Some foreigners first hear "you cannot leave" at the airport departure counter. What is called an exit ban for Korean nationals is called a departure suspension for foreigners under Article 29 of the Immigration Act, and it borrows the grounds and procedure of the exit ban rules. Below we go through when departure is suspended, how long it lasts, and what you must do, and by when, to have it lifted.
Key points
- The Minister of Justice may suspend the departure of a foreigner who falls under an exit ban ground, such as a criminal trial, an unserved sentence, unpaid fines or taxes, or a criminal investigation.
- The basic period is up to 3 months or up to 1 month depending on the ground, and it can be extended.
- You may object to the Minister of Justice within 10 days of receiving the notice or learning of the suspension.
- After it is lifted, you may leave within 10 days without a separate procedure, even if your stay has expired.
1. Who can be suspended from leaving, and why?
The grounds are the same as for an exit ban on nationals. There are two broad groups.
First, criminal and financial grounds:
- People on criminal trial
- People whose prison or imprisonment sentence has not been fully served
- People who have not paid fines or forfeitures above set amounts
- People who, without good reason, have not paid national taxes, customs duties or local taxes above set amounts by the due date
- Child support debtors reviewed by the Child Support Enforcement Committee, and employers publicly listed for unpaid wages
- People under tax investigation on suspicion of evading at least KRW 200 million in national taxes or issuing at least KRW 2 billion in false tax invoices, people fitted with an electronic location tracking device, and people the Minister of Justice finds would seriously harm public health, national security or diplomatic relations
For items 3 and 4, as of October 2026 the amounts set by Article 1-3 of the Enforcement Decree of the Immigration Act are KRW 10 million for a fine, KRW 20 million for a forfeiture, KRW 50 million each for national taxes and customs duties, and KRW 30 million for local taxes.
Second, where departure is inappropriate for a criminal investigation (including the decision whether to indict). For foreigners this means people under investigation for a crime punishable by death, life imprisonment or a maximum of 3 years or more, or people whose case was suspended because they could not be found.
2. Periods and extension
| Ground | Suspension period |
|---|---|
| Criminal trial, unserved sentence, unpaid fines or taxes, etc. | Up to 3 months |
| Criminal investigation | Up to 1 month |
| Investigation hard to continue because of flight, etc. | Up to 3 months |
| Case suspended because the person cannot be found | Up to 3 months |
| Case suspended and an arrest or detention warrant issued | Within the warrant's validity |
If a person whose case was suspended is found, the planned suspension period becomes up to 10 days from the day they are found. If the suspension needs to continue beyond the period, the Minister of Justice may extend it, and the requesting agency must ask for an extension at least 3 days before the period ends. A suspension must be kept to the minimum necessary, and it is not imposed twice for the same ground.
3. Notice, and finding out at the airport
When the Minister of Justice suspends departure or extends the period, the person must be notified in writing without delay, with the reason and the period. Lifting must also be notified without delay.
However, notice may be withheld in the following cases, which is why some people find out only at the airport:
- Where there is a risk of serious and clear harm to national security or the public interest
- Where there is a risk of serious and clear obstruction to a criminal investigation (notice is required once the total period, including extensions, exceeds 3 months)
- Where the whereabouts of the person are unknown
Immigration officers must not let a suspended person depart, so there is no way to resolve it on the spot at the airport. The day you learn of the suspension starts the objection deadline, so write that date down.
4. Lifting and objections
Lifting. The Minister of Justice must lift the suspension without delay once the ground no longer exists or the suspension is no longer needed, and the requesting agency must ask for lifting without delay when the ground disappears. It may also be lifted where it is likely to seriously harm relations with a foreign country, where it is likely to cause serious damage that is hard to repair, or for other humanitarian reasons.
Objection. This is the formal route you can use yourself.
- File with the Minister of Justice within 10 days of receiving the notice of suspension or extension, or of learning of it.
- The Minister decides within 15 days of receipt, extendable once by up to 15 days for unavoidable reasons.
- If needed for the review, you may be asked to submit documents or state your opinion.
- If the objection has merit, the suspension is lifted (or the extension withdrawn) without delay; if not, it is dismissed and the reasons are given in writing.
It helps to attach proof that the ground no longer exists (payment receipts, trial results and so on), the reasons you need to travel, and facts showing you will not flee, such as your address and contacts in Korea.
5. Emergency departure suspension
A prosecutor or investigative agency may ask the immigration officer at departure screening directly to suspend departure where there are reasonable grounds to suspect a crime punishable by death, life imprisonment or a maximum of 3 years or more, there is a risk of destroying evidence or fleeing, and the matter is urgent.
- They must ask the Minister of Justice for approval within 6 hours of the request.
- If no approval is requested, or approval is not obtained within 12 hours of asking, the suspension is lifted.
- Once lifted this way, an emergency suspension cannot be requested again for the same facts.
If you are at the investigation stage, also see your rights when summoned and questioned and how a criminal case affects your visa.
6. When your stay ends, and how this differs from an entry ban
A foreigner who could not leave by the end of the permitted stay because of a departure suspension may leave within 10 days from the day it is lifted without extending the stay or any other separate procedure. Count the days from the lifting date.
A departure suspension stops you from leaving; an entry ban stops someone who has left from coming back, and it is a different system. For entry bans, see how to apply to lift an entry ban.
7. What an administrative scrivener can do
We review the ground and period of a suspension, draft and file objections, prepare statements explaining that the ground has ended or why you need to travel, and organize evidence and translate foreign documents. Investigation and trial defense in criminal cases, and representation in lawsuits, are outside the scope of an administrative scrivener and we do not handle them.
The 10-day objection deadline is short. Write down the date on the notice, or the date you were told at the airport, and start preparing right away.
You can find immigration service information on HiKorea: https://www.hikorea.go.kr