Study in Korea from Kazakhstan

Korea has an embassy in Astana and a consular office in Almaty. A student visa is filed at the Korean mission that covers your country of residence (Ministry of Justice manual). Whether your application goes through a visa centre or directly to the mission, and which of the two offices handles it, is not something we could verify — confirm with the embassy before you travel.

Kazakhstan is on Korea's official list of 35 tuberculosis high-risk countries (Ministry of Justice), so any stay of more than 90 days requires a TB certificate. It must come from a hospital the Korean embassy accepts — we could not verify the current list of hospitals in Kazakhstan, so ask the embassy which clinics to use before you get tested.

Kazakhstan has applied the Hague Apostille Convention since 2001, and Korea's visa manual accepts an apostille on education certificates. Apostilles in Kazakhstan are issued by the authorities named in the national apostille rules, and the right office depends on the document. Check with your university which documents it wants apostilled.

The Ministry of Justice sets no fixed amount: you must show one year of tuition plus living costs (six months for a D-4 language course), and your university states the figure in its admission guide. A large deposit made right before applying can be questioned as borrowed money, so keep the balance settled in your account.

Kazakhstan's mainstream school system is 11 years, while Korea's is 12, and some Korean universities ask about this. We found no official rule that decides it for all universities, and some Kazakhstani students report being admitted. Ask your target university in writing whether your school certificate and age are accepted.

Kazakhstani students in Korea have an association, the Kazakhstan Students Association in Korea, which has organised events such as Nauryz in Seoul together with the embassy. Press reports have put the number of Kazakhstani students in Korean universities at roughly 1,300. We could not verify an official contact or group link yet, so ask the embassy or your university's international office.