Extension of Sojourn Period
체류기간 연장허가 — Immigration procedure (permission to extend authorized stay) — applies to holders of most stay statuses, including students on D-2 (Study/Degree) and D-4 (General Trainee / language course)
At a glance
Any registered foreign resident who wants to keep living in Korea beyond the expiry date printed on their Alien Registration Card / stay permission, without changing…
Varies.
Fee: 60,000 KRW (standard, in-person). Online e-applications via HiKorea receive a discount (reported around 48,000-50,000 KRW; exact discounted amount unverified). Government-/publicly-invited national scholarship students are exempt (no fee). Note: if a new Alien Registration Card is issued, a separate card fee applies (raised to 35,000 KRW from 2025-01-01).
Where this fits in your journey
Before arrival
Get admitted, prepare documents, apply.
During study
ARC, extensions, permits while in Korea.
After graduation
Job-seeking and work visas.
Settlement
Long-term residence and PR.
Who needs this
- ✓Any registered foreign resident who wants to keep living in Korea beyond the expiry date printed on their Alien Registration Card / stay permission, without changing their status.
- ✓For students: D-2 and D-4 holders who are continuing their studies at the same school.
- ✓You MUST apply BEFORE your current period of stay expires.
- ✓For students, immigration also reviews your recent academic record — attendance rate and grade average (GPA) of the most recent semester(s) — so staying enrolled and attending class is part of being eligible.
Documents you'll need
- Common documents (all applicants): integrated application form (통합신청서, 별지 제34호 서식)
- passport
- Alien Registration Card (외국인등록증)
- proof of your residence/address in Korea (체류지 입증서류, e.g. lease/dormitory certificate)
- fee. For D-2/D-4 students, typically also: certificate of enrollment (재학증명서) or standardized admission/enrollment document
- academic transcript (성적증명서) and/or attendance record (출석증명서)
- proof of financial ability to cover tuition and living costs (재정입증 서류, e.g. bank balance certificate). Exact documents vary by status and school — confirm the current list in HiKorea’s status-by-status guidance manual (체류자격별 안내매뉴얼) before applying.
How to apply
- HiKorea online (e-application, 전자민원) or in-person at the competent immigration office (출입국·외국인관서) with advance reservation (방문예약).
- Must be applied for before the current period of stay expires (generally accepted from up to 4 months before expiry).
- WHERE/HOW: Apply either
- online through HiKorea (하이코리아 전자민원, www.hikorea.go.kr) without visiting an office, or
- in person at the immigration office (출입국·외국인청/사무소) that covers your address — visits require an advance reservation.
- WHEN (application window): you can apply from about 4 months before your stay-expiry date up to the expiry date itself; for online e-applications the last accepted day is the day BEFORE the expiry date.
- Apply early — do not wait until the last day.
Deadlines & renewal
Varies. An extension grants an additional period of stay counted from the current expiry date; the length depends on your stay status and circumstances (for students it is commonly aligned with the remaining program / up to the standard maximum for D-2/D-4).
The exact granted period is decided by immigration and shown on the new stay permission. (Exact per-status length: unverified — confirm in the status guidance manual.)
Repeatable: you re-apply each time before the current period expires, subject to the total stay cap of your particular status and continued eligibility (for students, satisfactory attendance and grades). Applying late — after the expiry date — means you have overstayed; overstaying triggers a fine (범칙금) and can harm future applications, so extension is not guaranteed if you miss the deadline.
Requirements in detail
For student (D-2/D-4) extension, proof of living costs / financial capacity is generally required (e.g. bank balance certificate covering tuition and living expenses); exact amount set by the reviewing office. (unverified)
Sub-types
This is a single procedure applied across stay statuses. Student-relevant variants: D-2 (degree study) and D-4 (language trainee / general training).
The required documents and how academic performance is reviewed differ by status; always use the matching section of the official manual (체류자격별 안내매뉴얼).
2025–2026 policy updates
- (1) From 2026-01-02: applicants who reserve an immigration-office visit for sojourn-period extension (and certain other services) must pre-report employment information online via HiKorea during the reservation — job type (직종), business type (업종), and annual income (연간소득).
- Source: immigration.go.kr press release dated 2025-12-16.
- (2) From 2025-01-01: Alien Registration Card issuance fee raised 30,000 → 35,000 KRW (IC-chip mobile card); this is the card fee, separate from the 60,000 KRW extension fee.
- (3) Online extension via HiKorea e-application continues to be available with a fee discount vs. in-person (exact current discounted amount unverified — confirm on HiKorea).
Common mistakes
- Missing the deadline — applying after the expiry date = overstay, resulting in a fine and possible refusal of future applications.
- Poor attendance or low grades in the recent semester can block or complicate a D-2/D-4 student extension.
- Forgetting the address/residence proof (체류지 입증서류) or an up-to-date enrollment/transcript.
- Assuming extension is automatic — it is a permission that immigration reviews and can deny.
- Not reserving an office visit in advance (walk-ins are generally not accepted).
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