Can I change from a C-3 short-term visa to a D-2 student visa without leaving Korea?
I came to Korea from Japan on a C-3 short-term visit visa and found a language school I really want to attend. Can I switch to a D-2 student visa while staying inside Korea, or do I have to fly back to Japan and reapply from scratch?
What documents will I need and how long does the immigration office usually take to process this?
1 Answer
In principle, the C-3 short-term visit visa is one of the visas where changing to another status inside Korea is restricted, so in most cases you will need to fly back to Japan, get the standard admission letter from the language school, and apply for the visa fresh at the Korean embassy or consulate. One important point: language-school study is actually a D-4-1 visa, not D-2. D-2 is for degree programs at junior college level and above, while a language institute falls under D-4. There are rare exceptions where an in-country change is allowed under specific conditions, but for ordinary language-school enrollment it almost never applies. The documents you will typically need are the standard admission letter, proof of tuition payment, a bank balance certificate (often around 10,000 USD), passport, and photos, and processing after you apply usually takes one to two weeks. To be safe, confirm your exact situation with HiKorea (hikorea.go.kr) or the 1345 immigration contact center before booking anything.