Korean student visa: D-2 vs D-4, documents, work hours and insurance

Korea has two student visas, and you do not get to choose between them. The program you are admitted to decides. It is not about length or difficulty: D-2 and D-4 differ by the type of study, and that decides your documents, whether you may work, when you join national health insurance and how closely the embassy looks at your bank account.

Where official sources do not publish a number, we do not make one up. We also point out the "rules" repeated across the internet that do not survive a check against the official documents.

D-2 and D-4 differ by the type of study

The Ministry of Justice visa manual defines them like this:

• D-2 (study abroad) is for regular, degree-granting education at a college (전문대학) or above.
• D-4 (general training) is for courses: a university language institute, a private education institution or a school. These programs do not award a degree.

So a Korean language course is D-4, not D-2. A bachelor's, master's or PhD program is D-2.

Each status has sub-codes. From the official visa portal list:

• D-2-1: associate degree (2–3-year college)
• D-2-2: bachelor's degree
• D-2-3: master's degree
• D-2-4: doctoral degree
• D-2-5: research program
• D-2-6: exchange student
• D-2-7: work-and-study program
• D-4-1: Korean language course at a university language institute
• D-4-3: school students
• D-4-6: courses at a private institution not attached to a university
• D-4-7: studying a foreign language other than Korean

Compare D-4-1 and D-4-6. "Language course" can mean at least two different visas, depending on whether the school belongs to a university. That affects the procedure and the later switch to D-2.

The longest period granted at a time is two years for both statuses, with extensions. That is a ceiling: on first entry you get whatever period immigration sets for your program and institution.

The university's accreditation matters more than your documents

This is the most underrated factor. Korea sorts universities into categories under IEQAS, and the category decides how your visa is reviewed. Under the joint Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Education announcement of February 2026:

• accredited university (인증대학): reviewed on the Standard Admission Letter alone; financial documents are required only from citizens of countries on the Ministry of Justice lists;
• non-accredited university: the university's capacity, your education and your finances are checked;
• university under intensified screening: in-depth review, up to an interview and a check of how likely the applicant is to work illegally;
• visa-restricted university: in the announcement's own words, visa issuance is "restricted in principle".

After the 2025 review, 16 degree-granting universities and 4 language centers had visa issuance restricted for one year, starting from the second semester of 2026. Accreditation is now granted for four years (March 2026 to February 2030) with yearly monitoring, and penalties for abusive recruitment have been raised to up to three years.

Check the list on Study in Korea before you pay anything. A university that looks strong may sit in a category where you simply will not get a visa.

The documents

Each embassy publishes its own list, and they differ. For a university that is accredited, the core set is usually:

• the visa application form and a photo;
• your passport and a copy;
• the visa fee;
• the Standard Admission Letter (표준입학허가서) and the university's business registration certificate;
• a tuberculosis certificate from a designated clinic, if you are from one of the 35 countries listed below.

For a non-accredited university, embassies add your diploma or school certificate, a bank statement and your sponsor's documents. Some also ask for translations of your education documents into Korean. For D-4 the set is usually the same; schools and lower-level institutions also need a copy of their registration certificate.

A police clearance certificate does not appear in any of the official D-2 or D-4 lists we checked. An embassy can always ask for extra documents, but none of them publishes it as a standard requirement.

Why "you need $20,000 in the bank" is not an answer

Online you will find exact figures: $20,000 for D-2, $9,000 for a language course, sometimes amounts in won. We traced where they come from.

Many embassy pages do not name a fixed amount at all. The Korean embassy in Russia, for example, asks for a bank statement "exceeding the costs stated in the Standard Admission Letter". The figure that counts is the one in your own admission letter.

Fixed figures do exist, but on specific embassies' pages and from specific years. The Korean embassy in Uzbekistan, in a 2020 notice, named $20,000 for the Seoul area, $18,000 for other regions and $10,000 for language courses, held on deposit for at least three months in a particular bank. None of this applies to applicants in other countries.

The amount depends on the embassy, the university's accreditation, the level of study and the university's region. There is no single standard. Look at the page of the embassy you are applying to, and do not borrow another country's requirements.

How the check works is more useful to know. Under the Korean wording one embassy publishes, you prove funds for one year ahead (six months for language courses), and the embassy looks at the account's history over the last six months, not just the balance. Money that appeared a week before you applied works against you. Sponsors are limited too: parents come first, and siblings are accepted only if there are no parents.

The tuberculosis certificate: designated clinics only

Korea keeps a list of 35 high-risk countries whose citizens must be tested for tuberculosis for long-stay visas. The requirement covers D-2 and D-4 and applies to stays longer than 91 days. The countries:

Angola, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Cambodia, China, DR Congo, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Malaysia, Moldova, Mongolia, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Zimbabwe.

This is where people lose the most time. An ordinary chest X-ray from your local clinic will not do. The certificate is accepted only from a clinic designated by the embassy you apply to, and it is issued on your passport. It is valid for three months, so there is no point in getting it too early.

Age exemptions vary by embassy: one exempts children under 6, another children under 5 and pregnant women. Check your embassy's page.

No single rule on apostilles and translations

There is no universal checklist here either. Some embassies want an apostille on school certificates and certified English translations; some want Korean translations for non-accredited universities; some do not mention an apostille for D-2 or D-4 at all.

We found no Korea Immigration Service text that sets one rule for everyone. So "you need an apostille and a notarized Korean translation" is not true as a general rule. The embassy you apply to and your university set the requirements.

Where and how to apply

There are two routes, and they are quite different.

Directly at the embassy or consulate. You collect the full set of documents yourself and apply where you live.

With a Visa Issuance Confirmation number (사증발급인정번호). Your university, as the inviting party in Korea, applies to the immigration office on your behalf. The result arrives by email as a number. It is valid for three months and for one visa only, but with it you take a much shorter set to the embassy: photo, passport and copy, and the fee.

The terminology trips up even consultants. "Visa confirmation" can mean two different things. One is that number, 사증발급인정번호, the advance approval your university obtains before you apply. The other is the Visa Grant Notice, the visa itself: since July 2020 Korea no longer puts visa stickers in passports and issues a printout instead.

You cannot apply for a student visa entirely online. On the visa portal, visa.go.kr, you can fill in and print the form, check your application's status and print the issued visa. If you are refused, you will not be told why.

Processing times are rarely published. Where they are, they read like "from two weeks": a lower bound, not an upper one. Some embassies warn explicitly that a booked flight does not make processing faster.

The residence card after you arrive

Staying in Korea longer than 90 days requires registration and an Alien Registration Card, and a course of study is always longer than that. Register within 90 days of entry at the immigration office for your address.

The fee is ₩30,000, and it is paid in cash only. It is a small thing that sends people home from the office empty-handed. Bring the application form, your passport, one colour photo 3.5 × 4.5 cm and the attachments for your status.

If you received your status inside Korea, for example by changing it, register immediately when the permission is granted. The 90-day window does not apply.

The "20 hours a week" rule is out of date

This is where online guides are most often wrong. Almost all of them say: "20 hours a week during the semester, unlimited during the holidays." In that form, the rule is not confirmed by government sources.

What almost nobody mentions: by default, students may not work at all. In the Ministry of Justice's wording, a student's paid activity is "prohibited in principle" and is allowed only with part-time work permission obtained in advance, before you start the job.

The current system has tiers, and the hours depend on your level of study and proven language ability. From the Study in Korea table, during the semester and on weekdays:

• language courses: 10 hours without a language certificate, 20 hours with TOPIK 2;
• associate degree and years 1–2 of a bachelor's: 10 hours without, 25 with TOPIK 3;
• years 3–4 of a bachelor's: 10 hours without, 25 with TOPIK 4;
• master's and PhD: 15 hours without, 30 with TOPIK 4.

So without a language certificate you get 10 to 15 hours, not 20. The matching level of the Korea Immigration and Integration Program or a King Sejong Institute certificate counts instead of TOPIK, and students on English-taught programs can use TOEFL, IELTS or TEPS scores. The thresholds vary slightly between universities.

D-4 has its own limit: language course students may not work for the first six months after entry or after changing status. There is no way around it.

To get permission you need an employment contract, confirmation from your university, a transcript or attendance record and proof of your Korean level. Apply through your HiKorea account or at the immigration office; there is no fee.

Some jobs are banned whatever your hours: entertainment venues, delivery and driving, language teaching, construction and work through staffing agencies. Manufacturing has a separate restriction that is lifted at a high level of Korean.

In the holidays the hour limit is relaxed, and some sources describe it as lifted entirely, but only for students who meet the language requirement. Those who have not proven their level stay at their 10 to 15 hours in the holidays too. There is no single official wording to quote without caveats here, so check with your university's international office.

Working without permission is a breach of your visa conditions, with everything that follows for your status.

Health insurance

National health insurance is compulsory for students, but D-2 and D-4 join it at different times, and this is often reported wrong.

D-2 holders are insured from the day they enter Korea. Among D-4 holders, only school students join on arrival; language course students join after six months in Korea. The clock resets if, during that period, you leave the country two or more times and spend more than 30 days abroad in total.

D-2 and D-4 students pay 50% of the average premium. For 2026 the average premium, including long-term care, is ₩158,630 a month, so expect about half of that. The figure is revised every year, so check the current one on the NHIS website. How insurance fits into a monthly budget is in the cost of studying and living in Korea.

Switching from D-4 to D-2

The official text says the opposite of what is usually written.

HiKorea states the general rule: if you stop the activity of your current status and start the activity of another, you should leave the country, get a visa for the new status and enter again. Only then comes the exception: if the conditions can be met inside Korea, a change of status is possible "on a limited basis, after strict review".

In practice, switching from a language course to a bachelor's inside Korea is common. But it is a discretionary exception, not your right. Do not count on never having to leave.

The second detail: you need the permission before you start studying under the new status, that is, before the semester begins.

We deliberately do not name a TOPIK level "required" for the switch to D-2. The TOPIK 3 and TOPIK 4 figures that circulate come from the accreditation criteria for universities. They describe the share of a university's students at that level, not a requirement for you personally.

Extending your status

You can apply for an extension from four months before your status expires until the day it expires. Apply at the immigration office for your address, and only while you are in Korea: not from abroad and not through a representative outside the country.

Applying after the expiry date means a fine. The official page does not state the amount, so we do not either: ask the immigration contact center on 1345.

Do not leave it to the last day. When you apply online, the practical deadline comes earlier than the calendar one.

What your university must report about you

Your student status is tied to a specific institution, and the university must keep immigration informed.

It has 15 days from the day it learns that you did not register for the semester, took a leave of absence, were expelled, stopped studying or can no longer be contacted. A university that fails to report is fined.

You cannot quietly stay on after being expelled: immigration will know within two weeks. If you transfer or change programs, get the new permission before you start at the new place.

What this article leaves out, and why

Some figures you will easily find in other articles are missing here on purpose, because we could not confirm them in official sources:

• a minimum attendance rate for language courses: immigration publishes no threshold, and the percentages in Ministry of Justice documents apply to university accreditation, not to students;
• the fine for late registration or a late extension;
• a fixed bank balance as a rule for all embassies;
• a TOPIK level required to switch from D-4 to D-2;
• a list of "the main reasons for refusal": no official statistics on student visa refusals are published.

If an article states these numbers confidently without naming a specific embassy or document, it copied someone else's article and never opened the source.

Sources

• HiKorea: Korea Immigration Service portal
• Korea Visa Portal
• Study in Korea: residence status and part-time work
• National Health Insurance Service
• Visa guide with the tuberculosis and Ministry of Justice country lists: Pusan National University