D-10-2 extension: what should you show besides a business plan?
BySangjin Ji, Administrative Attorney3 years of embassy visa practiceLinkedIn
If you are on a D-10-2 stay in Korea (the status for preparing a tech startup) and your period of stay is running out, the first question is usually this: do I rewrite my business plan and file it again, or do I also need to show what I have done since?
Start with the document table. In the attachment table of the Immigration Act Enforcement Rule (「출입국관리법 시행규칙」), Annex 5-2, a “startup preparation plan” appears as a document for changing to D-10 from another status of stay. It does not appear as a document for extending the period of stay. Going by this table alone, nothing specifies a business plan or a list of preparation achievements for a D-10-2 extension.
That does not mean there is nothing to prepare. An extension review also checks whether you fit your current status of stay, and the immigration office can ask for more documents when you file. Below, we check why in the legal text and then show how to line up evidence against each statement in your plan.
For example, suppose James is developing an AI inventory-management program for retail stores. His original technology startup plan says the inventory and sales-analysis features are built and a reorder-recommendation feature is in progress. Since then he has completed an OASIS course, changed the product search feature after store staff gave feedback, and prepared a patent application.
What does the extension document table list?
Article 25(1) of the Immigration Act (「출입국관리법」) says a foreigner who wants to stay beyond the permitted period must obtain the Minister of Justice’s extension permission before the period ends. Article 31(1) of its Enforcement Decree requires the applicant to attach the documents set by Ministry of Justice ordinance to the extension application form. Those documents are listed in Annex 5-2 of the Enforcement Rule.
For every status, the table lists a passport and a foreigner registration card in common, and proof of address for extensions. D-10-2 follows the same rule.
The D-10 entry then lists only status-change documents. Applicants under item (a) submit a degree or career certificate. Applicants preparing a startup under item (b) submit a degree certificate and the startup preparation plan. No documents are listed for extending the period of stay.
The D-8 (investment) entry is different. For extensions, applicants under item (b) or (c) submit business-performance evidence and a tax payment certificate. So the table lists no extension documents for D-10, the startup-preparation stage, while it lists business-performance evidence for D-8.
Does that mean James can skip the business plan at extension? The table alone cannot answer that. The notes to the same annex let the head of the immigration office add or remove attachments at filing or review when it finds that especially necessary for identity-related checks and similar purposes. So the table is a starting point, not the full list: prepare from the table, then add whatever the office asks for. If you skip your plan and progress records because the table does not list them, you may end up assembling documents in a hurry on the day you are asked.
What does an extension review check?
Article 31-2 of the Enforcement Rule tells the office to check, when it decides an extension, the requirements in Article 9-2. In order:
- You hold a valid passport.
- You are not someone who is barred or refused entry.
- You fit a status of stay listed in Annex 1-2 of the Enforcement Decree.
- It is accepted that you will return to your home country within the permitted period.
- You meet the standards the Minister of Justice sets separately for each status.
The third matters most for James. An extension asks, in effect, whether you are still a person who fits this status. D-10-2 falls under item (b) of D-10 in Annex 1-2 of the Enforcement Decree. Item (b) covers people preparing to start a corporation of the kind described in item (c) of D-8, as recognized by the Minister of Justice. D-8 item (c) covers corporate founders who hold a degree (an associate degree or higher from Korea, or a bachelor’s degree or higher from abroad) or were recommended by the head of a relevant central agency, and who hold intellectual property rights or comparable technology.
Put simply, D-10-2 is the status of someone preparing for that kind of technology-based company. At the first filing, the plan to start a corporation was the focus. At extension, records showing the preparation has actually continued help you explain your progress.
The fifth requirement is Article 9-2, item 6 of the Enforcement Rule: “standards the Minister of Justice sets separately.” The Act, the Decree and the Rule do not spell these standards out; they leave them to the Minister. So which extra documents are requested for a D-10-2 extension cannot be read from the table alone. Check the Ministry’s standards and your immigration office’s guidance before filing.
On the period of stay, Annex 1 of the Enforcement Rule sets an upper limit of 1 year for D-10. A limit is not the actual period granted, and the number of extensions is not in that table either. Confirm the actual period and the number of extensions with your registration card, your permit and the immigration office.
How do you line up evidence beside your plan?
Go back to the plan James first filed and put each statement next to what he has done since. The list below is not set by law. It shows records you can gather to explain your own preparation.
- If the plan says the inventory and sales-analysis features were completed, find the development log date and a demo screen. Mark any feature changed after filing, with its date.
- If it says the reorder feature is in progress, what has happened since is what you need to explain. Separate what is built from what is not yet. Describing an unfinished feature as finished makes your plan and your actual progress disagree.
- For an OASIS course, check the course name, dates and your name on the participation record, and whether your English name matches your passport.
- For a patent in preparation, check the applicant, inventor and filing date on the filing record. If you have not filed yet, list what you have prepared in date order. Whether the applicant is an individual or a company changes the explanation, so confirm that too.
- If you recorded store staff feedback and the feature you changed afterward, that is evidence too. A one-line link, saying what feedback came when and which feature changed, makes your development path easy to explain.
Three checks apply to every record: the name matches your passport, the dates fall within your current period of stay, and the technology and product match your plan. If all three hold, every statement in your business plan has a record behind it.
What if your plan has changed?
Plans often differ from what you first filed. Suppose James hears from store staff and postpones the reorder feature to refine sales analysis first.
Then the change itself needs explaining: what changed, when you decided, why, and what you will do next. The store-staff feedback records show the reason. Changing the order of development is different from changing the business itself. If the inventory-management concept is the same and only the order changed, explain the order. If you switched to a different field of product, explain separately how your earlier preparation connects to the new plan, and ask the immigration office how to present it before you file.
What should you put in date order before you file?
Before writing anything new, lay out what you already have in date order. Six items:
- The expiry date on your foreigner registration card. File the extension before your period of stay ends.
- A copy of the business plan you first filed and the filing receipt.
- A list of what you have done since: record name, date, the name on it, and which plan statement it supports.
- What differs from the plan, and why.
- Proof of address.
- The documents your immigration office or HiKorea guidance currently asks for.
Next to the expiry date, write each plan statement beside the record behind it. Gaps and changes show up, and you can fix them before filing.
You can do all of this yourself. The immigration authorities make the final decision, and patent filings, company registration and tax filings are handled by other professionals.
If you would like a second look, send the page of your registration card showing your stay period, the plan you first filed, and any development, education or patent records you have. Ethos Administrative Attorney Office (a Korean licensed administrative attorney practice that handles filings with government agencies) offers a free preliminary review of how your plan and records connect and what else to gather before filing, while drafting the application and explanatory documents and making filings where legally permitted are handled separately, with scope and fees set separately.
Three-line summary
The Enforcement Rule’s document table lists no extension documents for D-10, so no business plan or achievements list is specified, but an extension review still checks that you fit your status, and the office may ask for more documents when you file.
Your plan shows what you intend to do and your records show what you have done. Match the name to your passport, the dates to your current stay period and the technology to your plan, and write down when and why anything changed.
File the extension before your period of stay ends. Check the expiry date, put your records in date order, and confirm with your immigration office or HiKorea guidance which documents are requested before you file.