The academic year starts in March
Article 20(1) of Korea’s Higher Education Act sets the school year as 1 March to the last day of February of the following year. A university may set something different in its own statutes, but almost all of them follow this structure. That is why new students enter twice a year — first semester in March, second semester in September — and why international admissions cycles are built around those two dates.
What matters is not the entry date but the application date. Applications open five to six months before you start. To enter in March, you need to be moving by August of the previous year. To enter in September, you need to be moving by March of that year.
March 2027 entry — applications opened in August 2026
These are the dates printed in the universities’ own admissions guidelines.
- Kyung Hee University, undergraduate international admissions — Round 1 applications 17–28 August 2026, results 23 October. Round 2 applications 26 October – 6 November, practical exam 12 December, results 24 December. Registration 28 December – 8 January 2027. Classes begin 2 March 2027.
- Keimyung University, Global admissions — Round 1 applications 21 September – 23 October 2026, documents must arrive by 30 October, interview 6 November, results on or before 13 November, registration 13–17 November. Round 2 applications 30 November – 4 January 2027, interviews 14–16 January, results on or before 21 January.
- Yonsei University Graduate School, international admissions, spring intake — applications 7–14 October 2026, oral examination 14 November, results 4 December.
From the application deadline to the results: 21 days at Keimyung, 51 at Yonsei, 56 at Kyung Hee. Screening on documents alone is quick; an interview or a practical exam makes it long. Budgeting about a month is off by a factor of two.
September 2026 entry — applications opened that March
- Keimyung University, Global admissions — Round 1 applications 23 March – 17 April, interview 15 May, results on or before 22 May, registration 27–29 May. Round 2 applications 22–26 June, interviews 16–18 July, results on or before 22 July.
- Yonsei University Graduate School, international admissions, fall intake — applications 6–13 April, oral examination 16 May, results 5 June.
- Chungbuk National University, fall international admissions — applications 11–22 May.
When the guidelines are published is part of the timeline too. Chungbuk National University said its final fall guidelines would be released before 17 April, and that the guidelines for the March 2027 intake would be announced in mid-October 2026. Its official advice is that documents with long lead times, such as apostilled certificates, should be prepared from the previous semester’s guidelines rather than waiting for the new ones.
An offer is only half of it — the visa document follows the tuition payment
The sequence drawn in Keimyung University’s guidelines runs: online application → document submission → interview or practical exam → results → tuition payment → issue of the Certificate of Admission (표준입학허가서) → visa application → entry.
The Certificate of Admission is issued by the university president or dean and carries the result of the screening of your academic ability and financial capacity (Enforcement Rules of the Immigration Act, Appendix 5). Without it you cannot apply for a D-2 student visa. And it comes after the tuition is paid.
- Keimyung University closes Round 1 registration on 17 November 2026 but states that the Certificate of Admission is issued only from 1 December. Two weeks sit between registration and issue.
- Ewha Womans University accepted Certificate of Admission requests for the autumn 2026 semester only between 15 June and 14 August, and said issue takes five to seven weekdays on average once every document is complete and the original bank balance certificate has arrived.
- The same notice said the certificate is valid for only three months from the date of issue, and that if the student had not entered Korea by 4 September, both the certificate and the visa would be cancelled.
How many days the visa takes
Visas are issued by the head of the Korean diplomatic mission abroad (Immigration Act, Article 8(2)). There are two routes.
- Applying directly at the mission — the Korean Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City states that a student visa generally takes 20 working days from the date of receipt. Ewha’s notice puts it at three to four weeks and adds that it varies by mission.
- Obtaining a Certificate for Visa Issuance first — applied for either by the foreign national or by the inviting party in Korea (Immigration Act, Article 9). The processing period published on the Gov24 portal is 10 days, or 60 days where eligibility is unclear. The certificate is valid for three months and good for one visa issuance only. Both D-2 and D-4 qualify.
Visa fees are set in US dollars: USD 40 for a single-entry visa of 90 days or less, USD 60 for a single-entry visa of 91 days or more, USD 70 for a double-entry visa, and USD 90 for a multiple-entry visa with no limit on entries. A student visa is normally in the 91-days-or-more single-entry band. Some nationalities are exempt from the fee under bilateral agreements.
A Round 2 offer leaves you 36 days
Take Keimyung University’s March 2027 intake. A Round 1 admit has 109 days between the results (13 November) and the first day of class (2 March 2027). A Round 2 admit has 36 days between the registration deadline (25 January) and that same first day. Into those 36 days must fit the Certificate of Admission (five to seven weekdays) and the visa review (20 working days). Same university, same semester, three times the difference in preparation time.
Language programmes on a D-4 start every quarter
University language institutes, unlike degree programmes, open four times a year. The 2026 calendar of the Korean Language Institute at Yonsei University is an example.
- Terms begin 6 March, 5 June, 1 September and 1 December. Each term is 10 weeks and 200 hours.
- Application deadlines are 16 January, 17 April, 16 July and 16 October, all at 17:00 — 46 to 49 days before the term starts, roughly seven weeks.
- Tuition is KRW 1,860,000 per term and the application fee is KRW 120,000. Classes run Monday to Friday, 09:00–13:00 or 14:00–17:50.
This is the route students take when they miss a degree intake: enter on a language programme first and prepare for the next semester from inside Korea. Start dates and deadlines differ from institute to institute, so check the calendar of the one you are applying to.
Admissions schedules and requirements differ by university and change from year to year. The dates above were confirmed in September 2026 from the published admissions guidelines of each university and from government notices. Always verify the schedule that applies to you with the admissions or international office of the university you are applying to, with HiKorea, and with the Korean mission in your country.
Sources
- 국가법령정보센터 「고등교육법」
- 찾기쉬운 생활법령정보 「외국인유학생 > 입국 > 사증(VISA) 발급」 (출입국관리법 제8조·제9조, 시행규칙 제17조제1항·별표 5)
- 하이코리아 「사증발급인정서」 (유효기간 3개월, 1회 발급 한정, 대상 자격)
- 정부24 「사증발급인정서발급신청」
- 주호치민 대한민국 총영사관 「유학(D-2)/어학연수(D-4) 사증」 (20 근무일)
- 주미국 대한민국 대사관 「사증(비자) 수수료 안내」 (40/60/70/90달러)
- 경희대학교 국제처 글로벌입학팀 「외국인 입학(학부)」 (2027-1학기 일정)
- 계명대학교 「2027학년도 1학기 외국인 특별전형 모집요강(안)」
- 계명대학교 「2026학년도 2학기 외국인 특별전형 모집요강」
- 연세대학교 일반대학원 「외국인전형 전기」
- 연세대학교 일반대학원 「외국인전형 후기」
- 충북대학교 국제교류본부 Admission Notice (후기 접수, 요강 공개 시점)
- 이화여자대학교 국제처 「2026-2학기 표준입학허가서 신청 안내」
- 연세대학교 한국어학당 「정규과정」 (2026년 개강일·마감일·학비)
Information on this page is current as of September 2026.