycle the first-round submission requirements — including whether photocopies, electronic files or untranslated documents are accepted — were set by each embassy or university. The 2026 GKS-G Embassy Track uploaded scans to the Study in Korea System, and its University Track requirements were again set by each university. Originals and authenticated certificates are what the later NIIED round requires.

What does an applicant who has not graduated yet submit?

A certificate of expected graduation at application time, followed by the real one later. In the 2026 GKS-U cycle an applicant expected to graduate had to submit the graduation certificate and transcript by 31 December 2025 after passing the first round. In the 2026 GKS-G cycle an applicant expected to graduate by 31 July 2026 submitted a transcript covering all semesters so far, then the final apostilled or consular-confirmed transcript by that date.

Is a recommendation letter required, and at which stage?

Yes, in both programs, and the handling differs. The 2026 GKS-U guideline required Form 4 (Recommender's Information) and said the recommendation letter must be the original, sealed in an envelope, for the first round. The 2026 GKS-G guideline required one letter on Form 5, dated within one year of the application deadline; Embassy Track applicants uploaded a scan of the signed letter for the first round and submitted the original to NIIED in the second.

Where do I find the current GKS application forms?

On the official Study in Korea GKS notice for your program. Each application-guideline notice carries the guideline itself plus an application-forms file as separate attachments, so the forms always come from the same notice as the rules that describe them. Do not reuse a form file from a previous cycle or from a third-party site.

Are the GKS 2027 document requirements available yet?

Not as of 21 July 2026. The most recent post on the official Study in Korea scholarship notice board was dated 10 July 2026 and no 2027 application guideline had been published for either program, so no 2027 document requirement can be stated yet. Everything on this page describes the 2026 cycle.

GKS guide

GKS Required Documents & Apostille Checklist

GKS document requirements are not one list. They differ by program (GKS-U or GKS-G), by track (Embassy or University), and by stage — your first-round embassy or university, then NIIED. Start from the current NIIED guideline for your program, then read the notice from the institution running your first round. This checklist separates broadly required, conditional, and locally verified items.

Unofficial guide · independent, not affiliated with GKS/NIIED
Verified cycle: 2026 · last verified 2026-07-21
2027 requirements: not confirmed

Before you use this checklist

Everything below was read out of the two guidelines NIIED published for the 2026 cycle. It is a preparation aid, not an application instruction: the guideline for the cycle you apply in, and the notice from the embassy or university running your first round, are the documents that decide what you submit. Where the guidelines hand a decision to that institution, this page says so instead of guessing.

Requirements differ by program, track, first-round institution, and stage. A rule verified for one of those does not transfer to the others.
No 2027 requirement is described here. As of 2026-07-21 the newest post on the official notice board was dated 2026-07-10 and no 2027 guideline had been published.
Form numbers, copy counts, and authentication rules are cycle-specific. Re-check them against the guideline attached to your own cycle’s notice.

Required: The guideline’s own table marks it required for that program.
Conditional: It applies only to certain applicants, programs, or degree levels — the row says which.
Verify locally: The guideline leaves the detail to your embassy or university. Read their notice.
Unknown: Not established from an official source, so no instruction is given. Nothing on this page currently carries this status.

Choose your program, track, and stage

Three things decide your document set. Fix all three before you build a checklist, because a rule that is true for one combination is routinely false for another.

Program: GKS-U for undergraduate degrees, GKS-G for graduate degrees. They have separate guidelines, separate notices, and different form sets. Compare GKS-U and GKS-G
Track: The Embassy Track applies through the Korean embassy of your citizenship; the University Track applies directly to one university. The track decides who runs your first round — and therefore whose submission rules you follow first. Explore GKS universities and tracks
Stage: The first round is run by the embassy or university and its submission rules are largely theirs. The later round is run by NIIED and is where signed originals and apostilled or consular-confirmed certificates are required.

Citizenship and family documents

GKS checks the citizenship of the applicant and of both parents, plus the family relationship between them, so one document usually has to prove several facts at once. This is the set most often rejected for the wrong reason: the 2026 GKS-G guideline states that ethnic group, birthplace, and current residency are not accepted as citizenship information.

GKS-U citizenship documents

Proof of citizenship (applicant and parents) and of family relationshipRequired
An official government certificate covering both the applicant's and the parents' citizenship and the family relationship between them.
§5 Documents to Submit (p.11)
Passport copyConditional
Listed under other documents as optional.
§5 Documents to Submit (p.11)

Source: 2026 GKS-U Application Guidelines (English).pdf · 2026 cycle · last verified 2026-07-21

GKS-G citizenship documents

Proof of citizenship (applicant and parents) and of family relationshipRequired
A birth certificate or family register issued by a government. If a parent is absent — divorced or deceased — the guideline asks for a document explaining why (e.g. a divorce or death certificate). Ethnic group, birthplace and current residency are not accepted as citizenship information. Chinese applicants must submit a household register or a certificate of kinship.
§5 Requirements for each document (p.21–23)
Passport copyConditional
A supplementary document, submitted when the citizenship information is missing from the certificates above. It does not need an apostille or consular confirmation.
§5 Requirements for each document (p.21–23)

Source: 2026 GKS-G Application Guidelines (English)_0220.pdf · 2026 cycle · last verified 2026-07-21

Apostille, consular confirmation, translation, and notarization

These are four different procedures and they are not interchangeable. Which one you need depends on your country and on the language of the document, not on preference. Both 2026 guidelines apply the requirement to the required certificates — not to the completed GKS forms.

Apostille: If your country is a member of the Apostille Convention, the required certificates are submitted with an apostille. The 2026 GKS-U guideline adds that a certificate issued online must be apostilled too — being issued electronically does not exempt it. The 2026 GKS-G guideline carries one documented exception, for applicants recommended by UNHCR: where an apostille or consular confirmation cannot be obtained for the graduation certificate and transcript, a letter of recommendation issued by UNHCR is submitted instead, and a UNHCR refugee card or certificate stands in for the proof of citizenship.
Consular confirmation: Used where the apostille does not apply. The 2026 GKS-U guideline adds that the high school graduation certificate and the academic transcript may be submitted with consular confirmation, and that an applicant who graduated in a third country may use consular confirmation issued by that country’s embassy.
Certified translation: A document written in a language other than English or Korean must be submitted together with a certified translation. The apostille or consular confirmation goes on either the original document or the certified translation. Some cases go further than a certified translation: the 2026 GKS-G guideline requires Chinese-language documents to be translated and notarized and apostilled.
Notarization: Not a general substitute for either of the above — but not never required either. Both 2026 guidelines say simple photocopies and notarized copies of an apostilled or consular-confirmed document are not accepted, though a certified true copy issued by a Korean embassy or by the government agency that issued the original apostille is. Both also say that where a document cannot be re-issued you keep the original and obtain the apostille or consular confirmation on a notarized copy. And two specific cases require notarization outright: the Chinese-document rule above, and GKS-U’s notarized certificate of expected graduation where that certificate cannot itself be authenticated.
Validity: Where the authentication carries an expiry date, that date governs. Where it does not, both 2026 guidelines accept the document if it is submitted within two years of the date of authentication.

Source: 2026 GKS-U Application Guidelines (English).pdf §5 (p.12–14) · 2026 GKS-G Application Guidelines (English)_0220.pdf §5 (p.18–24) · last verified 2026-07-21

Originals, copies, and the submission channel

Do you upload scans or hand over originals? It depends on who is running your round, and this is where a single generalised rule is most likely to be wrong. In the 2026 cycle only one of the four combinations below was a fixed online upload; the rest were set by the receiving institution or required physical originals.

2026 cycle · submission requirements as stated in each guideline
Program & track	First round	Later NIIED round
GKS-U · Embassy Track	Set by each embassy — including whether photocopies, electronic files, or documents without a certified translation are accepted, and how many copies.	Forms: one signed original plus three simple photocopies (General and Overseas Koreans) or two (R-GKS). Certificates: one apostilled or consular-confirmed document plus the same number of photocopies.
GKS-U · University Track	Set by each university, on the same terms.	Forms: one signed original. Certificates: one apostilled or consular-confirmed document.
GKS-G · Embassy Track	Uploaded to the Study in Korea System: forms filled out on the system, certificates and the signed recommendation letter uploaded as scans. Each embassy still decides whether to accept what was submitted.	One set of original documents, with a handwritten signature in every designated field and the original recommendation letter, plus one set of apostilled or consular-confirmed certificates.
GKS-G · University Track	Set by each university, including whether photocopies, electronic files, or untranslated documents are accepted, and how many copies.	One set of original documents plus one set of apostilled or consular-confirmed certificates.

Both guidelines add the same warning in different words: whatever your first-round institution accepts, the documents forwarded to NIIED must still meet the NIIED round’s requirements. Materials submitted to NIIED are not returned.

Source: 2026 GKS-U Application Guidelines (English).pdf §5 (p.12) · 2026 GKS-G Application Guidelines (English)_0220.pdf §5 (p.18–19) · last verified 2026-07-21

What to verify with your embassy or university

The 2026 GKS-G guideline says the first-round institution may add or simplify documentation requirements at its own discretion; the 2026 GKS-U guideline says it may simplify the submission of documents based on its own selection procedure. Either way that is not a formality: their notice governs your first round even where the NIIED guideline sounds general. Read it before you pay for a single apostille or translation.

The submission channel — online system, email, post, or in person — and the local deadline.
Whether photocopies, scans, or documents without a certified translation are accepted in the first round.
How many copies of each document to bring or send.
Any extra document, such as a portfolio, that a university requires directly.
Whether any country-specific certificate applies to you, and in what form it must be authenticated.
Which of your certificates need an apostille and which can take consular confirmation, given where each was issued.

Preparation traps worth checking early rather than late: a form file from a previous cycle, a rule copied from the other program or the other track, a name or date of birth that differs between two documents, and translation, notarization, or apostille appointments booked too close to the deadline. These are preparation risks, not a list of official rejection reasons.

Frequently asked questions

What documents are required for GKS?: There is no single GKS document list. Each application needs a set of GKS forms plus authenticated certificates, but which forms and which certificates depend on the program (GKS-U or GKS-G), the track (Embassy or University), and the stage. In the 2026 cycle GKS-U used Forms 1–6 and GKS-G used Forms 1–10, and both required proof of citizenship and family relationship, graduation certificates and academic transcripts.
Are GKS-U and GKS-G application documents the same?: No. The 2026 GKS-U guideline lists six forms and seventeen numbered documents; the 2026 GKS-G guideline lists ten forms and twenty-two. Form 4 is not even the same document: it is the Recommender's Information for GKS-U and the Research Proposal for GKS-G. Use the guideline for the program you are applying to and do not reuse the other one's list.
Are the documents different for the Embassy Track and the University Track?: The list of documents is largely shared within a program, but the submission route is not, and a few rows are track-specific. In the 2026 GKS-G cycle the Embassy Track first round went through the Study in Korea System, while University Track first-round requirements were set by each university — and the research-program rows (Research Proposal, Letter of Invitation) appear only in the University Track table. In the 2026 GKS-U cycle the first round was set by each embassy or university for both tracks, and the number of copies for the later NIIED round differed by track.
Do GKS documents need an apostille or consular confirmation?: The required certificates do, at the NIIED stage — not the forms. Both 2026 guidelines say that if your country is a member of the Apostille Convention you submit the required certificates with an apostille, and otherwise with consular confirmation. The completed GKS forms are submitted as signed originals and explicitly do not need to be apostilled or consular confirmed.
Do translated documents need to be notarized?: Usually the guidelines ask for a certified translation rather than notarization, but there are real exceptions and they are easy to miss. The general rule is that a document written in a language other than English or Korean must be submitted together with a certified translation, and the apostille or consular confirmation goes on either the original document or that translation. However, the 2026 GKS-G guideline requires Chinese-language documents to be translated and notarized and submitted with an apostille, and the 2026 GKS-U guideline asks for a notarized certificate of expected graduation where that certificate itself cannot be authenticated. Both guidelines separately state that a notarized copy of an already-apostilled document is not accepted.
Do I submit originals or copies in the first round?: That is the one thing you cannot answer from the guideline alone. For the 2026 GKS-U cycle the first-round submission requirements — including whether photocopies, electronic files or untranslated documents are accepted — were set by each embassy or university. The 2026 GKS-G Embassy Track uploaded scans to the Study in Korea System, and its University Track requirements were again set by each university. Originals and authenticated certificates are what the later NIIED round requires.
What does an applicant who has not graduated yet submit?: A certificate of expected graduation at application time, followed by the real one later. In the 2026 GKS-U cycle an applicant expected to graduate had to submit the graduation certificate and transcript by 31 December 2025 after passing the first round. In the 2026 GKS-G cycle an applicant expected to graduate by 31 July 2026 submitted a transcript covering all semesters so far, then the final apostilled or consular-confirmed transcript by that date.
Is a recommendation letter required, and at which stage?: Yes, in both programs, and the handling differs. The 2026 GKS-U guideline required Form 4 (Recommender's Information) and said the recommendation letter must be the original, sealed in an envelope, for the first round. The 2026 GKS-G guideline required one letter on Form 5, dated within one year of the application deadline; Embassy Track applicants uploaded a scan of the signed letter for the first round and submitted the original to NIIED in the second.
Where do I find the current GKS application forms?: On the official Study in Korea GKS notice for your program. Each application-guideline notice carries the guideline itself plus an application-forms file as separate attachments, so the forms always come from the same notice as the rules that describe them. Do not reuse a form file from a previous cycle or from a third-party site.
Are the GKS 2027 document requirements available yet?: Not as of 21 July 2026. The most recent post on the official Study in Korea scholarship notice board was dated 10 July 2026 and no 2027 application guideline had been published for either program, so no 2027 document requirement can be stated yet. Everything on this page describes the 2026 cycle.
Which requirements must I confirm with my embassy or university?: The first-round submission channel, the accepted file or copy format, the number of copies, any local deadline, and any extra document such as a portfolio. The 2026 GKS-G guideline says the first-round institution may add or simplify documentation requirements at its own discretion; the 2026 GKS-U guideline says it may simplify the submission of documents based on its own selection procedure. Either way that institution's notice governs your first round, so read it before you pay for an apostille or a translation.

Answers drawn from 2026 GKS-U Application Guidelines (English).pdf and 2026 GKS-G Application Guidelines (English)_0220.pdf, plus the Study in Korea scholarship notice board for the 2027 status · 2026 cycle · last verified 2026-07-21

Sources and next steps

Every requirement on this page was read out of the documents below on 2026-07-21. Where a guideline and a local notice disagree about your first round, the notice from the institution running that round is the one to follow.

Source	Scope	Cycle · published
2026 Application Guidelines of Global Korea Scholarship for Undergraduate Degrees (GKS-U)	Undergraduate program. Attachment of record: 2026 GKS-U Application Guidelines (English).pdf	2026 · 2025-09-05
2026 Application Guidelines of Global Korea Scholarship for Graduate Degrees (GKS-G)	Graduate program. Attachment of record: 2026 GKS-G Application Guidelines (English)_0220.pdf	2026 · 2026-02-02
Study in Korea · GKS scholarship notices	Where new guidelines, corrections, and the next cycle are announced. Check it for anything published after our last verification date.	Ongoing
Your first-round embassy notice	Submission channel, copy counts, local deadlines, and country-specific rules for Embassy Track applicants. Published by the Korean embassy of your citizenship.	Per cycle · verify locally
Your first-round university notice	Submission format and any additional documents for University Track applicants. Published by the university you apply to.	Per cycle · verify locally

Next steps

Check the GKS application timeline Explore GKS universities and tracks Write your study plan and personal statement Check your GKS GPA baseline

Unofficial guide · independent, not affiliated with GKS, NIIED, or the South Korean government.Cycle 2026 · last verified 2026-07-21Confirm every requirement against the published guidelines and your first-round notice.

GKS Required Documents & Apostille Checklist

Before you use this checklist

Choose your program, track, and stage

Application forms

GKS-U forms · Form 1–6

GKS-G forms · Form 1–10

Academic documents

GKS-U academic documents

GKS-G academic documents