📢 Key Updates to Korea’s D-10 Visa
Effective October 29, 2025
Hello, this is KOWORK, your trusted platform for hiring global talent in Korea.
As of October 29, 2025, Korea’s D-10 visa program — especially relevant for hiring foreign interns — has undergone major policy changes.
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These updates significantly ease restrictions on visa duration, renewal terms, and internship periods — making it easier than ever for companies to hire and retain global talent under the D-10 visa.
This post will walk you through the key changes, along with eligibility criteria for foreign nationals who can legally intern in Korea — now for up to 3 years.
✅ Key D-10 Visa Updates (Effective from Oct 29, 2025)
| Category | Before | After (from Oct 29, 2025) |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum stay duration | Up to 2 years | Up to 3 years |
| Visa renewal cycle | 6 months | Renewable by 1-year units |
| Internship period at one company | Up to 6 months | Up to 1 year |
| Cumulative internship period | Up to 1 year | No limit |
✅ You can now host a single intern for 1 full year,
and foreign interns can experience multiple internships across different companies without restriction.
🔍 Detailed Breakdown of the Policy Changes
1. Stay Duration: Extended from 2 Years → 3 Years
Previously, D-10 visa holders could remain in Korea for up to 2 years.
With the revision, eligible foreign nationals can now stay for up to 3 years,
giving employers more time to assess, train, and potentially convert interns to full-time hires.
2. Visa Renewal: Changed from 6-Month to 1-Year Terms
Instead of renewing every 6 months (and preparing paperwork repeatedly),
visa holders can now extend their stay in 1-year increments, reducing administrative burden for both companies and interns.
3. Internship Periods: Relaxed Limits
| Type | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Per company | Max. 6 months | Up to 1 year |
| Total internship period | Max. 1 year | No limit |
For example, previously, a D-10 visa holder had to move to another company after a 6-month internship.
Now, a foreign intern can legally stay and work for one company for 12 months,
and still apply for further internships elsewhere.
👤 So, who qualifies for 3-year D-10 visa eligibility?
1. D-10-1: Points-Based Applicants
| Applicant Type | Max. Stay Period |
|---|---|
| Graduated within 3 years from a Korean college (associate or higher) | 3 years (1 year at a time) |
| At least 1 year work experience at a Global Top 500 company (within last 3 years) | 3 years |
| Graduated within 3 years from a Top 200 university (THE/QS) | 3 years |
| Engineering majors from QS Top 1,000 universities in Asia (e.g., Vietnam, China, India, Indonesia, etc.) | 3 years |
| Applicants who score 80+ points in the D-10 visa points system | 3 years |
| Applicants scoring 60–79 points | 1 year (6 months × 2 renewals) |
2. D-10-1: Exempt from Points-Based Evaluation
| Applicant Type | Max. Stay Period |
|---|---|
| Graduated from a Korean university + TOPIK Level 4 or above | 3 years |
| Foreign youth raised in Korea | 3 years |
| “Promising Talent” (under 29, graduated from QS/THE Top 200 university or Korean Studies major + TOPIK Level 6) | 3 years |
| Completed a Korean caregiving vocational course | 3 years (6 months × 2 renewals) |
| Previously worked in E-1 to E-7 professional visa categories | 1 year (6 months × 2 renewals) |
🧭 Greater Flexibility, Greater Talent Access
This revision is not just about extending duration —
it transforms how companies can strategically recruit, train, and convert foreign interns.
Now, employers can:
- Host foreign interns up to 1 year per person, per company
- Design multi-stage internship programs or longer onboarding pipelines
- Remove constraints on total internship duration across multiple firms
This shift opens the door to more sustainable and strategic global hiring practices in Korea.
💼 KOWORK: Your End-to-End Support Partner for Foreign Intern Hiring
We help you simplify and streamline every stage of the foreign intern process:
Before Hiring
- Eligibility screening based on D-10 criteria
- Filtering candidates eligible for 3-year stays
- Job posting and recruitment support
During Internship
- Automated internship declaration (required within 15 days of start)
- Reminder and management of visa timelines
- Korean Immigration compliance support
After / Conversion
- E-7 visa eligibility diagnostics
- Candidate transition support (intern → full-time)
- Visa conversion document guidance
🚀 Let’s Get Started
KOWORK helps you go from confused to compliant,
from interested to integrated when hiring global talent in Korea.
If you're planning to onboard foreign interns,
now is the time — and KOWORK is the place.
