Korean visa rule changes

1. 2026-07-09 D-8

   Startup Korea Special Visa noted in the D-8 stay ceilings

   The D-8 stay-period table now names Startup Korea Special Visa holders: a technology-startup founder who has not yet incorporated receives a 6-month stay ceiling, against 2 years once the corporation exists.

   사증 p.104

2. 2026-07-09 F-4

   Overseas criminal records: explicit F-4 bar periods

   The manual annex spells out overseas-sentence bars for F-4: specified violent crimes bar issuance and change outright; drugs, voice phishing or habitual drunk driving bar them for 7 years from the sentencing date; other imprisonment-level sentences for 5 years. The bars end when their periods pass.

   동포 별첨1 pp.29-30

3. 2026-07-09 F-4

   Military-service timing bar for men who renounced nationality after May 2018

   Under the revised Overseas Koreans Act, a man whose first renunciation or loss of Korean nationality was on or after 1 May 2018, and who has neither completed military service nor received an exemption disposition, cannot be granted F-4 until December 31 of the year he turns 40. It is a timing bar, not a permanent one.

   체류 p.528

4. 2026-07-09

   Waegook now follows the July 2026 Ministry of Justice manuals

   The visa registry behind the Visa Finder and Path Finder is built from the 2026-07-09 editions of the Ministry of Justice guidance manuals (사증민원 and 체류민원 자격별 안내 매뉴얼). Every card cites the exact pages it comes from.

   법무부 매뉴얼 2026. 7. 9. 편

5. 2025-04-01 D-2

   Cuba removed from the D-2 certificate-of-admission restriction

   The April 2025 revision removed Cuba from the group of nationalities restricted to certificate-of-admission-only D-2 issuance — the manual strikes Cuba through on the issuance table. Cuban students follow the standard issuance rules.

   사증 p.67 · 개정이력 25.4.1

Summaries of official manual changes, not legal advice. Immigration offices, embassies and consulates decide all applications.

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