My visa extension was refused because I have a pending criminal case — I haven't been convicted of anything. Can I challenge that, and what happens to me in the meantime?

Immigration can refuse an extension on a pending case; a refusal is an administrative disposition that can be challenged; and the mechanism that lets you stay while the challenge is heard exists and is the critical filing. The refusal on a pending investigation alone — before any charge — is the kind of decision administrative courts have examined for proportionality, particularly where the applicant is a student mid-program with no prior record, and where the criminal case is likely to end without a conviction. On the criminal side, there are ways to press the prosecutor's decision, and there are ways to put the criminal timeline in front of the immigration reviewer. The departure date is the constraint; everything below happens before it.

What this is under Korean law

Extension of stay is decided by the Minister of Justice under Article 25 of the Immigration Act (출입국관리법, chulipguk gwalli-beop) on criteria that include the applicant's compliance with law during the stay. Immigration guidelines treat a pending criminal investigation as a factor that may justify refusal or a shortened extension, depending on the offense and stage; they also provide, in practice, for a temporary extension pending the outcome of a criminal case in some circumstances. Which applies is a matter of current guidelines, which change and are not fully public — hence "verify the current rule."

A refusal with a departure period is a disposition. Failing to leave by the date, without a suspension in place, converts a refusal into an overstay, which is a separate ground for a departure order and an entry ban. That is the outcome to avoid at all costs.

Challenging the refusal

Two routes. Administrative appeal (행정심판, haengjeong simpan) to the Central Administrative Appeals Commission, and an action for revocation (취소소송, chwiso sosong) in the administrative court; each must be filed within ninety days of notification of the refusal, and each may be accompanied by an application to suspend execution (집행정지, jipaeng jeongji) of the refusal's departure requirement. A suspension, if granted, lets you remain lawfully while the challenge is decided. Courts grant it where departure would cause harm that cannot be undone by a later win — a student who would lose a year of a graduate program is the paradigm — and where the challenge is not obviously hopeless.

On the merits, the argument is proportionality: the refusal weighs an unproven allegation against a year of study, a clean record and lawful residence; the criminal case is at a stage where a non-referral or a suspension of indictment is the likely outcome; and a temporary or conditional extension would protect the public interest as well as a refusal. The criminal lawyer's assessment goes in as a statement; the prosecutor's file status, obtainable through counsel, goes in as evidence.

Staying while it is decided

Only with a suspension. Without one, the departure date governs, and leaving Korea moots much of the case — a person who has left can still pursue the revocation action, but the practical value of winning from abroad is a re-entry application rather than a continued stay. File the suspension application with the challenge, before the departure date, with room for the court to decide.

The criminal side

A criminal lawyer can submit a written opinion to the prosecutor requesting a prompt decision and setting out why the case warrants non-indictment; prosecutors do respond to well-founded requests, particularly where the suspect's status depends on the outcome and the file supports closure. A decision before the departure date changes the immigration case entirely: a non-referral or a non-indictment removes the ground the refusal relied on, and a renewed application can be made on that basis. Ask your criminal lawyer, today, what would move the prosecutor.

MEGA X's involvement in matters like this arises from the criminal case; the administrative challenge is litigation and we handle it as part of that matter, coordinating with an immigration specialist on the application side. We do not act as a visa agent, and we do not predict the Immigration Office's or the court's decision.

What to do now, and what not to do

Note the notification date; the ninety days and the departure period both run from it. Do not leave before the suspension is decided, and do not stay past the date without one. Assemble: the refusal, your enrollment and academic record, the university's letter, the criminal file status, your lawyer's assessment, and evidence of your ties. File the challenge and the suspension together within the coming days; ask the criminal side to press for a decision in parallel.

Practical insight

Students in your position lose in one of two ways: they leave by the date because "the office said so," and discover a year later that a suspension would have been granted; or they overstay while "waiting for the case," and hand immigration a ground it did not previously have. The suspension application is the whole difference, and it is a filing measured in days. The other lever is the prosecutor: a criminal decision is the only thing that removes the refusal's basis, and prosecutors can be asked.

Send us the refusal notice and the criminal case number and we can file the suspension application before the departure date — by text consultation or at +82-2-522-3959.

— Hyeonghwan Chon, Managing Partner, MEGA X Law Firm Korea