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Korea now runs two visa programs in which a local government, not the immigration office, decides who qualifies. Under both, an applicant must obtain a recommendation from a city, county, or provincial office before immigration will consider the application at all, and the criteria differ from one jurisdiction to the next.

The practical consequence is that the answer to whether you qualify for these visas depends on where in Korea you intend to live, and that checking with immigration first is the wrong order of operations.

• Read more about Korean Cities Can Now Write Their Own Visa Rules
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Korea hosted 314,397 international students as of February 2026, according to Korean Immigration Service figures. That clears the government's Study Korea 300K target, which had set 300,000 by 2027, roughly two years ahead of schedule and against expert predictions that it would be missed.

The number has doubled in five years, from just over 153,300. It has grown while the domestic school-age population has fallen, which is the part of the story that explains why universities pursued it.

• Read more about Korea Hit Its 300,000 International Student Target Two Years Early
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