The D-8 investment visa is issued by HiKorea only after your Korean entity clears Foreign-Invested Enterprise registration — you cannot apply for it first.
- KRW 100 million — minimum capital per foreign investor, wired from overseas
- 10% voting shares — the ownership floor the Foreign Investment Promotion Act sets
- Entity before visa — registration certificate comes before the D-8 application, never after
Founders keep booking flights to Seoul before their paperwork exists. That's the single most common D-8 mistake, and it costs months, not days.
The D-8 corporate investment visa lets a foreign investor live in Korea and run the company they've funded. It's the standard route for a founder relocating to operate their own Korean subsidiary, and HiKorea is the immigration authority that issues it.
What does the D-8 visa actually require?
The D-8 requires a Korean corporation, at least KRW 100 million invested per foreign national, and at least 10% of voting shares — verified through a Foreign-Invested Enterprise Registration Certificate. These thresholds come from the Foreign Investment Promotion Act, not immigration policy alone.
The KRW 100 million is a floor, not a target. It has to arrive as a genuine foreign-currency remittance into your new Korean corporate account, not a domestic transfer.
If two foreign nationals co-invest, each person separately meets the KRW 100 million minimum. There's no pooling half from each partner to hit the number together.
Below that threshold, your company simply isn't a "foreign-invested enterprise" under the law. No FDI status means no D-8 eligibility, regardless of how the business is otherwise structured. Invest KOREA publishes the FDI registration process for exactly this reason.
The KRW 100 million and 10% figures aren't immigration rules you can negotiate around — they're statutory thresholds under the Foreign Investment Promotion Act. Miss either and the FDI registration itself gets rejected.
Why does company registration have to happen before the visa?
Because HiKorea issues the D-8 against a Foreign-Invested Enterprise Registration Certificate, which only exists once your corporation is formed and your capital has landed. The visa is downstream of the entity, not parallel to it.
The real order runs: incorporate the Korean company, remit the capital, get the corporate and business registration certificates, then apply for FDI registration. The D-8 application comes last.
Founders who relocate first and try to sort out the entity on the ground lose the most time. Korean banks, landlords, and government offices all move faster with a resident already on paper — a chicken-and-egg problem D-8 applicants create for themselves.
Full sequence, including entity choice and banking → Setting up a business in Seoul as a foreigner.
Start the capital remittance and registration paperwork from your home country. Nothing about incorporating a Korean subsidiary requires you to already be in Korea.
How long does the whole process take?
Budget four to eight weeks from incorporation to visa issuance once your documents are complete, though document preparation is usually the longer variable. Immigration office workload adds unpredictability on top of that baseline.
Corporate registration at the court registry and business registration at the tax office each take days once capital has landed and the paperwork is correct. Most delay comes earlier — sourcing notarized documents, apostilles, and translations from abroad.
The FDI registration itself, filed with Invest KOREA or a delegated bank, is comparatively fast if the capital remittance and ownership stake are documented cleanly.
Treat the whole chain as one project with one deadline, not four separate errands. A missing document at step two reopens the clock on everything after it.
Wiring the capital from a corporate account, a friend's account, or a money-transfer service instead of your own personal overseas account breaks the foreign-direct-investment classification and can force a restart.
Does a branch office qualify for the D-8?
No — the D-8 corporate investment route requires a Korean subsidiary corporation, because a branch is legally the same entity as its foreign parent and can't hold FDI status. This is where founders confuse two very different entry structures.
A branch extends an existing foreign company's legal personality into Korea. It doesn't create the separate Korean entity the Foreign Investment Promotion Act requires for FDI registration.
A subsidiary — typically a 주식회사 (corporation) — is a new, standalone Korean legal person your foreign company or you personally own. That separateness is exactly what lets it qualify for foreign investment status.
If you're extending an established company's operations rather than founding something new to run yourself, a branch may fit better — but it won't get you a D-8.
What can go wrong with the capital remittance?
The remittance has to originate from your own overseas account and be clearly documented as investment capital, or the bank and Invest KOREA can decline to recognize it as FDI. Sourcing matters as much as the amount.
For amounts of KRW 300 million or more, only your or your spouse's parents can remit on your behalf — a rule that surprises founders structuring family-funded ventures.
Keep the paper trail simple: your name on the sending account, a clear investment purpose in the wire memo, and the receiving account matching your newly registered Korean corporation exactly.
Any mismatch between the sender's name and the visa applicant's name is the single most common reason an FDI registration gets kicked back for review.
Which document sequence actually avoids delays?
File in this order: incorporate, remit capital, register the corporation and business, secure the FDI certificate, then apply for the D-8 — never rearrange it. Each certificate is a prerequisite for the next.
| Step | Output | Blocks |
|---|---|---|
| Incorporate Korean corporation | Corporate registration | Capital account can't open without it |
| Remit KRW 100M+ capital | Bank remittance record | FDI registration needs proof of funds |
| Register at tax office | Business registration certificate | Required for the FDI application |
| File FDI registration | Foreign-Invested Enterprise Certificate | This is the document HiKorea requires |
| Apply for D-8 | Visa issuance | Final step — nothing else depends on it |
Skipping ahead on any row just means redoing it once the missing document surfaces. Sequence discipline is the whole trick here.
Assign one person — a Korean accountant or immigration agent — to own the full sequence end to end. Splitting it across a lawyer, an accountant, and yourself is how documents fall through the gaps.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I apply for a D-8 visa before my Korean company is registered?
No. HiKorea requires a Foreign-Invested Enterprise Registration Certificate as part of the D-8 application, and that certificate doesn't exist until your Korean corporation is formed, capitalized, and registered. Applying earlier just results in a rejected application. Complete the entity formation and FDI registration first, then file for the visa.
What is the minimum investment for a D-8 visa?
KRW 100 million per foreign investor, under the Foreign Investment Promotion Act, remitted from your own overseas account into your new Korean corporate account. You also need at least 10% of the company's voting shares. If multiple foreign nationals invest, each person separately meets the KRW 100 million floor rather than splitting it.
How long is the D-8 visa valid for?
Initial D-8 visas are typically issued for one to two years, renewable as long as the underlying company stays active and the investment requirements continue to be met. Renewal generally requires showing the business is operating, not just that the original capital was deposited.
Does a branch office let me get a D-8 visa?
No. The D-8 corporate investment route requires a standalone Korean subsidiary corporation, since a branch is legally the same entity as its foreign parent and can't register as a foreign-invested enterprise. If you need to relocate to run an existing foreign company's Korean branch, you'll need a different visa category — a subsidiary is what qualifies for D-8.
Who can send the investment capital on my behalf?
Generally, only you — the wire needs to originate from your own overseas account and be documented as investment capital. For amounts of KRW 300 million or more, an exception allows your or your spouse's parents to remit on your behalf. Using a corporate account, a friend's account, or a money-transfer service instead of a personal account risks the FDI classification being rejected.
Getting the entity, capital, and visa sequence wrong is among the most expensive mistakes in market entry — it costs quarters, not weeks. If you want a Korea entry plan that gets the sequencing right the first time, get a free audit and we'll map the order your specific structure needs.
Last updated: September 2026
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