Short-Term Employment Visa

Who can apply

• ✓Foreign nationals who will do PAID work in Korea for a short period of 90 days or less.
• ✓This is the main difference from C-3 (short-term visit), which does not allow paid activity.
• ✓Typical C-4 activities: one-off performances, advertising and fashion modeling, sports/e-sports/go/singing competitions, short lectures/teaching (including English camps), research and technical guidance, installation/maintenance/repair or supervision of imported machinery, ships and industrial facilities under a service contract, and other short-term profit-making activities.
• ✓It also covers short-term seasonal work (단기 계절근로) in agriculture and fishery for workers invited by a local government/farm.
• ✓Simple manual (unskilled) labor is generally NOT eligible under the profit-purpose C-4 category, except through the dedicated seasonal-worker route.

Documents you'll need

• Visa application form (electronic application via the Korea Visa Portal www.visa.go.kr is the standard method)
• passport valid at least 6 months and a copy
• standard passport photo (3.5×4.5cm)
• application fee
• and category-specific documents such as an employment/service contract or invitation letter, the inviting organization’s business registration certificate (사업자등록증명), and proof of the activity. For performers/models/athletes: performance or competition recommendation, contract and career/credential proof. For lecturers/researchers: lecture or research contract and degree certificate. For English-camp instructors: degree certificate and criminal background check (both apostilled), employment contract and the program schedule. For SHORT-TERM SEASONAL WORK: workers are usually invited domestically, so the Korean host (local government/farm) first obtains a Certificate of Confirmation of Visa Issuance (사증발급인정서) from the immigration office, then the worker applies at the Korean embassy with the certificate, passport, photo and the employment/standard labor contract. Exact documents vary by nationality and by the Korean embassy/consulate.

How to apply

• Overseas embassy visa (사증) via a Korean mission, usually through the Korea Visa Portal.
• For seasonal work the domestic host (local government/farm) first obtains a Certificate of Confirmation of Visa Issuance (사증발급인정서) from an immigration office, then the worker collects the visa abroad.
• Apply at the Korean embassy or consulate abroad, in most cases through the Korea Visa Portal.
• Because C-4 is a short-stay (C) category it is normally issued abroad.
• For seasonal workers the domestic host institution typically applies for a Certificate of Confirmation of Visa Issuance (사증발급인정서) at a Korean immigration office first, and the worker then collects the visa at the embassy.
• Approval authority and required documents differ by sub-category; some professional/technical fields need a competent Ministry’s employment recommendation (고용추천).

Working on this visa

Yes – paid employment is the purpose of C-4. Work is limited to the specific short-term activity and employer/host stated in the visa, for a stay of 90 days or less.

Simple unskilled labor is generally excluded from the profit-purpose C-4 category, except via the dedicated seasonal-worker route.

C-4-1..C-4-5 cover short-term paid activities (temporary performance/entertainment; advertising & fashion modeling; competitions; short lectures/research/technical guidance; installation/maintenance/supervision of machinery & industrial facilities). Short-term seasonal farm/fishery work runs under C-4 (commonly cited C-4-5).

Exact sub-numbering varies by manual version (unverified).

2025–2026 policy updates

• On 2024-11-26 the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, and Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries jointly announced seasonal-worker (계절근로) reforms, implemented via an amendment to the Enforcement Rules of the Immigration Act (출입국관리법 시행규칙) that was under legislative notice (입법예고) from 2024-10-31 to 2024-12-10.
• Key points: (1) The two separate seasonal statuses – short-term C-4 (under 90 days) and E-8 (5 months or more) – are to be CONSOLIDATED into a single E-8 status regardless of stay length, to reduce confusion in registration and extension.
• (2) The maximum E-8 stay is to be EXTENDED from 5 months to 8 months, so workers can stay up to 8 months without a separate extension.
• (3) The minimum-wage guarantee standard changes from a day basis (at least 75% of the stay period) to an hour basis (at least 35 hours per week).
• (4) ‘Public-type’ (공공형) seasonal workers may also do sorting, washing, packing, primary processing of farm produce and seedling management at facilities such as agricultural product distribution centers, capped at 30% of each worker’s total working hours.
• (5) Married-immigrant invitation limits tightened: the number of seasonal workers a married immigrant may invite drops from 20 to 10 (effective 2025-01-01), and the eligible-relative scope narrows from 4th-degree to 2nd-degree relatives (siblings and their spouses) (effective 2026-01-01).
• Effective dates for the E-8 8-month extension and the C-4/E-8 consolidation were pending final promulgation of the rule at announcement; re-verify the current in-force text on law.go.kr and hikorea.go.kr (unverified final effective date).

Common mistakes

• Confusing C-4 with C-3: C-3 is an unpaid short-term visit, C-4 is for PAID short-term work.
• Assuming C-4 allows simple unskilled labor – it generally does not, except via the seasonal-worker route.
• Trying to extend C-4 past 90 days instead of changing to a proper long-term work visa.
• Seasonal workers or hosts forgetting that the domestic host usually must obtain a Certificate of Confirmation of Visa Issuance (사증발급인정서) first.
• Assuming a single fixed KRW fee (the fee is set in USD).
• Relying on an old C-4-x sub-number that has since been re-mapped.

Where this leads

Official source ↗  Official manual ↗