Hello, business owners! 🙌🏻
This is the foreign talent recruitment platform Vijob(비잡).
If you checked a foreign applicant’s visa and saw that it says D-10, you may have these questions.
“D-10 is a job-seeking visa, but can we hire them as an intern at our company?”
“Can we work with them first as an intern and then consider converting them to a full-time employee?”
To put it simply,
foreign nationals with D-10 status who meet certain requirements can work as interns at domestic companies.
In particular, companies that want to first assess a foreign worker’s practical skills and job fit before making a regular hire can use the D-10 internship system.
However, D-10 has different scope of activities depending on the specific subtype, and you also need to check the actual duties and company requirements.
Today, Vijob will clearly organize the key procedures companies should know when hiring a D-10 foreign national as an intern! 💙
✅ Check 1. First, please confirm the specific D-10 subtype
Even within one residence status, D-10 is divided into subtypes according to the purpose of activity.
The main types are as follows.
Category | Main purpose | Intern use |
D-10-1 General job seeking | Preparing for employment and job-seeking activities in Korea | Possible if certain requirements are met |
D-10-2 Technology startup preparation | Preparing to start a technology business in Korea | Focused on startup preparation activities |
D-10-3 Advanced technology intern | Internship in advanced technology fields | Possible depending on the relevant requirements |
The type most often checked when hiring interns at general companies is D-10-1 General job seeking.
D-10-1 is a residence status operated so that foreign nationals can prepare for employment at domestic companies or institutions and, before regular employment, gain experience through professional field internship activities within a certain scope.
Therefore, if an applicant has D-10, first check “whether the exact specific residence status is D-10-1”.
✅ Check 2. Which job duties can be hired as an intern?
D-10-1 internship activities are basically intended to provide job experience that can lead to future employment in a professional field.
Under the current immigration guidance, it is mainly operated around internship activities in fields corresponding to professor (E-1) through specific activities (E-7).
For example
✔ Foreign national preparing for global marketing employment → marketing intern
✔ Foreign national preparing for IT/development employment → development intern
✔ Foreign national preparing for overseas sales employment → overseas sales/market research intern
You should check whether the actual work duties are naturally connected to future professional employment, as in the examples above.
In particular, if the company plans to assign work such as translation/interpreting, overseas market research, global marketing, overseas sales, and content planning by utilizing the foreign employee’s language skills or global experience, it is best to organize the actual job duties in detail. This is because what they actually do is more important than the job title.
✅ Check 3. Please also review the foreigner’s previous employment history
Even with the same D-10-1, the applicable standards may differ depending on the foreigner’s previous stay history.
In particular, if they previously worked under E-1~E-7 professional employment status, left the job, and then changed to D-10-1, the applicable standards may differ from ordinary D-10 internship activities.
Therefore, during the hiring process
the current status of stay
as well as
✔ previous status of stay
✔ previous professional employment history
✔ current purpose of job-seeking activities
, if you check these together, you can judge hiring eligibility more accurately.
If you review a simple stay and work history along with the foreign registration card, it will also help when preparing for conversion to full-time employment later.
✅ Check 4. If internship activities have started, file a “training commencement report”
When a D-10-1 foreigner begins internship activities, the fact that training has started must be reported to the immigration and foreigner office.
Under the current standard, reporting should be made within 15 days from the date training begins or the reason for changing the training institution occurs.
In other words, the procedure is somewhat different from the part-time work arrangement for D-2 international students, where separate prior permission must be obtained before working.
D-10 internships are generally easy to understand as a flow of signing an internship contract → starting internship activities → filing the training commencement report within 15 days.
💡 Companies should prepare like this
Before the actual start of work
✔ foreigner’s detailed D-10 eligibility
✔ assigned duties
✔ company requirements
✔ internship period
If you check these in advance, the reporting process can proceed more smoothly.
✅ Check 5. Internship activities are possible for up to 1 year at the same company
When searching for information about D-10 internships, you will often see the statement “up to 6 months at one company only”.
However, that standard has changed.
The Ministry of Justice improved the D-10 system starting on 2025-10-29, and expanded the period during which internship activities are allowed at the same company to
the previous maximum of 6 months → up to 1 year.
Therefore, as of 2026, within the foreigner’s D-10 stay period, internship activities at the same company can be considered for up to 1 year.