KIIP Permanent Residency Test (KIPRAT): Format and Pass Mark

KIPRAT (Korea Immigration and Permanent Residence Aptitude Test, 영주용 종합평가) is the KIIP test for people heading for permanent residence. It has 40 written questions in 60 minutes (36 multiple choice plus one short essay that counts as four questions) and 5 spoken questions in about 10 minutes. You need 60 out of 100 to pass. You can sit it after completing the 70-hour level 5 basic course, or without any classes if you scored 85 or more on the pre-assessment in the last two years. It costs ₩38,000, and the last paper sitting of 2026 is on 5 December.

It matters because since 21 September 2018, permanent residence applicants have had to complete KIIP or pass this comprehensive evaluation, unless a Ministry of Justice notice exempts them (Socinet cites Article 18-3 of the Enforcement Rule of the Immigration Control Act). The details below are as of October 2026. Requirements differ between permanent residence categories, so confirm yours with the Immigration Contact Center (1345) or HiKorea before you rely on any one route.

Two ways to be allowed to sit it

Route B is faster, but it is a narrower result. If you might apply for citizenship one day, or if your visa rules give extra credit for actually completing KIIP, Route A is worth the extra term. For people who complete KIIP, Socinet lists two extra benefits when applying for permanent residence: you don't have to prove your Korean separately, and you skip the residence fact-finding check (실태조사).

Format and points

The essay is the part people underestimate. You write up to 200 characters on one topic, covering three prompts, in 10 minutes. The instructions say not to write a title, only the body, and that both character count and each scoring area are marked. In the speaking part, two examiners assess two candidates at a time.

Worked example: where the 60 points come from

Suppose a candidate gets 10 of the fourteen 1.5-point questions right (15 points) and 15 of the twenty-two 2-point questions (30 points): 45 from multiple choice. Add an essay that covers all three prompts but has some errors, 6 of 10, and that makes 51. The candidate now needs 9 of 25 in speaking to pass. With 12 in speaking the total is 63, a pass. With 8 it is 59, a fail.

Two lessons: the essay and speaking parts are worth 35 points together, so you can't pass on multiple choice alone. And 10 minutes of speaking can decide the result, so practise speaking as well as reading.

What the official sample paper looks like

The Ministry has published sample KIPRAT papers on Socinet. The 2019 sample was written before the 2021 textbook revision, so the topics will have moved on, but the layout is the same:

• Questions 1–12: Korean language. Vocabulary in context ("the sound of the neighbour's piano kept me awake"), intermediate grammar such as -(으)ㄴ 데다가 and -(으)려던 참이다, and joining two clauses into one sentence correctly.
• Questions 13–16: reading. A company sports day notice, a short text on the "ppalli-ppalli" (hurry-hurry) culture and a newspaper item on public etiquette, asking for a missing sentence, the best title or what doesn't belong.
• Questions 17–36: Korean society. National symbols (the flag is the Taegeukgi and the national flower the mugunghwa), Article 1 of the Constitution, ministries, 1970s heavy industry, which bank is the central bank and not a commercial one, stay rules for foreigners, types of naturalization, law enforcement bodies, Gojoseon as the first state, Silhak, Baekje's influence on Japan, the region called Yeongnam, and where Seoraksan is.
• Essay: "cultural differences", covering how Korean culture differs from yours, a mistake you made because of it, and how you came to understand it.
• Speaking: read a passage on Seollal tteokguk and Chuseok songpyeon, answer two questions about it and one about holiday food in your country, then give opinions on the internet's pros and cons and on how government should handle rapid urban growth.

More than half the multiple-choice points come from Korean society content, the material of the level 5 course, rather than from language. Route B candidates who skip the classes should still work through the level 5 textbook. The Ministry's FAQ confirms that the interim and comprehensive evaluations are set from the KIIP textbooks.

Booking and dates (as of October 2026)

The permanent residence version is listed as a paper test only on the evaluation site. The computer centres in Seoul, Gwangmyeong and Daejeon run the pre-assessment, the interim evaluation and the naturalization version. Paper comprehensive evaluations run eight times a year.

• 7th sitting: held on 17 October, with 3,087 seats at 15 universities nationwide. Results are due on 23 October after 4 p.m.
• 8th sitting (last of 2026): apply 17–21 November, test 5 December, results 11 December.

Book on kiiptest.org (log in through the queue page; you are logged out after 10 minutes). Seats are first come, first served by region. When you book, select the permanent residence (영주용) version, not the naturalization (귀화용) one. The Foundation's notice specifically warns about this. Your venue and admission ticket come three days before the test, after 3 p.m.

The refund depends on when you cancel: everything back during the application period, 50% for seven days after it closes, 40% from then until two days before the test, nothing after that. If you don't turn up after booking, you fail.

On the day

• Arrive between 12:00 and 12:30. Nobody is let in after 12:30.
• Bring an original alien registration card, passport, Korean driving licence or a residence permit confirmation with photo. Copies and mobile IDs are refused, and the fee is not refunded.
• Phones and smartwatches are collected before the test. You can't leave for the toilet during the test.
• Mark your answers only with the computer pen the invigilator gives you.
• Cheating gets you removed, a zero, the cancellation of your KIIP record and a one-year ban from the program.

Results come out six days after the test (the Friday of the following week) after 4 p.m., on My Page on Socinet and on kiiptest.org. You won't be contacted individually. The pass certificate has no expiry date and can be printed from Socinet whenever you need it for your permanent residence application. Account and booking problems are covered in the Socinet guide.