Korea C-3-4 Visa: Short-Term Business Visits Without Work, and How to Apply

What the C-3-4 visa is

The C-3-4 (general business) visa is Korea’s short-term visit category for business purposes. It covers brief commercial activity — market research, business liaison, consultations, contract negotiations and small-scale trade — for foreigners invited by a Korean company or visiting on business. The maximum stay is 90 days per entry.

It belongs to the C-3 short-term visit family, which is non-remunerative. The visa allows you to talk about business — meetings, site visits, negotiations — but not to take up paid employment or provide paid services in Korea. Working on a C-3-4 is a violation, and this is the line that trips up many visitors. The status-of-stay rules change, so treat the immigration portal and the issuing embassy as the reference.

C-3-4 vs C-3-1 vs C-4

The three categories people most often confuse:

• C-3-1 (short-term general) — tourism, events, conferences and general visits. Business is possible only incidentally; for a company-to-company business trip, C-3-4 is the usual choice.
• C-3-4 (general business) — dedicated to short-term commercial activity such as meetings, consultations and contract work. Still non-remunerative.
• C-4 (short-term employee) — for paid short-term work such as temporary performances, lectures, technical guidance or service work. If the activity is remunerative, this is the category, not C-3-4. We cover it in our C-4 visa guide.

The practical rule: if you are being compensated for doing work, use C-4; if you are visiting for meetings and negotiations with no pay, C-3-4 is the right fit.

Single vs multiple entry

C-3-4 can be issued as single entry or multiple entry, depending on your nationality, travel history and the embassy’s assessment. The immigration service’s criteria for multiple-entry eligibility have included applicants who have entered Korea three or more times on a short-term (C-3) visa since the fingerprint system began in 2012 and have no history of illegal stay or criminal cases.

Multiple entry is useful if you travel to Korea regularly for business, but it still carries a 90-day-per-entry limit and remains subject to entry conditions on each arrival. Whether you qualify depends on your specific case, so confirm with the issuing embassy rather than assuming.

How to apply

You apply for C-3-4 from your country of residence at the Korean embassy or consulate — it cannot be obtained or converted inside Korea. The core documents are generally:

• Valid passport (at least six months of validity)
• Visa application form and photo
• Invitation letter from the Korean company, stating your name, the purpose and dates of the visit, and who covers expenses
• Business registration of the inviting company (사업자등록증명), typically issued within the last few months
• Employment certificate from your current employer, and in some cases financial or trade documents supporting the business purpose

The exact list, fees and processing time vary by embassy and nationality, so check the embassy’s own checklist. Nationals of countries with a visa-exemption agreement may not need a C-3 visa at all for short visits — confirm before applying.

Common mistakes and practical notes

Two things cause most problems:

• Don’t work on a C-3-4. Meetings and negotiations are fine; paid work, service provision or anything labour-like belongs in the C-4 or a long-term work category. Misuse can be treated as a violation for both you and the inviter.
• Plan around 90 days. The stay is capped per entry, and the category is not intended for long-term residence. If the work will exceed that, the long-term visa series (E-1 to E-7) is the relevant path.

Because eligibility and multiple-entry terms are assessed case by case by the embassy, treat the specific embassy’s checklist and the official immigration guidance as the authority rather than general descriptions.