The client, a Turkish national, requested a D8 visa for themselves and F3 visas for their accompanying family.
I will skip the explanation of the D8 visa process, as I have explained it several times before. Please refer to the link below for more information.
When reviewing a D8 visa application, I consider the two most important criteria to be
1. Proof of the source of investment funds
2. The authenticity of the business
Although the review process for investment amounts over 300 million won is not as strict, for a 100 million won corporate investment D8 visa application, the two facts above must be substantiated.
The authenticity of the business serves as the second item favorably during the review. It's not that it's unimportant, but proving the source of investment funds may be slightly more critical.
However, for a 100 million won corporate investment, substantiating the source of investment funds is non-negotiable. It must be clearly demonstrated where and how the investment funds originated.
To substantiate the source of investment funds means to clarify exactly where and how the investment funds originated.
Typically, investment funds are transferred to Korea in dollars through a dollar account. Thus, account statements of the dollar account, including those of the originating account and documents supporting how the funds were generated, are required to substantiate the source of investment funds. If the investment came from a business, business registration certificates and business account transactions could be necessary; for trade, export-import certificates might be added.
The necessity for documents varies significantly from person to person, so the required documents differ individually.
※ Of course, the most basic documents to prove the introduction of investment funds include foreign exchange purchase proof, remittance confirmation, etc., and are essential documents that must be attached.
Secondly, the authenticity (expertise) of the business means
How much expertise does the applicant have in the business they want to undertake?
You can think of it as the part that gets evaluated.
For example, if the applicant has operated a restaurant in their home country and wants to do the same business in Korea, the relevance is significant, so it will work favorably in assessing the business's authenticity.
And if the applicant's major matches the business they want to do, it is also considered to have relevance.
However, if the applicant wants to start a different business in Korea that is entirely unrelated to their previous work or major, it is not necessarily rejected, but the authenticity of the business may feel weaker than in the former case.
In this case, the client had been running a business related to quasi-drugs and medical devices for a long time in their home country,
And the business they wanted to do in Korea was the same. Therefore, there were absolutely no problems with the business's authenticity (expertise), and since the investment funds were transferred in three batches, amounting to nearly 900 million won, there seemed to be no significant issues with issuing a D8 visa.
However, there were some problems during the acquisition of the factory,
And the business they wanted to do was not just subject to reporting but required licensing.
It was not easy to obtain licenses for the related business on behalf of the foreigner without a foreigner registration card, but with other representatives and acquaintances doing business in Korea, it was eventually possible to obtain all necessary licenses for the related business.
After that, corporate registration and business registration were completed,
Eventually, they were able to receive the foreign investment company registration certificate and apply for a D8 visa.
Another unique aspect of this case was that the client, including their accompanying family, had dual citizenship with both Iran and Turkey.
Having dual (multiple) citizenship does not pose a problem for visa applications.
In the case of dual (multiple) citizenship, one can choose one country and apply as a citizen of that country. There is a section in the application form where you need to fill in if you have a passport from another country, which you just need to fill in truthfully.
The client, due to unclear financial sanctions in Korea against Iranian nationals,
Wanted to apply for visas for themselves and their family of four with Turkish nationality, not Iranian.
Here, one potential issue was found.
The names of all four family members, including the client, differed between their Iranian and Turkish citizenship.
And in the case of the client, there was a previous record of entry into Korea under a different name than the one written in the current application.
In such cases, an official document issued by a government agency proving the fact of the name change must be attached. And that document must contain both the previous and current names.
In the case of the client and their family members, all four changed their names at the time of acquiring Turkish nationality,
Fortunately, the document issued by the Turkish government at the time of nationality acquisition, such as a nationality acquisition report, contained both the previous and current names.
I attached these documents additionally and applied for D8 and F3 visas.
I applied for a total of 4 people, 1 D8 visa and 3 F3 visas.
After the application, the immigration office did not request any additional documents.
And just yesterday, I confirmed that all four were granted permission.
