Today, we will take a look at how to extend a D-8 visa and the necessary documents.
First, based on Seoul, there are separate windows handling D-8 (Corporate Investment) visas at Seoul Immigration Office, Sejong-ro Branch, and Seoul Southern Immigration Office.
※ When drawing a waiting number, you can draw a waiting number with
"Diplomatic Investment" written on it.
So, when extending a D-8 visa, you don't need to make a reservation. Just draw a waiting number for the D-8 (Corporate Investment) visa window, wait for your number to appear on the monitor, and then go to the designated window for the service.
Last week, I had a case where a system engineer from Germany was invited to Korea and worked at the inviting company for a year, and they needed to extend their visa as they still had remaining time to work in Korea.
In the case of a D-8 visa, you usually receive a 1-year visa when you first come to Korea.
If the assignment period at the inviting company is three years and both the company and the applicant have no issues and are certain, the remaining two years are usually extended at once.
This time, the applicant was a high-salaried employee working for a well-established French investment company, and both the inviting company and the applicant were certain, so they were able to extend their visa for another two years without any issues.
※ In the case of extending a D-8 visa, if there are no additional documents needed to be submitted even in Seoul, the extension is granted on the spot, and the period of stay is updated on the back of the foreigner registration card.
Now, let's take a look at the list of required documents when extending a D-8 visa.
Documents for extending D-8 visa
Required documents from the applicant
1. Copy of the passport
2. One(1) passport size photo (white background, taken within 6 months)
3. Copy of resume
4. Copy of university degree (If not in English, it needs to be just translated)
5. Certificate of residence
6. Certificate of annual income
7. Foreigner ocuupation and Anuual income report
Required documents from headquarter office
1. Original assignment letter (signed)
2. Original certificate of employment (signed)
Required documents from local sponsoring office
1. Copy of certificate of foreign invested company
2. Original circumstantial statement of change of shareholder
3. Original certificate of tax payment covering recent one year period
4. Original Tax Payment Certificate
5. Original Local Tax Payment Certificate
6. Original certificate of VAT
7. Copy of business registration
8. Original certificate of corporation registration
9. Documents demonstrating the transfer of investment capitals
- Permission (declaration) of foreign currency transfer or confirmation of remittance issued by the Customs or a bank of the respective country
- Investment funds introduction statement, confirmation of foreign currency transfer, certificate of purchased foreign currency
10. Sales Record Certificate
11. Documents demonstrating existence of the place of business – office lease agreement
12. Application form
13. Power of attorney
14. CEO’s ID copy
※ Document No. 9, the proof of investment funds introduction, is required when applying for a D-8 visa but is not necessary when extending the visa.
When extending a D-8 visa, make sure to check the following points
The most basic thing to check first is whether there are any unpaid taxes, and if there have been changes in capital increase or decrease, total number of shares, or ownership, you must attach documents that can prove this (such as a circumstantial statement of change of shareholder).
For small and medium-sized businesses, review financial statements and value-added tax (VAT) certificates to check whether sales or operating profits are sufficient enough to grant a D-8 visa extension. If there are no sales or operating profits, it will be difficult to extend the visa unless you submit sufficient supporting documents to convince the immigration officer.
As a reference, in my case, to further prove certainty, I attach a list of the overseas headquarters and its affiliates, and sometimes a summarized company introduction. If there are multiple employees currently working in Korea on a D-8 visa, I create a separate list of employees working under the D-8 visa status in the Korean branch and attach it.