What happens if you cannot leave by the date on your departure order (출국명령서)? The short answer: the head of the immigration office must issue a deportation order (강제퇴거명령서) without delay. A chance to leave on your own turns into a forced removal process. If you posted a performance bond, that money can go to the national treasury as well.
So at the deadline you have two paths. Leave by the date, or, if you truly cannot, ask for a grace period before the deadline passes.
Key points
- A departure order gives you a chance to leave voluntarily. Passing the deadline leads to a deportation order.
- The deadline is set within 30 days of the date the order is issued, and conditions such as a residence restriction and a performance bond of up to KRW 20 million can be attached (as of October 2026, Article 68(3)).
- If it is clearly impossible to leave in time because no transport is available or for another unavoidable reason such as illness, you can apply for a grace period on the departure deadline.
- Time spent under a departure order is left out when stay periods are counted, and after you leave it can weigh on permanent residence and similar reviews for 5 years.
1. Departure order and deportation: what is the difference?
Both tell you to leave Korea, but they are quite different in nature. A departure order is a discretionary measure, written in the law as something the office "may" do. It leans toward giving a person who has a violation on record, but who wants to leave at their own expense, a chance to do so. Deportation comes after an examination, produces an order, is carried out by immigration officials, and sends you to the destination country.
The law lists five groups of people who can receive a departure order.
- A person who appears to fall under a deportation ground but wants to leave voluntarily at their own expense
- A person who received a departure recommendation and did not follow it
- A person whose permit or similar approval was revoked (this includes revoked permanent residence, except for those who then received a general status)
- A person for whom leaving the country is judged appropriate after an administrative fine
- A person for whom leaving the country is judged appropriate after a notice of penalty payment
Side by side, it looks like this.
| Item | Departure order | Deportation |
|---|---|---|
| Nature | A chance to leave voluntarily, with a set deadline | Order issued after examination and carried out by officials |
| Departure deadline | Within 30 days of issue | Order is executed and the person is sent back without delay |
| Objection | No separate objection procedure appears in the text | Objection within 7 days of receiving the order |
| Permanent residence look-back | 5 years from the date of leaving | 7 years from the date of leaving |
| Entry ban grounds written in the Act | Not among the listed grounds | A person who left under a deportation order less than 5 years ago |
The last two rows are why a departure order is called lighter. But lighter does not mean it leaves no trace.
2. What does the departure order say?
The document lists the person's details, the reason for the order (the legal provision applied), the departure deadline, and conditions. The conditions box has three parts: a residence restriction, the amount, payment date and place of the performance bond, and any other necessary conditions.
The deadline is set within 30 days of issue. Whether it is written as 20 days or 7 days depends on the case.
When the office considers it necessary, it can require a performance bond of up to KRW 20 million (as of October 2026, Article 68(3)). In deciding, it weighs the reason and motive for the order, the person's violation history, age, circumstances and assets, any risk of flight, and humanitarian reasons. When it takes the bond, it has to tell you that the bond can be forfeited if you miss the deadline or breach a condition.
When you receive the paper, look at the date first. That one box is the starting point for every choice that follows.
3. What exactly happens if you pass the deadline?
The legal sentence is plain. A person who received a departure order and did not leave by the date set, or who breached a condition attached, must be issued a deportation order without delay. It does not say "may." It says "must," so it is written as a duty, not a choice.
The performance bond moves like this.
- Missing the departure deadline: all or part of the bond can be forfeited.
- Breaching a condition such as a residence restriction: part of the bond can be forfeited.
- A forfeiture notice states the reason and the amount.
- A bond that was not forfeited is returned when you leave.
If the office believes you may run away, things can move faster. A person under a departure order who has a considerable reason to be thought a flight risk can be held temporarily in an immigration holding room for up to 48 hours.
After a deportation order is issued, an objection is possible but the time is short. You must file it within 7 days of receiving the order, and the Minister of Justice decides whether it has merit and notifies the result. Immigration officials carry out the order. If you cannot be sent back right away because you have no passport or transport is not arranged, you can be held in a protection facility for up to 2 months.
The text of the Immigration Act does not show a fine or prison term for ignoring a departure order as such. The heavy consequence lies in the move to deportation, not in punishment.
4. If you truly cannot leave: a grace period on the departure deadline
When the reason is clear, the Enforcement Rule has a way. If a person who received a departure recommendation or departure order has no ship, aircraft or other transport, or is ill or has another unavoidable reason, so that it is clear they cannot leave by the deadline, the office may grant a grace period on the departure deadline.
The steps are these.
- Fill in the application for a departure deadline grace period and attach materials explaining the reason. For illness, a document with the medical findings. For a transport problem, materials showing the cancelled flight or the lack of available seats.
- The office reviews it and grants the grace period if it finds it necessary.
- Where there is no transport, the grace runs to a date set separately by the Minister of Justice after considering the number of people to depart and the circumstances. For other reasons, it runs until the reason ends.
Timing is what people miss. The text assumes it is clear that you cannot leave "within the deadline," so once the deadline has passed and a deportation order has already been issued, it is hard to solve the problem this way. If only a few days remain and you cannot get a ticket, tell the office right away.
It is also easy to confuse this with an extension of stay for departure. That is a separate system for people whose permitted stay is expiring, and it is not a way to lengthen a departure order deadline.
Can you ask to cancel the departure order itself? We could not find wording in the Act, the Enforcement Decree or the Enforcement Rule that sets a procedure to cancel a departure order or to object to one. The 7-day objection rule is for deportation orders. The picture is different at the earlier stage where the permit was revoked, though. When the Minister of Justice intends to cancel or change a permit, the person can be summoned to give their views, and the reason and the date and place must be notified at least 7 days before. That stage, before the measure is issued, is where you get to explain.
5. How is it treated in stay period counting and status changes?
Many people ask whether days spent in Korea under a departure order count later. For a change to Other Long-term Residence (F-2-99), the continuous time in Korea is added up, but these periods are left out.
- A period of extended stay for departure
- A period of departure deadline grace
- A departure recommendation or departure order period
- The period from receiving a deportation order until the deportation is completed
- A period of illegal stay or illegal employment
Continuity is also broken. If you re-enter more than 30 days after fully leaving, the stays before and after are not linked as a rule, and where a person fully left under a departure order or deportation, it is treated as broken even if they come back within 30 days. A person in a departure deadline grace period is also a target for restraining status changes. For permanent residence (F-5), when counting time in Korea, a departure deadline grace period is counted as time spent abroad.
The traces continue after you leave. For permanent residence, a person is excluded if fewer than 5 years have passed since leaving under a departure order (7 years for deportation), and some status review standards list a person who received a deportation or departure order within 5 years of applying as disqualified. Some programs, such as technical training, put a person who left after a departure order or deportation order outside the eligible group altogether.
For limits on re-entry after leaving on your own, see the voluntary departure guide and the entry ban and removal article. Here we stay with what changes once the deadline is missed.
6. What to check as the deadline approaches
- Read the deadline box on the order first. Write down the date and the conditions (residence restriction, performance bond).
- Book your flight or transport first. The most common snag is a schedule that does not fit.
- If you cannot leave, tell the office before the deadline. Attach materials such as a medical certificate or proof of a cancelled flight and apply for a grace period.
- Keep the conditions. If there is a residence restriction, stay where you are told. Breaching a condition alone is enough for a deportation order and a bond forfeiture.
- Claim your bond back when you leave. A bond that was not forfeited is returned at departure.
One misunderstanding comes up often: "a departure order is only about a fine, so I can leave slowly." Overlook the fact that it is a measure with a deadline, and the heaviest consequence follows.
7. What Sunshine Administrative Agent Office can do
Sunshine Administrative Agent Office (선샤인행정사사무소) prepares and submits the application for a departure deadline grace period, drafts written statements and opinions explaining why the deadline is hard to meet, and organizes and translates supporting documents such as medical certificates and transport records. Defense in an investigation or criminal trial that follows an immigration case is outside the scope of an administrative agent, and we do not handle it.
If the deadline is close, check the date and your papers today. You can reach us at 02-309-3107 or [email protected], and consultation hours are weekdays 09:30~17:30.