D-8-4, Korea's startup visa: the OASIS matrix, and the 60-point threshold the operator publishes
The technology startup visa runs on the OASIS points system: 60 points with at least one prerequisite item, plus corporation establishment — the threshold the operator's own page prints, nowhere printing 80. The courses, the point values and the inconsistencies are all operator-published.
Korea's startup visa has a scoring engine behind it, and the engine has a name: OASIS — the Overall Assistance for Startup Immigration System.
The operator's page states it is a program operated by the Global Startup Immigration Center, designated by the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Small and Medium Venture Businesses.
The sourcing rule for this post follows from that sentence. Everything below is the operator's publication. It is the body that runs the system, but its page is not a ministry notice — verify against HiKorea or the Korea Immigration Service before filing.
The threshold, as printed
The page stacks the visa's conditions in one line: a bachelor's or associate's degree — Korea-only — or a Global Start-up Immigration Center letter; 60 points or more, with at least one required item included; and corporation establishment.
Three conditions, one line. The points score is the middle one, and the least self-sufficient: corporation establishment is its own requirement, not a points item among others.
On the threshold number: the page prints 60, and the page's own worked example is titled Example of 60 Points. No 80 appears anywhere on the fetched page.
The OASIS courses, with their printed values
| Course | What it is | Points as printed |
|---|---|---|
| OASIS-1 | Basic Intellectual Property Course | 10 |
| OASIS-2 | Advanced Intellectual Property Course | 10 |
| OASIS-3 | IP application + prototype support | no value printed |
| OASIS-4 | Basic Start-up Class | 10 |
| OASIS-5 | Start-Up Coaching & Mentoring (6+ hours, 3 sessions) | 15 |
| OASIS-6 | Invention, Start-Up Exhibition | 30 |
| OASIS-7 | Graduation from Start-Up Incubation (6+ months after move-in) | 15 |
| OASIS-8 | Support for corporation establishment | 15 |
| OASIS-9 | Support Start-Up Items Commercialization | 30 |
Every value in that table comes from the course's own header on the page. The completion rules are printed too — OASIS-1 requires a minimum attendance of 80 percent, and OASIS-7 graduates only after six months of incubation residency.
The prerequisite anchor
Three families anchor the list on intellectual property: holding or registering IPRs, co-inventing them, or applying for them. A fourth is institutional — receiving government startup support, or completing OASIS-6 or OASIS-9.
The last two are status and capital: three or more years on an E-1 professor or E-3 researcher visa, or a secured investment of KRW 100 million or more, verified and recommended by the center.
The page prints one prerequisite value inline: IPR applications are recognised up to 10 points regardless of count. Its overlap note caps multiple IPRs at 60 combined points.
The prerequisite table itself renders flattened — its point values cannot be mapped row-by-row from the fetched text. This post prints the values that are unambiguous and defers the full grid to the operator's table and to the scoring simulator on this site.
An inconsistency, stated plainly
The page's section headers do not agree with its threshold line. The prerequisite block is headed 180 Points; the elective block is headed 120 Points; the threshold line prints 60 points as sufficient.
This post does not reconcile those numbers, because reconciliation would be invention. What the page supports is the threshold line, the per-course values, and the inline item values — and those are what the simulator on this site scores against.
Frequently asked questions
- How many points does the D-8-4 visa need?
- The operator's page prints the threshold as 60 points or more, with at least one prerequisite item included, plus corporation establishment — alongside a degree condition (a Korean bachelor's or associate's degree, or a letter from the Global Start-up Immigration Center). The page nowhere prints an 80-point threshold.
- What are the OASIS courses and their point values?
- As the operator's page prints them: OASIS-1 Basic Intellectual Property Course 10, OASIS-2 Advanced IP Course 10, OASIS-4 Basic Start-up Class 10, OASIS-5 Start-Up Coaching & Mentoring 15, OASIS-6 Invention/Start-Up Exhibition 30, OASIS-7 Start-Up Incubation graduation 15, OASIS-8 corporation establishment support 15, OASIS-9 commercialisation support 30. OASIS-3 (IP application and prototype support) prints no point value.
- What counts as a prerequisite item?
- The page's prerequisite list: holding or registering intellectual property rights, co-inventing them, applying for them (applications recognised up to 10 points), receiving government startup support or OASIS-6 or OASIS-9, three-plus years on an E-1 professor or E-3 researcher visa, or securing KRW 100 million or more in investment verified by the center. Multiple IPRs can overlap up to a maximum of 60 points.
- What fills the elective points?
- The OASIS courses (OASIS-1, 2 and 4 at 10 points each; OASIS-5, 7 and 8 at 15 points each), Korean language proficiency (TOPIK or KIIP level 5 or higher 20 points; level 3 or higher 10 points), and a master's degree or higher from any university, 10 points. An OECD-registered IPR holder earns the OASIS-2 education exemption.
- Can I reach 60 points without any intellectual property?
- The operator's own 60-point example contains no registered IPR — only an application: OASIS-4 (10) + OASIS-5 (15) + OASIS-8 (15) + OASIS-1 (10) + a patent application (10). The prerequisite anchor in that path is the application plus the government-supported course items.
- Who runs OASIS and how should I treat these figures?
- OASIS is operated by the Global Start-up Immigration Center, which its page says was designated by the Minister of Justice and the Minister of SMEs and Startups. Every figure here is the operator's publication — verify against HiKorea or the Korea Immigration Service before filing.
Sources
- Global Start-up Immigration Center (OASIS operator), D-8-4 page — threshold, OASIS courses and point values, requirements — read 2026-09-01
- Global Start-up Immigration Center (OASIS operator), home page — operator identity — read 2026-09-01
- Hero photograph: Seoul Night Skyline by Takipoint123, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 — read 2026-09-01
Everything above is the rule as published. See how it applies to your case.