KIIP is not free. Since January 1, 2025 a Ministry of Justice notice charges 100,000 won for each of levels 1 to 4, and 70,000 plus 30,000 won for level 5. Level 0 is free.

Can an international student join KIIP?

A foreigner with an unexpired residence card or domestic-residence report card, and a naturalised citizen within 3 years of acquiring nationality. The rule names no visa type.

KIIP Korea 2026: Levels, Level Test, Test Dates and Fees

In short

Where you start: At the level your placement test (level test, 사전평가) assigns, or by a valid TOPIK level: TOPIK level 1 counts KIIP level 1 as finished, so you enter at level 2.
Next test registration: Placement test, round 7: registration October 13 – 17, 2026, test on October 31, 2026. Registration can close early when the seats run out. Checked on October 12, 2026.
Fee: KIIP is not free. Since January 1, 2025 a Ministry of Justice notice charges 100,000 won for each of levels 1 to 4, and 70,000 plus 30,000 won for level 5. Level 0 is free.
Who can join: A foreigner with an unexpired residence card or domestic-residence report card, and a naturalised citizen within 3 years of acquiring nationality. The rule names no visa type.

Which level you start at

The Ministry's question book lists the ways to a level: the placement test, starting at level 0, a valid TOPIK level, a marriage-migrant visa issued on proof of Korean, and a registered mid-level Korean course.

The starting level a TOPIK level assigns
TOPIK level	KIIP starting level
TOPIK level 1	KIIP level 2
TOPIK level 2	KIIP level 3
TOPIK level 3	KIIP level 4
TOPIK levels 4–6	KIIP level 5

TOPIK level 3 starts you at KIIP level 4. The TOPIK level must be valid on the day you apply.

TOPIK levels and the score for each

A placement-test result is valid for 2 years. If you already have a level and sit the test again, your earlier coursework is void and only the new result counts, even if it is lower.

Class too hard? The question book (opens in a new tab) explains how to ask for a lower level.

The tests and the 2026 dates

KIIP tests: who runs each, its questions, time and pass mark
Test	Run by	Questions and time	Pass mark
Placement test (사전평가)	Ministry of Justice	50 written + 5 spoken, 60 + 10 min	None: the score sets your level
End-of-level test, levels 1–3 (단계평가)	The institution	20 written + 5 spoken, 30 + 10 min	60 out of 100
Mid-term test after level 4 (중간평가, KLCT)	Ministry of Justice	30 written + 5 spoken, 50 + 10 min	60 out of 100
Final test after level 5 (종합평가): one for permanent residence, one for naturalisation	Ministry of Justice	40 written + 5 spoken, 60 + 10 min	60 out of 100

A test the Ministry runs (the placement test, the mid-term and the final) costs 38,000 won a sitting; the 2025 operating guideline says the end-of-level tests for levels 1 to 3 carry no fee.

Paper tests left in 2026

Checked on October 12, 2026. Dates can change: one result day has already moved this year.

Paper tests of 2026 still to be held: registration, test day and result day
Test	Registration	Test day	Results
Final test, round 7	Sep 29 – Oct 3	Oct 17	Oct 23
Placement test, round 7	Oct 13 – Oct 17	Oct 31	Nov 13
Placement test, round 8	Nov 3 – Nov 7	Nov 21	Dec 4
Final test, round 8	Nov 17 – Nov 21	Dec 5	Dec 11
Mid-term test, round 4	Dec 7 – Dec 9	Dec 19	Dec 28

On October 12, 2026 the 2027 calendar had not been posted; the 2026 one came out on December 1, 2025.

Computer tests

Seoul, Gwangmyeong and Daejeon have computer test centres; seats go first come, first served at kiiptest.org (opens in a new tab), which needs its own account and shows a waiting screen while registration is open. The Ministry's 2026 calendar notice says the placement and final tests run there all year.
The mid-term test on a computer does not run all year: it runs on Mondays and Fridays for 4 weeks at the end of each term. This term's draft schedule has 6 test days from December 14, 2026 to January 8, 2027 (registration December 3 – 9, 2026 and December 17 – 23, 2026).
Results are out from 4:00 PM on the result day, at socinet.go.kr and kiiptest.org. If you sit both a paper and a computer test, the result published later sets your level.

Sample questions (견본 문항) are on the Ministry's notice board (opens in a new tab).

Levels, hours and fees

KIIP levels: hours, the fee since January 1, 2025 and the test that follows
Level	Hours	Fee	Test after
Level 0 기초	15 hours 10 to finish	Free	No test
Level 1 초급1	100 hours 80 to finish	100,000 won	End-of-level test
Level 2 초급2	100 hours 80 to finish	100,000 won	End-of-level test
Level 3 중급1	100 hours 80 to finish	100,000 won	End-of-level test
Level 4 중급2	100 hours 80 to finish	100,000 won	Mid-term test
Level 5, basic course 기본	70 hours 56 to finish	70,000 won	Final test for permanent residence
Level 5, advanced course 심화	30 hours 24 to finish	30,000 won	Final test for naturalisation

To finish a level is to attend the hours shown; to complete a level that has a test is also to score 60 or more out of 100 on it.

Paying less, and when

Half the fee (50%) for those who attended every hour of the level, those a teacher recommends for their attitude, and other diligent participants.
The fee notice's list of people who pay nothing names no student (D-2) or language-trainee (D-4) visa.
Pay online between the end of a level and the test application; with the fee unpaid you cannot sit the test.
The Ministry's English KIIP page still gives 50 and 70 hours for level 5, the hours before August 16, 2021; since that day it is 70 + 30.

What a KIIP level counts for

The certificate of completion for level 5 and the mid-term and final pass certificates have no expiry date, the Ministry's question book of August 2026 says; a placement-test result lasts 2 years. The stay manual, in its points table for the job-seeker visa (D-10-1), recognises a completed level without an expiry date.

Lines common to the stay manual's Korean-language tables for the student (D-2), job-seeker (D-10-1) and points-based resident (F-2-7) visas, edition of September 18, 2026
KIIP level completed	Or placement-test score	TOPIK
KIIP level 3	61 or more	TOPIK level 3
KIIP level 4	81 or more	TOPIK level 4

The placement-test scores are in the student and job-seeker tables only; the resident-visa table counts completed levels.

On a student or job-seeker visa

Student visa (D-2): completing KIIP level 3 or 4, or the placement-test score on its line above, meets the Korean standard for part-time work hours; which line depends on your course and year.Part-time work hours on a student visa
Job-seeker visa (D-10-1): a first change to it after a degree from a Korean university is outside the points system. That first stay is 1 year, and the points system applies when you extend.
Job-seeker visa (D-10-1), within 3 years of a degree from a Korean university: a pass in the level 4 mid-term test (or a placement result that assigns level 5) or a valid TOPIK level 4 or higher is one way to be exempt from the points system.
Language-trainee visa (D-4-1): the school-change rule mentions KIIP next to a TOPIK level but gives no KIIP level.D-4 visa for Korean language study: documents and funds

Residence and naturalisation

Points-based resident visa (F-2-7): up to 20 points for a completed KIIP level or a TOPIK level, and 10 more for completing the basic course of level 5 or higher.
Permanent residence (F-5) and naturalisation: by the final tests and level 5. The benefits of completing level 5 are for those who took the classes, the Ministry's guideline of 2025 says.

How to join a class

Apply online only, at socinet.go.kr (opens in a new tab). The site has no phone layout; when a payment fails on a phone, the question book says to use a computer or the phone browser's desktop mode.
The 2026 terms run January 2 – May 10, 2026, May 11 – August 16, 2026 and August 17 – December 13, 2026; an institution may keep other dates.
Classes fill first come, first served, at an institution in the district of your registered address.Residence Card, extension and the D-4 to D-2 change
Classes run in the daytime, evenings and weekends. The central institution's online class is for those who cannot attend in person, for reasons such as living far away, pregnancy or work; other institutions run some classes online too.
Stay away 30 days in a row without leave and you are removed: that level's record is void and, under the 2025 operating guideline, you cannot join again for 6 months.

Find an institution on socinet.go.kr (in Korean) (opens in a new tab)

Sources

StudySunbae is independent of the Ministry of Justice and of the Korean Government; each figure on this page is quoted from a listed source, checked on October 12, 2026.