Studying in Korea: why the university you pick decides how hard the visa is

People compare the wrong thing

Choosing a Korean university, most people weigh ranking, cost and city. All of that matters, but there is one more attribute that rarely reaches the guides — and it affects not your studies but whether you get into the country.

In Korea the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Education assess universities every year on how well they handle international students. The system is called IEQAS.

What certification gets you

Universities that pass are certified. For their students that means two tangible things:

• Eased visa screening — relaxed criteria when applying for a student visa.
• More part-time hours on weekdays than students at non-certified universities get.

And what happens if a university does not pass

Non-certified universities are inspected. Where they fail to meet the standards, they are designated as institutions whose students face stricter visa screening — on language proficiency and financial capability above all.

So the same applicant, with the same documents, is screened to a different standard depending on where they are going. All else equal, that is a real difference.

A group of eighteen institutions with particularly strong results is singled out separately as excelling in this assessment.

What to check before applying

Status is published and updated, so check the current list rather than somebody's article.

• Whether your university is on the current certified list.
• If not, what language and financial requirements will be applied to you specifically.
• How many part-time hours students at that university are allowed.
• The term of your D-2 student visa: it is issued for up to two years at a time, then extended.

In short

Korea is a country where a university's administrative status deserves as careful a look as its ranking. It is free to check, takes minutes, and spares you an unpleasant discovery at the visa stage.

If you are unsure which category your university falls into and what it means for your particular file, write to us and we'll work it through.