D-3 Industrial Trainee Visa Korea — Technical Training, Eligibility & Sponsorship Rules

D-3 is used for two main scenarios:

1. Corporate group training (계열사 연수):

A foreign employee of an overseas subsidiary or affiliate of a Korean conglomerate comes to the Korean parent company for technical skills training. Common in Samsung, Hyundai, LG, and similar groups with overseas manufacturing operations.

2. ODA/KOICA technical cooperation training:

Foreign nationals from developing countries sponsored under Korea's ODA programs receive industrial training at Korean companies.

The D-3 framework requires:

• A Korean company approved as a training institution (연수기관)

• A formal training plan (연수계획서)

• The trainee must have a genuine connection to an overseas entity

• The training must be time-limited and oriented toward skills transfer back to the home country

Duration: D-3 is issued for up to 1 year, renewable up to a total of 2 years.

Conditions: D-3 trainees receive a training allowance (연수수당), not a salary. They do not have full employment law protections and cannot freely change companies.

For most foreign workers doing production work in Korea, through the EPS system provides better legal protections. is specifically for genuine industrial knowledge transfer.