This is a list of visas issued by South Korea. The government of South Korea, through the Ministry of Justice's "Korea Immigration Service," issues one of these visas to all non-citizens entering the country. In 2005, 5,179,848 visas were issued, not including military and landing-permit visas, a slight increase over the previous year. More than half of these were layover/B-2 visas. In 2017, 12,573,021 visas were issued.[1]
A visas
Category
|
Name
|
Number of visas issued
|
2005[2]
|
2010[3]
|
2013[4]
|
2017[1]
|
A-1
|
Diplomat (외교)
|
7,070
|
8,001
|
11,067
|
15,011
|
A-2
|
Government official (공무)
|
11,854
|
13,753
|
17,819
|
30,759
|
A-3
|
Agreement (협정)
|
27,946
|
92,450
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
A-3 visa is issued to United States Forces Korea non-military personnels with Status of Forces Agreement status.[5] This includes family members, civilians, and newborns associated with the United States Forces Korea. Active duty military of the United States Forces Korea use their common access card and orders to enter South Korea.[6]
B visas
Category
|
Name
|
Number of visas issued
|
2005[2]
|
2010[3]
|
2013[4]
|
2017[1]
|
B-1
|
Visa exemption (사증면제)
|
496,356
|
803,617
|
1,090,907
|
1,634,095
|
B-2
|
Tourist/transit (관광통과)
|
3,404,923
|
4,601,828
|
5,040,354
|
5,269,825
|
- B-2-1: Tourist/Transit (General)
- B-2-2: Tourist/Transit (Jeju); visiting Jeju Island within 30 days
The B-2 status allows travelers who are passport holders of various jurisdictions, including the Mainland China, to stay in South Korea for a maximum period of 30 days, provided that they are using Incheon International Airport as a transit stopover. It applies to ordinary PRC passport bearers when they are travelling between the Mainland China and Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Japan or 30 European countries.[citation needed] The B-2 status is encoded in Article 7 of the South Korean immigration law.[7]
G visas
Category
|
Name
|
Number of visas issued
|
2005[2]
|
2010[3]
|
2013[4]
|
2017[1]
|
G-1
|
Miscellaneous (기타)
|
1,247
|
1,390
|
1,014
|
6,047
|
Some of the G-1 visa sub-types:
- G-1-1: Medical treatment due to industrial accidents and the family member.
- G-1-2: Undergoing medical treatments as a result of diseases or accidents (or are a guardian of such a person).
- G-1-3: Involved in a lawsuit.
- G-1-5: Refugee applicants (Asylum seekers).
- G-1-6: Humanitarian Status.
- G-1-10: Treatment and recuperation.
- G-1-11: Fallen victim to prostitution, sexual assault/harassment, human trafficking, etc.