- D-8 is the ‘corporate investment’ status of sojourn under the Immigration Act; D-8-1 is the sub-type for investors in a Korean corporation.
- Each foreign investor needs at least KRW 100 million invested and at least 10% of the voting shares — the definition of foreign investment in the Foreign Investment Promotion Act.
- The money must be wired from abroad from the investor’s own account, notified and registered; the company must be a registered foreign-invested company.
- Immigration expects independent business premises and an applicant who actually manages the company.
- A grant runs for up to five years and is renewed while the business operates; spouse and children can follow on dependant status.
Of all the routes a foreign founder can take to live in Korea, the D-8-1 is the most direct: invest in your own Korean company, manage it, and stay in the country while you do. It is also the route where the company and the visa are most tightly bound together. Immigration does not assess a D-8 application in isolation; it assesses the company behind it, the money that went into it and the premises it occupies.
That is good news for a well-prepared founder, because the criteria are documentary rather than discretionary. If the investment is registered, the remittance trail is clean, the premises are real and the business plan is credible, the application is a filing exercise. This guide sets out each requirement, the provision behind it and the document that proves it.
Where the D-8 comes from
Foreigners stay in Korea under a status of sojourn (체류자격, cheryu jagyeok) granted under Article 10 of the Immigration Act. The long-term statuses are listed in Article 12 of the Enforcement Decree and its annexed table, which defines the D-8 corporate investment (기업투자, gieop tuja) status as covering foreigners who manage or are engaged in a Korean enterprise in which they have invested under the Foreign Investment Promotion Act, together with certain venture and technology founders.
In practice the D-8 is divided into sub-types. The one this guide is about, and the one most founders need, is D-8-1: investment in a corporation. The others are D-8-2 for founders of certified venture companies, D-8-3 for investment in an individual business, and D-8-4 for graduates founding technology start-ups, usually through the government’s OASIS programme.
| Sub-type | For whom | Core condition |
|---|---|---|
| D-8-1 | Investor managing a Korean corporation | Registered foreign investment of KRW 100m+ per investor |
| D-8-2 | Founder of a certified venture company | Venture certification under the venture business law |
| D-8-3 | Investor in an individual business | Investment in a sole proprietorship run by the investor |
| D-8-4 | Graduate tech founder | Degree, intellectual property or OASIS points |
The D-8 family. Requirements for each sub-type are detailed in the Ministry of Justice’s visa manual.
Requirement 1: a registered foreign investment
Everything starts with the definition of foreign investment in Article 2 of the Foreign Investment Promotion Act and Article 2 of its Enforcement Decree. A foreigner’s investment counts when it is at least KRW 100 million and gives the investor at least 10% of the voting shares of the Korean company, or comparable influence over management.
Two consequences are easy to miss. The threshold is per investor: two foreign partners who both want a D-8 each need KRW 100 million, so the company needs at least KRW 200 million from abroad. And the investment must be formally recorded. Under Article 5 it is first reported as a foreign investment notification (외국인투자신고, oegugin tuja singo), and under Article 21 the company is then registered as a foreign-invested company (외국인투자기업) and receives a registration certificate (외국인투자기업 등록증명서). That certificate is the first document an immigration officer looks for.
Requirement 2: money from abroad, from you
The investment must arrive in Korea as foreign currency, wired from the investor’s own account abroad and converted by a Korean foreign exchange bank (외국환은행) under the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act. The bank issues a certificate of foreign currency purchase (외화매입증명서) that names the remitter, the amount and the date.
The officer will lay three documents side by side: the foreign investment registration certificate, the bank’s certificate and the company’s bank statement showing receipt. Names, amounts and dates must match. Cash, transfers from Korean accounts, crypto, and payments from a relative or a different company break the chain.
The visa follows the company. So build the company for the visa.
Requirement 3: real business premises
The company must have independent business premises (독립된 사업장) where it actually operates. The Ministry of Justice’s visa guidelines are consistent on this, and in practice it is the requirement most often failed.
A registration-only address, a mail-forwarding service or a desk-sharing arrangement with no defined space of its own will not pass. A small serviced office with its own lockable room, leased in the company’s name, usually will. The lease is filed with the application and the premises may be inspected. Check the lease against the rules before you sign it.
Requirement 4: you manage the company
The D-8-1 is for the investor who runs the business, not a passive shareholder. The applicant is normally registered as a director (이사) or representative director (대표이사) of the company, appointed and registered under the Commercial Act. If the investor is a foreign corporation, the visa goes to the person it sends to manage the Korean company, who must be shown to hold that role.
Investors with less than KRW 300 million are typically asked to show experience in the same line of business: previous companies, contracts, a CV that matches the plan. The point is to show that the Korean company is a real business run by someone who knows how.
Requirement 5: a business that operates
At the first application the officer looks at the plan; at every renewal, at results. A credible business plan (사업계획서) sets out customers, revenue, staff and premises for the first years. At renewal, immigration looks for revenue, VAT and corporate tax filings and payroll — including the director’s own salary. A dormant company with a visa attached is exactly what the renewal is designed to catch.
A business plan immigration believes
The business plan (사업계획서) is the one document in the file that the founder writes rather than collects, and it carries more weight than founders expect. Officers read many plans; they recognise a template.
A plan that works is short and specific. It names the product or service and the Korean customers or customer types it is for. It shows how the KRW 100 million or more will be spent in the first year — rent, salaries, stock, marketing — and roughly when revenue arrives. It explains why the business needs to be run from Korea and why the applicant is the person to run it. It mentions hiring, because Korean jobs are one of the reasons the D-8 exists.
- Market: who buys, in which industry or city, and why from you.
- Money: how the investment is spent, month by month for the first year.
- People: the applicant’s role, planned Korean hires and when.
- Premises: the office, its size and what happens there.
- Numbers: revenue and costs for three years, conservative rather than heroic.
The document file
| From you | From the Korean company | Proof of investment |
|---|---|---|
| Passport valid 6+ months | Corporate registry extract | Foreign investment registration certificate |
| Application form and photo | Business registration certificate | Bank certificate of foreign currency purchase |
| Criminal record certificate, apostilled | Articles and shareholder register | Company bank statement showing receipt |
| Proof of business experience | Office lease in the company’s name | Capital contribution certificate |
| Certified Korean translations | Business plan |
The core D-8-1 file. The list of supporting documents is set by the Enforcement Rule and the Ministry of Justice manual; officers may ask for more.
The legal list of documents for each status is set out in Article 76 of the Enforcement Rule of the Immigration Act and its annexed table, and the Ministry of Justice publishes an operational manual that officers follow. Foreign documents need an apostille or consular legalisation and a certified Korean translation.
From plan to visa
Applying from abroad
Once the company exists and the investment is registered, the investor applies for a visa at a Korean embassy or consulate in the country of residence. The visa is issued for entry; on arrival the holder registers as a foreign resident.
Changing status inside Korea
A founder already in Korea on another status can usually apply for a change of status of sojourn (체류자격 변경허가) under Article 24 of the Immigration Act at the local immigration office, without leaving the country. Some short-term statuses do not allow a change inside Korea, so check before you rely on it.
After arrival
A foreigner staying longer than 90 days must apply for alien registration (외국인등록) within 90 days of entry under Article 31 of the Immigration Act. The resulting residence card is what banks, landlords and mobile operators will ask for.
When the investor is a company
Many D-8-1 holders are not personal investors but managers sent by a foreign parent. Here the foreign company is the investor: it makes the KRW 100 million investment, holds the shares and appears on the foreign investment registration certificate. The visa goes to the individual it appoints to manage the Korean company.
The file then has two layers. For the parent: its corporate documents, the board resolution approving the investment and appointing the manager, and proof that the remittance came from its account. For the manager: proof of employment with or appointment by the parent, the director registration in Korea and evidence of relevant experience. The 10% test applies to the parent’s holding, not to the manager personally.
Living on a D-8
A D-8-1 holder may work for the company he or she has invested in and manages; that is the purpose of the status. Taking other employment in Korea is a different matter and generally requires permission for activities outside the status, or a different status altogether.
Pay yourself. Korean payroll means monthly income tax withholding and social insurance contributions, and it is exactly what immigration will look for at renewal. A director who takes no salary from a company that claims to be trading undermines the case the visa rests on. The same records support everything else a resident needs: a bank account, a lease, a phone contract, health insurance.
Changes after the visa is granted
The visa is tied to a set of facts — the investment, the company, the holder’s role. Changing any of them has consequences.
Reducing capital below the threshold, transferring shares so the holder drops below 10%, or stepping down as director can undermine the basis of the status and should be planned with immigration in mind. Changes to registered matters — directors, address, capital — must also be registered with the court within two weeks under Article 183 of the Commercial Act as applied by Article 317(4), and a change of head office should be reported to the tax office. Additional investment, by contrast, strengthens the file and is reported as a further foreign investment.
How long you can stay
A D-8 grant may be issued for up to five years at a time, the maximum period for the status under the Enforcement Rule. In practice the first grant is often shorter, and the period depends on the size of the investment and the officer’s assessment. Before it expires, the holder applies for an extension of the period of sojourn (체류기간 연장허가) under Article 25 of the Immigration Act.
Renewal is not automatic. The officer checks that the investment is still in place, that the company trades and files its taxes, and that the holder still manages it. Keep the remittance file, the annual accounts and payroll records together; they are the renewal file.
Family
A D-8 holder’s spouse and minor children can usually apply for dependant status (동반, F-3), which allows them to live in Korea for the same period. Dependant status does not, by itself, permit employment; a spouse who wants to work needs a status of his or her own.
From D-8 to permanent residence
The D-8 can be the first step on a longer route. Korea offers permanent residence (영주, F-5) to foreign investors who meet higher thresholds — larger investment combined with hiring Korean staff — and to long-term residents who meet residence, income and other conditions. The exact routes are set out in the Enforcement Decree and change from time to time; see our guide to Korean investor visas.
Getting the order right
Most delays in D-8 cases come not from immigration but from doing things in the wrong order. The sequence that works is fixed by the documents each step needs from the one before.
- Decide the structure and the premises first. Capital, shareholding, head office and the type of office determine everything else, including the registration tax.
- Prepare the signing pack and the apostilles in parallel with choosing the office, because apostilles in some countries take weeks.
- Notify the foreign investment before the money moves. The bank needs the notification to treat the incoming funds as foreign investment.
- Send one clean transfer from the investor’s own account, in foreign currency.
- Incorporate, register for tax and register the foreign-invested company — the registration certificate is what immigration wants.
- Sign the lease in the company’s name once the company exists, after checking it against the independence requirement.
- Apply for the visa with a file in which every name, amount and date agrees.
Done in this order, the Korean part of the route typically takes six to ten weeks from the first notarised signature, with the consulate’s processing time on top.
D-8 or another status?
The D-8 is not the only way for a business person to stay in Korea, and it is worth checking it is the right one. A manager sent to a branch or liaison office of a foreign company typically uses the intra-company transfer (주재, D-7) status rather than D-8, because no Korean company is being invested in. A foreigner trading on his or her own account without a qualifying investment may look at the trade management (무역경영, D-9) status. Graduates with a technology start-up and intellectual property should consider D-8-4. And a foreigner who will be an ordinary employee of a Korean company, rather than its investor, needs an employment status, not D-8.
Reasons applications stall
- Premises that are not independent. The most common reason for refusal.
- A broken remittance trail. Money from a third party, several accounts or in several currencies without a clear link to the investor.
- Two investors, one KRW 100 million. Each foreign investor needs the full amount.
- A plan with no customers. A generic business plan without named markets, revenue or staff.
- Documents that disagree. Different spellings of the investor’s name, different amounts on certificates, old registry extracts.
- A dormant company at renewal. No revenue, no tax filings, no payroll — including no salary for the director.
Costs to plan for
A D-8 route has three cost blocks. The company and foreign investment filings, with registration licence tax on the larger capital under Article 28 of the Local Tax Act — tripled if the head office is in the Seoul overcrowding control region. The premises: a serviced office or lease that meets the independence requirement. And the visa itself: government fees, translations, apostilles and the preparation of the file. We quote all three together, so nothing is done twice.
Korean terms on your application
Questions readers ask
What are the D-8 visa requirements?
A registered foreign investment company, at least KRW 100 million per foreign investor, at least 10% of the voting shares, money wired from abroad from the investor’s own account, independent business premises and the applicant managing the company.
Is a virtual office enough for the D-8?
No. Immigration expects independent premises where the business is actually conducted.
How long is a D-8 visa valid?
Up to five years per grant, extendable under Article 25 of the Immigration Act while the company operates.
Can I apply for the D-8 inside Korea?
Often yes, as a change of status of sojourn under Article 24 of the Immigration Act, depending on your current status.
Can two investors share KRW 100 million?
No. Each foreign investor needs at least KRW 100 million for foreign investment status.
Can my family join me?
Your spouse and minor children can usually apply for dependant status.
Alexander Baranov
Founder of the BCA Group · cross-border corporate and tax adviser since 2008
Alexander advises foreign founders and groups on company formation, tax structuring and corporate law in more than 40 jurisdictions across Europe, the Gulf, Asia and Latin America. He is the author of nine books on international business and tax and writes regularly for professional finance and tax journals. He works in English, German, Spanish and Russian.
This guide is based on the Korean statutes cited in the text and on our own filings. It is reviewed when the law or official rates change.