Jung Da-hyun is a reporter at The Korea Times, covering social issues in Korea, including foreign residents, education, environment and politics. Driven by a deep interest in people’s stories, she focuses on investigative and feature reporting through direct interviews and field coverage. She received the Amnesty International Korea Media Award for her “Deepfake Crisis at Schools” series. Reach her at dahyun08@koreatimes.co.kr. Always open to hearing your stories.
Bureaucratic hurdles undermine Korea’s ambitions to attract int’l students
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By Jung Da-hyun
Visa delays, shifting rules leave international students lacking in job opportunities, questioning their future in country
Editor’s note
This is the first article in a series on the globalization of Korean universities, investigating the widening gap between government-led recruitment targets and the administrative realities international students face in the immigration system. — ED.
Korea’s drive to attract and retain international students is hitting a roadblock at immigration offices, a place many students now view as a source of fear rather than support.
Even as universities expand recruitment and the government pledges to ease visa rules, inconsistent administrative practices and constantly shifting guidelines at immigration offices are emerging as major hurdles to the country’s study-to-settlement pathway for foreign students.
All students interviewed by The Korea Times for this article requested that their names not be used.
One Iraqi student said she nearly lost an internship due to a delayed decision on her part-time work permission.
She received an internship offer from a tech company building apps for foreign communities in Korea and was scheduled to begin work on Jan. 5. She applied for part-time work authorization on Dec. 20 last year, and received a text message six days later stating the application had been “accepted by an appropriate department.”
There was no further notice for about a month, until the immigration office informed her on Jan. 21 that the application had been rejected due to “missing documents,” specifically a Test of Proficiency in Korea (TOPIK) score report.
“When it was rejected, I felt very frustrated, and the company was also put in a difficult position,” she said.
Because she had already started working, the late notice of rejection could have placed her in violation of immigration rules.
The decision was difficult to understand, as she had previously obtained part-time work permission and TOPIK scores are generally accepted even after expiration.
“What’s most frustrating is that you can’t reach anyone,” she said. “I tried calling the immigration office more than five times, but no one answered.”
After she and her employer filed multiple civil complaints, the permit was eventually approved — more than six weeks after the initial application.
“I was fortunate that the company was understanding toward foreign workers, since it serves foreign communities. Otherwise, I might have been fired,” she said, adding that some of her friends had actually lost their jobs over similar issues.
Delayed processing has become a recurring problem for many international students seeking permission for part-time work. Students say that even when they apply well in advance, approvals often arrive late, causing them to miss internship or job opportunities.
In response to questions from The Korea Times about the processing period for part-time work permit applications, the Ministry of Justice said the official guideline states that approvals should be processed within 14 days for international students.
Many students, however, say the process typically takes about a month in practice. In cases where additional documents are requested, they say, it can extend even longer.
A woman stands in front of a McDonald's store in Seoul, Feb. 19. Yonhap
Shifting rules add to confusion
Beyond processing delays, requests for additional documents — sometimes not listed among the required materials — can make it even more difficult for international students to sustain their stay.
One student from the Russian Federation, lost an opportunity to earn money for living expenses after immigration officials demanded a document that was impossible to obtain.
After the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war, international sanctions made it difficult for her to receive financial support from home. Although she was on a scholarship, she sought part-time work to cover her living expenses.
Having already worked for about a year at a McDonald’s branch, she applied for part-time work authorization to take additional hours at another branch.
After she submitted the required documents, immigration officials requested a copy of the employer’s identification listed on the business registration certificate.
But the workplace was a directly operated McDonald’s branch rather than a franchised store, making it practically impossible to obtain a copy of the CEO’s identification.
“The CEO is someone even regular Korean employees would never meet,” she said. “The branch tried for more than a month to resolve the issue, and the manager even contacted the immigration office directly, but nothing changed.”
Her application was eventually rejected, and the job opportunity fell through.
“If the rules are enforced this rigidly without practical consideration, it makes me wonder whether it’s worth staying in Korea,” she said.
A sign outside the Ministry of Justice in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province / Yonhap
The justice ministry has frequently revised guidelines, especially those governing part-time work permissions for international students on D-2 visas.
Under the most recent version of the rules, applicants are required to submit a copy of the employer’s identification along with a copy of the business registration certificate. However, the guidelines in effect when the Russian student submitted her application in October 2024 did not list it among the required documents.
The government’s manual on foreign resident stays, which outlines visa and work permit procedures, typically exceeds 600 pages. Even Korean speakers often find it difficult to determine when specific sections were updated, making it even harder for international students to keep track of changing requirements.
Graphic by Cho Sang-won
Meanwhile, applications for part-time work permits by international students have surged in recent years, rising from 28,272 in 2023 to 42,852 in 2024 and 81,859 in 2025 — nearly tripling over three years. However, no official statistics are available on how many applications were rejected or required additional documentation.
Visa-related complications extend beyond part-time work.
Despite being admitted on a full scholarship, a Ph.D. student studying artificial intelligence and robotics at a university in Seoul said he received no financial support for three months after arriving in Korea because of a delay in receiving his foreign residence card (previously called an alien registration card, or ARC). The student shared his experience on condition of anonymity.
While his university scholarship contract guaranteed a minimum monthly allowance, his laboratory agreement did not specify payment terms.
“My professor told me the stipend could not be paid until my ARC was issued,” the student said, noting that the process was delayed due to appointment backlogs and administrative processing at the immigration office.
As a result, he received no financial support during his first three months in Korea.
People wait in line at the Incheon Airport Immigration Office at Incheon International Airport. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
Delays lead to lost opportunities
One of the biggest problems lies in the lack of consistency in administrative procedures, as processing times and additional document requirements often vary depending on the immigration office — and even the individual official handling the case.
“Many immigration policies operate with limited transparency,” said Kim Beom-su, an immigration attorney and affiliated professor at Hanyang University. “For foreign residents — as well as universities and companies that work closely with them — this creates significant inconvenience and highlights the need for improvement.”
He added that legal scholars have increasingly called for immigration procedures to be clearly regulated through formal legislation or, at minimum, for administrative guidelines to be disclosed to improve predictability.
“Citizens and foreign residents currently have no way of verifying the basis for administrative discretion,” Kim said, adding that this significantly undermines predictability and legal stability.
In response to these complaints, the justice ministry said it manages visa issuance and residency procedures for international students in a standardized and unified manner based on official guidelines.
The ministry added that, to reduce confusion in the field, it has designated dedicated officers for handling international students at immigration offices. These officers communicate directly with universities in an effort to improve the efficiency, speed and professionalism of administrative services.
However, confusion and inconsistencies persist in practice.
“Immigration policy increasingly encourages international students to pursue internships and settle in Korea, but shortcomings in frontline administrative handling are creating confusion on the ground,” Kim said.
Meanwhile, there are no legal or institutional safeguards for students who lose internship or employment opportunities due to administrative delays.
Under Korea’s Immigration Act, most residence-related permits are discretionary administrative approvals. As a result, legal protection generally applies only after the permit has been granted, meaning individuals cannot claim damages or seek relief based solely on contracts or agreements made before the permit is issued.