You may be issued a visa after receiving a visa issuance certificate.
Issuance of a “visa issuance certificate”
- A “Visa Issuance Certificate” refers to a document that can be issued upon the request of a foreigner intending to enter the Republic of Korea or of the person who invites that foreigner into Korea, especially when deemed necessary by the Minister of Justice (Article 9(1) and (2) of the Immigration Act).
Eligibility for issuance
- The following individuals can receive a visa issuance certificate (Article 9(3) of the Immigration Act; Article 17(1) of the Enforcement Rules of the Immigration Act).
· Citizens of countries without diplomatic relations or of specific countries
· Individuals with the following residence qualifications: Cultural Arts (D-1), Study (D-2), Technical Training (D-3), General Training (D-4), Reporting (D-5), Religion (D-6), Residency (D-7), Corporate Investment (D-8), Trade Management (D-9), Professor (E-1), Language Instruction (E-2), Research (E-3), Technical Instruction (E-4), Professional Job (E-5), Arts Promotion (E-6), Specific Activities (E-7), Seasonal Work (E-8), Non-professional Employment (E-9), Seafarer Employment (E-10), Visit and Stay (F-1), Residency (F-2), Accompaniment (F-3), Others (G-1), Visit Employment (H-2); or
· Others as specifically deemed necessary by the Minister of Justice.
Please follow the procedures below to obtain a visa issuance certificate:
How to apply
- Those wishing to obtain a visa issuance certificate must submit the visa issuance application form with the necessary documents for each residency qualification as listed in attached Table 5 of the Enforcement Rules of the Immigration Act to the Immigration Office head, office head, or branch office head in charge of the inviter’s residence (Article 9(3) of the Immigration Act; Articles 17(2) and 76(1)3 of the Enforcement Rules of the Immigration Act).
※ The necessary documents for each residency qualification can be found in attached Table 5 of the Enforcement Rules of the Immigration Act.
Issuance and validity period
- If the Minister of Justice deems visa issuance appropriate after reviewing the application documents, the visa issuance certificate will be issued as an electronic document according to the Electronic Government Act and will be sent to the head of the overseas diplomatic mission. The inviting person will promptly receive a notification including the visa issuance certificate number (Article 17(5) of the Enforcement Rules of the Immigration Act).
· However, if there are unavoidable reasons such as the absence of an immigration control information system at the overseas diplomatic mission, preventing the electronic transmission of the visa issuance certificate, the inviting person can directly receive the visa issuance certificate from the Minister of Justice (Article 17(6) of the Enforcement Rules of the Immigration Act).
- If the Minister of Justice decides not to issue the visa issuance certificate after reviewing the application documents because they meet the refusal criteria set by the law, a refusal notification including the reason for refusal can be sent to the person who applied for the visa issuance certificate or their representative through the communication network designated by the Minister of Justice (Article 17-4(1) of the Enforcement Rules of the Immigration Act).
· However, if the person who applied for the visa issuance certificate or their representative visits an Immigration Office (hereinafter “Immigration Office”), an immigration office (hereinafter “office”), or the branch office of the Immigration Office or an immigration branch office (hereinafter “branch office“), they must be promptly provided with the refusal notification (Article 17-4(2) of the Enforcement Rules of the Immigration Act).
- If the inviting person applies for a visa issuance certificate for more than 2 people at the same time, the Minister of Justice can issue the visa issuance certificate to the representative with a list of eligible recipients attached (Article 17(7) of the Enforcement Rules of the Immigration Act).
- The validity period of the visa issuance certificate is 3 months, and its effect is recognized for one visa issuance. However, the Minister of Justice can set a different validity period if deemed especially necessary (Article 18 of the Enforcement Rules of the Immigration Act).
If you apply for or receive a Visa Issuance Certificate through fraudulent means, you will face disadvantages..
Prohibition of fraudulent application and the penalties for violation
- No one shall falsely apply for a visa issuance certificate to admit a foreigner into the country or facilitate such an act (Subparagraph 2 of Article 7-2 of the Immigration Act).
- Anyone who falsely applies for a visa issuance certificate to admit a foreigner or facilitates such an act will be subject to imprisonment for up to 3 years or a fine of up to KRW 30 million (Subparagraph 3 of Article 94 of the Immigration Act).
Cancelation or modification of issuance
- If it is revealed that a visa issuance certificate was obtained through falsehood or other fraudulent means, the issuance of the Visa Issuance Certificate may be canceled or modified (Article 89(1)2 of the Immigration Act).
If you have received a visa issuance certificate, apply for visa issuance.
How to apply
- Those who have been notified of the visa issuance certificate number and other details can apply for visa issuance to the head of the overseas diplomatic mission by indicating the visa issuance certificate number on the visa application form (Article 17-2(1) of the Enforcement Rules of the Immigration Act).
- However, if there are unavoidable reasons such as the absence of an immigration control information system at the overseas diplomatic mission or the inability to transmit the visa issuance certificate electronically, those who have directly received the visa issuance certificate from the Minister of Justice can apply for visa issuance to the head of the overseas diplomatic mission by attaching the visa issuance certificate to the visa application form (Article 17-2(2) of the Enforcement Rules of the Immigration Act).
Visa issuance
- The head of the overseas diplomatic mission issues visas to those applying for visa issuance based on the visa issuance certificate, according to the details of the visa issuance certificate number and other details or the content of the visa issuance certificate (Article 17-2(3) of the Enforcement Rules of the Immigration Act).
- If there are unavoidable reasons preventing the electronic transmission of the visa issuance certificate and the applicant has directly received the visa issuance certificate from the Minister of Justice, the head of the overseas diplomatic mission will retrieve the visa issuance certificate when the visa is issued (Article 17-2(2) and (4) of the Enforcement Rules of the Immigration Act).