The visas of the Republic of Korea are categorized as a single-entry visa valid for only one entry into the Republic of Korea and a multiple-entry visa valid for at least two entries (Article 8(1) of the Immigration Act).

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The term of validity of the single-entry visa and the multiple-entry visa is as follows (Article 12(1) and (2) of the Enforcement Rules of the Immigration Act).

  ·Single-entry visa: three months from issue date

  ·Multiple-entry visa: any of the following terms after issue date

    √ Multiple-entry visas for those who fall under the status of stay of Diplomacy (A-1),

        Foreign Government Official (A-2), and International Agreements (A-3): within three years

    √ Multiple-entry visa for a person who qualifies for the status of stay of Work and Visit (H-2):

        within five years

    √ Multiple-entry visas Issued under Multi-Visa Issuance Agreements: the agreed term

    √ Multiple-entry visas issued in consideration of reciprocity and other national interests:

       the term specified by the Minister of Justice

“Status of stay”- means a certain qualification that aliens intending to enter the Republic of Korea are required to possess (see Article 10 of the Immigration Act).

 

- An alien who intends to enter the Republic of Korea must have any of the following visas

  (see rticles 10, 10-2, and 10-3 (1) of the Immigration Act).

  · Regular visa: statues of stay where the period of stay is limited under the Immigration Act

    √ Short-term visa: allows an alien to stay in the Republic of Korea for up to 90 days for

        tourism, visit, and other purposes (or for a period exceeding 90 days under a visa

        exemption agreement or reciprocity principles)

    √ Long-term visa: allows an alien to stay in the Republic of Korea for more than 90 days for

        education, training, investment, supervision, marriage, and other purposes, within the limit

        of stay period prescribed in the attached Table 1 of the Enforcement Decree of the

        Immigration Act

  · Permanent Residence: allows an alien to permanently reside in the Republic of Korea

    without any restriction to the scope of activities and period of stay

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- Every alien may stay in the Republic of Korea as permitted by his/her status of stay and within

  the authorized period of stay (Article 17(1) of the Immigration Act).

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※ The status of stay of aliens, the relevant person of each period of stay, and the upper limit of the period of one-time stay may be found in the attached Tables 1, 1-2, and 1-3 of the Enforcement Decree of the Immigration Act and attached Table 1 of the Enforcement Rules of the Immigration Act. In this case, the upper limit of the one-time stay period may be otherwise determined by the Minister of Justice if deemed necessary in light of international practices, reciprocity principle or national interest.

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※For more detailed information about the relevant person for each status of stay, please refer to <Hi Korea e-government-Information for Foreigners-Invitation/Visa and Visa issuance guidance by status of stay>

-The following is a visa of the Republic of Korea

① Visa number: The visa issuing serial number.

② Status: The type of social activity that an alien can do while staying in Korea.

③ Period of sojourn: The period of stay for the alien from the date of entry into the Republic of Korea.

④ Entries: This is the part that indicates the type of visa, that is, whether it is a single-entry visa (denoted by S) or multiple-entry visa (denoted by M).

⑤ Issue Date: Date of issuance of the visa.

⑥ Expiry Date: The expiration date of the visa, that is, the validity period of the visa. Visas with expired dates are not valid.

⑦ Issued at: This is the part where information on the visa issuance place is written.