How To Get A D4 visa
These days I am preparing for my move to Korea. Recently, I obtained a D4 visa. A D4 visa is for general training, which means this will be the kind of visa you want to apply for when taking a university-run language program. If you want to study in Korea to improve your Korean language skills, I am going to let you know how you can achieve this visa and my experience from getting one.
After you get accepted into your university of choice, you should pay for the first semesters tuition via international wire transfer at your bank. Once this is complete and the program has received the transfer, a folder containing documents to apply for a D4 visa will be mailed to you from the university. The university I chose is Sogang, I was told that it would take about one week to receive these documents. Unfortunately it took about three weeks for me to receive it. Don’t hesitate to send an email to your program’s head office and ask about it.
Visa documents from Sogang University
Toronto Korean Consulate General Office
Before you head out to the nearest Korean Consulate office, make sure you have the following in a secure folder:
Passport with remaining validity of at least 6 months, and a photocopy of it
Recent colour passport type photo
Complete visa application form
University documents (letter of admission, etc.)
Bank statement claiming over $3,000 in your account, or a letter of personal reference if you cannot pay for expenses yourself
Visa application fee of $60
You can also include your flight itinerary if you want, but the Consulate office advises not to purchase your flight ticket until your visa has been approved. The Consulate office may also ask you for extra documents like your high school diploma. When you have submitted everything, the Consulate office will keep your passport and tell you to expect a phone call once it has been approved.
The time to process your visa applications may take up to one month. In my case, it only took about four business days to have my visa approved. Either way, I still applied early to avoid any problems.
This is what the visa application form will look like, with instructions on how to properly fill it out. You can visit the Korean Embassy website that is for your hometown/city, and download it from there.
If you are from Ontario, please remember that it is mandatory and important to visit the nearest Service Ontario office to let them know you are leaving for a year or more. This way, your insurance coverage will work in Korea. Service Ontario needs to know also if your OHIP card will expire in the year you are leaving. This way, you can renew your card and have no issues when you come back to Canada. For the easiest and fastest way to get this done is just to tell them you are going on vacation for a year or two, if you want to avoid having to prove many university documents.
Truthfully, this process may sound like a simple and easy task to do but it’s a lot of work as well. In my opinion, I felt that the process was a little stressful. My reasoning being because the university took longer than usual to send my visa documents. Also because I don’t live in the same city where the Consulate office is, I had to travel two hours each way.
All in all, after you pick up your approved visa, the stress goes away and it’s time to start packing and count down the days!
Your visa will look something like this:
