The route into Korea's startup visa runs through D-10-2 — preparation only, and a clock you should plan around

The startup visa posts and calculators describe the destination. This one describes the road. The OASIS operator prints a seven-step sequence from arrival to D-8-4, through the preparation visa most English guides skip.

One sourcing sentence first. No government page we could fetch on 2026-09-01 states D-10-2 specifics.

HiKorea's deep links returned page-not-found bodies, and the Ministry of Justice site refused connection. Neither the Ministry's 2026-07-08 digital-nomad release nor the K-Startup global-programmes page names any visa code. What follows comes from two operator bodies, each labelled — verify with immigration before acting on any of it.

The seven steps, as the operator prints them

The shape is deliberate. The class, the corporation and the IP all happen inside the D-10-2 window, before you reach the points threshold.

What D-10-2 is, and is not

The Global Start-up Immigration Center runs OASIS, and prints the definition. A visa for preparing a technology-based startup in Korea, which does not permit profit-generating business activities.

Its gate is equally printed. The operator states D-10-2 is available to OASIS participants only. The Global Startup Center's OASIS page prints the participation condition: non-Korean prospective entrepreneurs legally residing in Korea, intending technology-based startup activities.

The same page names the point components founders meet first. OASIS-4, the entrepreneurship education class, is 10 points. OASIS-5, startup mentoring, is 15.

The clock on each stage

D-10-2 issues for six months, with five extensions — up to two years in total, per the operator.

D-8-4 issues for twelve months. The operator prints the condition in the same breath: extended while doing your business.

Read together, the two clocks describe the intended rhythm. Two years is the preparation runway.

The corporation, the IP application and the 60 points all fit inside it by design. The extension pressure moves from preparation to performance at the changeover.

What no government page we reached says

This is the honest section, and it is not a small one. The Ministry's 2026-07-08 release made the digital nomad visa permanent. It names no D-10-2 and no D-8-4.

The K-Startup portal's global programmes page lists the GSC in operation and no visa codes. HiKorea's detailed pages sit behind an interactive portal that does not render for fetchers.

That absence is the reason this post labels every figure. The two operator bodies agree with each other on the route.

Neither is a ministry notice. The filing-grade source is whoever stamps the passport: HiKorea or the Korea Immigration Service.

How and where to file

You file with immigration, not with the operator. HiKorea is the Ministry of Justice's own system, and it splits two ways.

Some applications go online through 전자민원. Its own 민원선택 list includes 등록외국인의 체류자격 변경허가 and 등록외국인의 체류기간연장허가 — change of status and extension of stay, for foreigners already registered in Korea.

Everything else needs an office. Book a slot through 방문예약, and take the right form from 민원서식.

One boundary worth knowing: issuing a visa for the first time is not a HiKorea e-application. HiKorea's own 사증신청 결과조회 link points at visa.go.kr instead.

The step that is legally gated

The sequence is not a convention. The operator's schedule page states the constraint outright: incorporation is only permitted under D-10-2. You cannot establish the corporation on a tourist visa or a student visa.

That is why the order runs class, then status, then company. OASIS-4 accepts participants on a short-term or student visa, but the corporation that D-8-4 requires cannot be created until the status changes.

The same page rules out the shortcuts. The programme requires a corporation — a liaison office, a branch office, a sole proprietorship or a non-profit does not satisfy it.