When you receive a notice to appear about cancellation of your stay permit

When the Minister of Justice intends to cancel or change a stay permit or other permit, the foreigner may be called to appear and give their opinion if necessary, and must be informed of the reasons for the intended cancellation and the date, time and place at least 7 days before the hearing (Immigration Act Article 89(2) and (3)).

• Which provision (which item of Article 89(1)) is cited as the reason
• When the document or action in question took place
• The date and place to appear, and the documents to bring
• For permanent residency, which ground under Article 89-2 applies

The law sets out five grounds for cancellation: the guarantor withdraws the guarantee or no longer exists; it turns out the permit was obtained by false or improper means; the permit conditions were breached; circumstances have changed so seriously that the permit cannot be maintained; or the violation of law is serious or a legitimate official order from an immigration officer was violated (Immigration Act Article 89(1)).

In practice, the most common issues are suspicion that application documents were untrue and criminal penalties. For document issues, the question is whether you intended to deceive from the start or whether your circumstances changed later. Permanent residency (F-5) can be cancelled only in narrower, specified cases, such as a final sentence of imprisonment with or without labor of 2 years or more, or final sentences adding up to 3 years or more within the last 5 years (Article 89-2).

The evidence you need depends on the reason. If the reason is that documents were untrue, you need evidence showing how the documents were prepared and what the actual situation was at the time. If the reason is a serious violation of law, prepare the judgment together with records of compensation to the victim, settlement and your life since.

Your long life in Korea, Korean family members and children, and employment and tax records can be used for any ground to argue that the decision is too harsh. Organize the evidence in date order, and attach translations to documents in foreign languages.

If you do not fully understand a question, ask for an interpreter and ask again. Say you do not know when you do not know, and do not answer with guesses. When your statement is finished, ask for what was written to be read back to you, and ask for anything recorded differently to be corrected.

If you have a reason you cannot appear, contact them in advance to ask for a different date, and it is a good idea to also submit a written opinion. If you fail to appear without contacting them, you lose your chance to give your opinion.

You can challenge a cancellation decision through an administrative appeal or administrative lawsuit within 90 days of the day you learned of the decision. A departure order is often issued together to people whose stay permits are cancelled, so you must apply for a stay of execution within the departure deadline.

If your permanent residency is cancelled, you can apply for a general status of stay if you need to keep staying in Korea and meet the requirements. If this application is accepted, you are no longer subject to a departure order, so it should be considered together with challenging the cancellation.

Jisan Law reviews the notice together with your past application documents, organizes the grounds at issue, and prepares a written opinion and supporting evidence. We practice with likely questions in advance, and if a decision is issued, we continue with the administrative appeal, lawsuit and stay of execution. If your hearing date is close, contact us through the chat on this page.