Korean visa types

Work

• E-2·1 year, tied to the employer, renewable

  Foreign Language Instructor

  For native-level language teachers at schools, universities and licensed academies (hagwon).

• E-7·Up to 3 years, renewable, tied to the employer and occupation code

  Specially Designated Activities (Skilled Worker)

  The main professional work visa. Covers roughly 90 designated occupations across management, professional, technical and skilled trades.

• H-1·12–18 months depending on the agreement, non-renewable

  Working Holiday

  A once-in-a-lifetime status for young nationals of partner countries, allowing travel plus incidental work.

Study

• D-2·Length of the programme, renewed yearly

  Student (Degree programme)

  For students enrolled in a degree programme at an accredited Korean university — associate, bachelor's, master's or doctoral.

• D-4·6 months to 1 year, renewable

  General Trainee / Korean language study

  For language-institute students and non-degree trainees. The usual first status for people learning Korean before applying to a degree programme.

Residence and permanent residence

• F-2-7·Up to 3 years, renewable; a strong step towards F-5 permanent residence

  Points-Based Residence

  A residence status awarded on a 170-point scale, with a pass mark of 80. It removes employer sponsorship: you may work almost anywhere, change jobs freely, and start a business.

• F-5·Indefinite; the card is renewed every 10 years

  Permanent Residence

  Indefinite residence with almost all the rights of a citizen except voting in national elections and public office.

Family

• F-6·1–3 years, renewable

  Marriage Migrant

  For the spouse of a Korean national. Grants broad work rights and the shortest route to permanent residence and naturalisation.

• F-4·Up to 3 years, renewable

  Overseas Korean

  For foreign nationals of Korean descent. Broad residence and work rights with light renewal requirements.

Business and investment

• D-8·1–5 years, renewable

  Corporate Investor

  For foreign nationals who invest in and operate a Korean company. The route most start-up founders take.

Job search

• D-10·6 months at a time, up to 2 years total

  Job Seeker

  A points-based job-search status that lets you stay in Korea while looking for work or preparing a start-up. The standard bridge between graduating and an E-7.

How to read a Korean visa code

The letter is the family and the number is the specific status within it. D covers study, training and investment; E covers employment; F covers residence and family; H is the working-holiday and work-and-visit group. A trailing number after a second hyphen — E-7-1, E-7-4, F-2-7 — identifies a sub-type, and those sub-types are not interchangeable. E-7-1 is a professional employment status; E-7-4 is a points-based route for semi-skilled workers with entirely different requirements and, importantly, no path to F-2-7. Guides that treat "E-7" as one thing are the single most common source of wasted applications.

The other distinction worth internalising early is between an employment status and a residence status. An employment status ties you to a sponsor: your right to be in Korea is derived from a specific job, and changing employer needs permission before you start. A residence status does not. That is the whole reason people work towards F-2-7 or F-5 even when their current visa is perfectly comfortable — it converts a permission that someone else controls into one that you do.

Choosing where to aim

Most people do not stay on the visa they arrive with, and the routes between statuses are more structured than they look. Three patterns cover the majority of foreign residents in Korea:

• Study to work. D-2 through a Korean degree, then D-10 to search for a job, then E-7 once an employer sponsors you. A Korean degree carries points and credibility at every later stage, which is why this route tends to run smoothly.
• Work to residence. E-7 or another E status, held long enough to accumulate income and language points, then F-2-7, then F-5. Time on F-2 counts towards permanent residence and the evidence packs overlap heavily, so the second step is much lighter than the first.
• Family or descent. F-6 through marriage to a Korean national, or F-4 through Korean ancestry within roughly two generations. Both grant broad rights immediately, and both lead to F-5 on more accessible terms than the general route.

Working backwards from where you want to end up is more useful than optimising the status you hold now. Language study and income are slow to build and are worth points at every stage, so a decision taken two years early is worth far more than the same decision taken at application time.