Ministry of Justice Revokes Visas for 100+ Chinese Students at Honam University

(GWANGJU, SOUTH KOREA) — The Gwangju Immigration Office revoked the visas of over 100 Chinese students at Honam University in January 2026 after authorities found falsified academic credentials from a U.S. university.

The action affected mostly graduate students, along with some undergraduates who had transferred from other schools. They had submitted bachelor’s degrees from the same U.S. university obtained around the same time, a pattern that drew scrutiny during a Ministry of Justice investigation.

Authorities confirmed the students had not been in the United States during the period covered by the credentials they submitted. That led to immediate visa cancellations under South Korea’s Immigration Act.

Most of the students were in China during winter break when the visas were revoked, which barred them from returning to South Korea. Five who remained in Korea received departure orders, and four departed voluntarily.

Honam University had verified the documents before admission by using apostilled certifications, a government-issued form of international authentication. The Ministry of Justice had also initially approved the students’ visas on the basis of those documents.

That sequence has placed the university and immigration authorities at the center of questions about how fraudulent academic records passed multiple checks before more than 100 students lost their legal status. A detailed probe is continuing, and the university is conducting a legal review while cooperating with the investigation.

The case also points to wider concerns about document verification as South Korea’s international student population grows. In this instance, the common source of the academic records, the timing of the degrees and the students’ travel history became central to the investigation.

Honam University responded by issuing an urgent notice telling affected students to delay their return in order to avoid deportation procedures. The step came as the school moved to manage the immediate consequences for students who had already left the country for the winter break and those still in South Korea.

For the students abroad, the visa revocations meant they could not reenter to resume their studies. For those still in the country, departure orders sharply narrowed their options, with four of the five leaving voluntarily.

The concentration of the cases at one institution made the matter unusual. Over 100 Chinese students at a single local university lost their visas over falsified academic documents tied to the same U.S. university, according to the information disclosed.

Many of those affected were enrolled at the graduate level, where prior academic credentials are essential for admission. Some undergraduates were also caught up in the revocations after transferring from other schools, showing that the issue crossed different parts of the student body.

The use of apostilled certifications is central to understanding why the documents initially passed review. Apostilles are intended to authenticate public documents for international use, and Honam University relied on that process before granting admission.

The Ministry of Justice then approved visas using the same records. Only later, during the investigation, did authorities determine that the students had not been in the United States during the period when they claimed to have earned the degrees.

That finding appears to have been decisive. Once officials established that travel records did not match the academic timeline, the government moved to cancel the visas immediately under immigration law.

The response left little room for students to correct their status before the cancellations took effect. Those outside South Korea were blocked from returning, while those inside the country faced removal procedures unless they departed.

Honam University’s urgent notice reflected that reality. By advising students to delay their return, the school sought to prevent them from arriving at the border only to face deportation action after landing.

At the same time, the university began a legal review. It is also cooperating with the ongoing investigation, which is examining the documents and the admission process in greater detail.

The case has exposed the limits of a system that can authenticate paperwork formally yet still fail to detect whether the underlying academic history is real. In this instance, both the university and the Ministry of Justice relied on records that later proved false.

That gap matters beyond one school in Gwangju. South Korea has been expanding its intake of international students, and the Honam University case has added to concerns about how institutions and authorities verify foreign academic credentials at scale.

Officials have not framed the matter as a routine paperwork problem. The fact that the same U.S. university appeared repeatedly in the submissions, and that the degrees were obtained around the same time, raised suspicions that prompted closer review.

Once the Ministry of Justice investigation began, authorities checked whether the students had actually been in the United States during the claimed period of study. They found that the students had not, leading to the visa revocations.

That left the affected students in different situations depending on where they were when the decision came down. Most were already in China for winter break, while a small number remained in South Korea and became subject to departure orders.

Five students were still in Korea when the cancellations took effect. Four of them left voluntarily.

The remaining student was among those ordered to depart after the visa cancellation. The disclosed information does not go beyond that point, but the departure orders marked the immediate legal consequence for students still in the country.

For Honam University, the fallout was both administrative and legal. The school had admitted the students after checking apostilled documents, yet it now faces the consequences of a mass revocation affecting more than 100 members of its international student population.

For immigration authorities, the case became a test of how to respond after visas had already been granted. The Ministry of Justice had initially approved the applications, then reversed course after the investigation found the documents did not match the students’ travel history.

That reversal has drawn attention to how much weight officials and universities place on formal certification. Apostilled documents can verify that paperwork has been officially authenticated, but the Honam University case shows that such authentication did not settle whether the degree claims were genuine.

The issue is likely to resonate with universities that depend on overseas recruitment. International student enrollment has grown in South Korea, and institutions increasingly process records from multiple countries, languages and academic systems.

Against that backdrop, the Gwangju Immigration Office’s action stands out for both its scale and its speed. Over 100 students lost their visas in a single month, and the consequences reached across borders because many of them were already outside South Korea.

The link to a U.S. university also gives the case an international dimension. Yet no U.S. incident matches this exact description of over 100 Chinese students at a single local university facing visa revocation over falsified documents.

Separate policy developments in the United States have also put Chinese student status under scrutiny, though in a different context. A U.S. policy announced Wednesday by Secretary of State Marco Rubio targets Chinese students with Chinese Communist Party ties or in critical fields, including biotechnology, quantum computing and AI, and could affect thousands nationwide.

That U.S. policy differs from the Honam University case, which centers on falsified academic credentials rather than political ties or sensitive fields of study. Even so, both developments reflect the increasing pressure on governments and universities as they review the backgrounds of international students.

In Gwangju, the immediate issue remains the investigation into how the documents were accepted and what legal consequences follow for the students and the university. Honam University is cooperating, and the Ministry of Justice probe is continuing.

For now, the case has left more than 100 Chinese students cut off from their studies at Honam University, either unable to return from China or forced to leave South Korea after authorities concluded the degrees used to secure their visas were false.