Korea Visa Renewal FAQ — 12 most common questions

Most visa categories allow filing up to four months (about 120 days) before your stay expires. F-5 permanent-residency card reissue is allowed six months early. Apply as early as possible because HiKorea appointment slots in Seoul, Suwon and Anyang often back up two to three months.

Even one day past your ARC expiry counts as illegal overstay under the Immigration Control Act. Typical first-time fines start at KRW 100,000 and can escalate to KRW 30 million. Worse, every overstay triggers a one to five year re-entry ban and a permanent record that affects future visa, residency or naturalization applications.

Signing up requires Korean SMS verification, so you need someone to share their Korean number once. After registration you can change the phone number or rely on email. Foreign phone numbers and Google Voice are blocked by HiKorea for security reasons, so plan ahead before your previous appointment cycle expires.

Refresh the booking page at different times — cancellations open new slots constantly. Try early morning (around 9 am) and Sunday evening (around 8 pm). The law lets you book at any office within your same province, so expand your search radius. If nothing works, walk-in appointments are accepted at smaller branch offices.

Passport, current ARC, extension application form, certificate of enrollment (재학증명서) issued within 30 days, academic transcript, tuition receipt, accommodation proof, and a bank balance certificate showing at least USD 10,000. Universities often require 1–3 days to issue documents; longer during semester start.

Standard processing is two to six weeks after submission. You receive a notice through HiKorea (and SMS if you registered a Korean phone). Your original ARC remains legally valid while the application is pending, even if the printed expiry date passes — as long as you filed before the original expiry.

For most visa types, trips abroad shorter than one year do not require a re-entry permit. However, A-3, some H-2 and some E-9 classes still need one. Apply for a re-entry permit at HiKorea before departure if you are unsure; single re-entry is free, multiple re-entry is KRW 30,000.

Extension keeps the same visa class with a longer stay period (e.g. D-2 → D-2). Change converts to a different category (e.g. D-2 → D-10 or E-7 → F-2-7) and requires proving eligibility for the new class. Always start a change application before the current visa expires; never let a visa lapse first.

F-5 status itself does not expire, but the plastic ARC card must be reissued every ten years per Article 33 of the Immigration Control Act. Missing the deadline incurs fines up to KRW 1,000,000 and, in rare cases, F-5 cancellation review. Renewal is a simple appointment with a KRW 30,000 fee.

No. visadday is a fully client-side tool. Your visa type and expiration date are stored only in your browser localStorage and optionally encoded into a shareable URL parameter. We do not run a backend, do not collect any personal data, and do not send emails or push notifications.

Yes. Click "Copy share link" on the tracker page — the link contains your visa type and expiry encoded in the URL. When your spouse opens it on any device the same D-day timeline appears instantly, no signup required. You can also download the .ics file and forward it via KakaoTalk or email.

The Immigration Contact Center (외국인종합안내센터) operates in twenty languages from 9 am to 10 pm KST. Call them when you have any extension question, when you realize you may overstay, or when HiKorea rejects your application without clear reason. Self-reporting an overstay through 1345 often results in reduced penalties.