Korea D-8 Investment Visa: Minimum Investment Amount, Remittance Methods, and How to Submit Documents
With the D-8 investment visa, the outcome rarely hinges on whether you hit the minimum investment amount. It hinges on whether that money was wired in from overseas, directly, under your own name.
This visa is for foreign investors who have established a corporation in Korea and completed a foreign investment report under the Foreign Investment Promotion Act, as well as for executives dispatched to that company. The monetary threshold is applied differently depending on whether you are a sole investor or part of a joint investment.
Below, we walk through the legal basis for the minimum investment amount, how remittance routes differ, how to prove the source of funds, the full sequence from the foreign investment report through FDI registration, and exactly how documents get submitted.
Where Is the D-8 Minimum Investment Amount Actually Set?
The legal basis splits in two directions
The D-8 status of stay itself is defined in the table of status-of-stay categories (Annex 1-2) of the Enforcement Decree of the Immigration Act, under the Corporate Investment (D-8) entry.
The monetary threshold, however, does not come from the Immigration Act. It follows the minimum foreign investment amount set out in Article 2 of the Foreign Investment Promotion Act and its Enforcement Decree.
In other words, the visa screening standard and the investment recognition standard live in two different statutes.
That split is precisely why you see cases where "the amount was met, but it wasn't recognized as an investment."
Meeting the number alone does not get you a D-8
In practice, applications that just barely clear the minimum are the ones most often sent back for supplementary documents.
The contribution must take the form of acquiring shares with voting rights. A simple loan or a provisional payment is not counted as foreign investment.
Even when you proceed by capital increase after incorporation, the payment for shares and the share allotment have to line up with each other.
Caution: The minimum investment threshold has been adjusted over time through amendments to foreign investment legislation, and the per-person application method changes with joint or multiple-investor structures. Check in a consultation which standard applies to your specific equity structure.
What to look at before the amount
The first thing to examine is whether the investment funds are structured to actually be used in running the business.
If the money is sitting there with no office and no staffing plan, screening will flag it immediately.
The smaller the company, the more visible this becomes.
Remitting the Investment Funds: Where Things Go Wrong Most Often
The rule: directly from an overseas account in your own name
The principle for remitting investment funds is simple.
The money must move from an overseas account in the investor's own name into a domestic account in that same name, or into the corporation's share-payment account.
The moment a third party's name enters the chain, the pile of documents you have to explain grows.
| Remittance route | Recognition in practice | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Own overseas account → own domestic account → share payment | Most reliable | Easy to obtain remittance receipts and foreign currency purchase certificates |
| Own overseas account → direct transfer to corporate account | Can be recognized | Stated purpose must match the reported details |
| Routed through a family member's or acquaintance's account | Frequently triggers supplementary requests | Gift relationship and entire fund trail must be explained |
| Cash carried in by hand | Limited | Effectively impossible without a customs declaration |
| Funds raised while residing in Korea | Generally not recognized | Hard to treat as foreign investment |
Proof of foreign currency inflow is the core
More important than the transfer itself is the documentation proving that foreign currency entered the country.
The standard items are the foreign currency purchase certificate or foreign exchange purchase certificate issued by the bank.
Once the money has been converted to won and the trail goes faint, reconstructing it later is difficult.
Practical tip: Before you remit, tell your bank contact up front that the purpose is "foreign direct investment" and get the remittance purpose code set correctly. That saves you from losing weeks later reissuing certificates.
In a recent comparable case, the remittance was processed as an ordinary transfer, and correcting the certificate alone took several weeks.
Proving the Source of Funds: The Stage That Stalls Most Often
Money in the account isn't enough if the trail is weak
The most common sticking point in a D-8 case is not the amount — it is where the money came from.
What the reviewing officer looks at is not the balance, but the process that produced that balance.
Salary, business income, dividends, disposal of real estate, a gift — it needs to resolve into one clear account.
Documents to prepare by source type
| Source of funds | Basic evidence | Sometimes additionally required |
|---|---|---|
| Salary / employment income | Certificate of employment, proof of income tax payment | Year-by-year breakdown for long accumulation |
| Business income in home country | Business registration, financial statements | Tax returns, dividend resolution |
| Sale of assets | Sales contract, record of payment received | Registration / title documents |
| Gift | Gift agreement, donor's source of funds | Proof of family relationship, tax treatment records |
| Loan | Loan agreement | Repayment plan, collateral arrangement |
Without this explanation, volume of paperwork doesn't help
A thick stack of documents that doesn't connect into a single story raises suspicion rather than dispelling it.
Better than writing at length is keeping the chronological chain unbroken: deposit → holding → remittance → payment for shares.
That is where cases diverge.
From Foreign Investment Report to FDI Registration
Change the order and you start over
The sequence is fixed.
If you remit before filing the foreign investment report, getting the funds recognized as foreign investment becomes difficult.
| Step | What happens | Handling body |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Foreign investment report (Article 5, Foreign Investment Promotion Act) | Banks delegated by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, or KOTRA |
| 2 | Remittance of funds and issuance of foreign currency purchase certificate | Foreign exchange bank |
| 3 | Corporate incorporation registration | Competent registry office |
| 4 | Business registration | Competent tax office |
| 5 | Registration as a foreign-invested company (FDI registration) | Delegated institution |
| 6 | D-8 certificate of visa eligibility application, or change of status | Immigration office |
When the report and the actual remittance don't match
If the investor's name, the amount, or the investment method on the report differs from the actual remittance in even one respect, it surfaces at the FDI registration stage.
If anything changes, file an amended report first, then proceed.
Handling of amendments varies slightly by delegated institution, so confirm with the one with jurisdiction.
For accurate costs and procedures, confirm with a professional consultation.
Request a free consultation now → 02-363-2251 / KakaoTalk: alexkorea
How to Submit Documents — Channels and Checklist
Two submission paths
If you are outside Korea, a domestic representative applies for a certificate of visa eligibility, and you then collect the visa at the Korean mission in your home country.
If you are already in Korea on another status, you proceed by application for change of status of stay.
Filing and appointments can be checked on HiKorea, and some documents are only accepted in person.
Core documents to submit
- Integrated application form, passport, and photo
- Business registration certificate and certified copy of all corporate registry matters
- Certificate of registration as a foreign-invested company
- Copy of the foreign investment report
- Evidence of the investment remittance (foreign currency purchase certificate, etc.)
- Office lease agreement and materials confirming the premises exist
- Business plan
- Apostille or consular confirmation for home-country documents, plus Korean translations
Commonly missed points
Letting the validity period of an apostille or consular confirmation lapse, and having to reissue, is a frequent problem.
In translations, the name must be spelled exactly as it appears in the passport.
Caution: Required document lists and the extent to which originals must be brought in differ by immigration office. Processing speed also varies by jurisdiction, so we identify the fastest route for each case and proceed on that basis.
What Decides the Outcome, and Why Applications Get Refused
Screening looks at whether the business is real
In actual screening, what matters is not the number of documents but whether the business is structured to genuinely operate.
If there is only a shared office with no sign of anyone actually working there, or the type of business doesn't fit the workspace, it can lead to an on-site inspection.
With a business plan, persuasiveness registers before length does.
Frequent reasons for supplementary requests and refusals
- A break in the explanation of where the investment funds came from
- Remittance routed through a third party's name
- Mismatch between the reported investment and the actual registry and contribution records
- Insufficient evidence that the office physically exists
- No explanation of how the business plan generates revenue
- No connection between the representative's background and the line of business
Look at this before you look at approval
Before asking whether you'll pass, ask whether the same documents will still explain your case at renewal time.
It is not unusual to get the first permit and then hit a wall at extension.
If revenue, hiring, and the office don't carry forward, that is where the case weakens.
Costs and Processing Time
Costs
Costs vary case by case, so we give precise figures during the free consultation.
The government portion consists of the officially published fee plus administrative processing charges.
Timeline
Budget separately for the preparation period up through incorporation and FDI registration, and for the review period for the certificate of visa eligibility.
Processing times differ by immigration office; we find the fastest one and proceed there.
Foreign investment legislation and screening criteria have been amended over time, so it is safest to verify the standards in force this year right before you file.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. How much is the minimum investment for a D-8?
The threshold is set in foreign investment legislation, and the way it applies differs between a sole investment and a multiple-investor structure.
Which standard attaches to you depends on the equity structure, so it is more accurate to review it against your actual proposed setup.
Q2. Can a family member remit on my behalf?
The rule is an account in the investor's own name.
Going through a family member's name puts the gift relationship and the donor's source of funds in scope as well, which lengthens the process.
Q3. Can I invest using money I already have in Korea?
Foreign investment presumes foreign currency brought in from overseas.
Funds raised inside Korea often cannot be recognized as foreign investment.
Q4. Which comes first, incorporation or the investment report?
The investment report comes first.
If you remit and incorporate without reporting, it tangles at the FDI registration stage.
Q5. Can I switch to D-8 from a student (D-2) or visiting/cohabitation status?
A change of status is possible in some cases, but whether it is available depends on your current status and your residence history.
That determination has to be made by looking at your passport record and current status.
Q6. Can I apply for a D-8 using a shared office?
It can work, depending on the line of business and how operations are run.
Whether the space is independent, and whether there is signage, mail receipt, and someone actually present, are the things that get checked.
Need Professional Help?
With a D-8, the hard part isn't hitting the dollar figure — it's tying the flow of funds and the substance of the business into a single coherent explanation.
People going it alone often lose time on remittance purpose codes, the order of the investment report, and certification deadlines on documents.
Getting the structure right before you file cuts down on supplementary requests.
VISION Administrative Office
- Phone: 02-363-2251
- KakaoTalk: alexkorea
- Email: [email protected]
- Address: 3F, Seongwoo Building, 324 Toegye-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul (04614)
Services at VISION Administrative Office
- Handling foreign investment reports and foreign-invested company (FDI) registration
- Incorporation registration and business registration for foreign-owned companies
- D-8 certificate of visa eligibility applications and change-of-status representation
- Designing the investment remittance route and organizing source-of-funds evidence
- Support in drafting the business plan and assembling proof that the office is real
- Review of D-8 extensions, accompanying family (F-3), and conversion to F-2
A requirements review has to come first, and the approach may differ depending on the case.
This article is general guidance. For how it applies to your individual case, please confirm with the competent immigration office, announcements on HiKorea, and the current statutes on the Korean Law Information Center.
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