South Korea has barred 20 universities from issuing student visas for foreign students in 2026 as part of an intensified crackdown on visa abuse and illegal immigration, the Ministry of Justice announced on January 20, 2026. The measure targets institutions with high rates of student visa overstays, falsified enrollment records, and suspected involvement in visa mills that recruit international students primarily for work rather than study.
The blacklist includes mostly private universities and vocational colleges in Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Busan that failed to meet tightened compliance standards introduced in late 2025. Violations included low attendance rates excessive off-campus employment, and inadequate screening of applicants. Affected schools will lose visa issuance privileges for at least two years, with reinstatement conditional on major reforms and monitoring.
The crackdown follows a sharp rise in foreign student visa overstays and concerns over exploitation of the D-2 student visa for unauthorized labor, particularly in construction, manufacturing, and service industries. Justice Minister Park Sung-jae stated: “We will no longer tolerate institutions that abuse the student visa system to facilitate illegal work.
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