Professional Worker Visa

Who this visa is actually for

E-7 (officially 특정활동, "Specially Designated Activities") is the visa Korea uses for foreigners working in jobs that take real skills but aren't teaching English or factory labor. The Ministry of Justice keeps a list of about 85 occupation codes that qualify — land a job on that list and you're in the right visa lane.

The categories most ChatDa users come through:

• Software engineers, developers, IT specialists (E-7-1 is the biggest bucket)
• Designers — graphic, UI/UX, industrial, fashion
• Architects, mechanical and electrical engineers
• Researchers and post-docs at universities or labs
• Marketing or PR specialists, but usually only at foreign-invested companies
• Specialized chefs at qualifying restaurants (the cuisine has to match your background)
• Sports professionals — coaches, trainers, scouts

What needs to be true to get approved

Immigration is checking four things. Miss one and you get rejected, so look at all of them honestly before you spend money on apostilles.

The job qualifies. It's on the occupation list, and the description in your contract reads like what the list says you should be doing.

Your background matches the job. The standard is a bachelor's degree plus one year of directly relevant work experience. A master's or PhD waives the experience requirement. Five-plus years of experience can substitute for the degree in some categories. The relevance is the key word — a CS grad applying for a dev role is easy; a philosophy grad applying for the same role gets pushback unless there's a strong work history bridging the gap.

Your employer is legit and can actually pay you. Real business, recent tax filings, financial statements that prove the salary in your contract isn't fiction. Tiny companies (one or two employees, fresh registration) tend to struggle here.

Your salary clears the floor. It's pegged to Korea's GNI per capita. As of 2025-2026 that's roughly 36M KRW/year for E-7-1 entry-level. Senior and specialty roles need more. Numbers move year to year — confirm the current threshold for your specific code with your employer (and if they can't tell you, that's your second yellow flag).

Documents — what your employer handles vs. what you handle

The document list looks long but it splits cleanly into two piles. Knowing which pile is whose saves a lot of stress.

Your employer puts together: business registration certificate, recent tax payment proof, financial statements, employee count statement, your employment contract, and the actual visa issuance request. They're also the ones who file the initial paperwork with immigration. If they've hired foreigners before, this is routine for them.

You handle: passport (6+ months valid), recent passport photo, your apostilled degree and transcript, apostilled criminal record check from your home country, career certificates from previous jobs proving the experience you're claiming, a resume, and the visa application form.

The single most painful step is the apostille. If you're from the US, UK, Germany, Japan, or another Hague Convention country, you mail your degree and criminal record check to a designated office and pay a small fee. If your country isn't in the Convention (China, Vietnam, the Philippines, and many others), you go through the Korean embassy in your country for notarization, which is slower. Start this 2-3 months before you need it.

How the application actually moves

Two paths, depending on where you are right now.

1. 1Path A — applying from outside Korea. Your employer files an "Employment Confirmation Request" at their local Korean immigration office. Immigration reviews it in roughly 2-4 weeks. If approved, your employer gets a Confirmation of Visa Issuance Number (사증발급인정번호) and forwards it to you. You take that number plus your documents to the Korean embassy or consulate in your country, which issues the visa in 3-7 business days. After landing in Korea, you have 90 days to get your Alien Registration Card (ARC) at the local immigration office.
2. 2Path B — switching from a visa you already have in Korea. If you're on D-10 (job seeker), the post-graduation period of D-2, or another bridge visa, you can apply for a "Status of Stay Change" directly at HiKorea online or in person. Review takes 2-4 weeks. You stay on your current visa during review. If approved, your new ARC reflects the E-7 status. No embassy step, no return flight.

Cost and how long the visa lasts

The fees are small. The hidden cost is the apostille and translation work.

• Visa application fee: 60,000-100,000 KRW depending on duration and single/multiple entry
• Status change fee (Path B): around 130,000 KRW
• ARC issuance: 30,000 KRW
• Apostille or embassy notarization: $20-100 per document, varies by country
• Korean translation of foreign documents: $30-100 per document if you outsource

Initial visa duration is usually 1-3 years depending on your contract and category. It's renewable in 1-3 year chunks as long as you stay in a qualifying job. There's no hard ceiling on how many total years you can be on E-7 — the practical question is when you'd rather move to F-2-7 for the freedom.

Bringing family

Your spouse and unmarried children under 19 can apply for the F-3 dependent visa. They typically apply after your E-7 is issued, at the Korean embassy in your home country.

F-3 holders share your residence period — when you renew, they renew. Kids can enroll in Korean public schools or international schools (international is expensive). Everyone joins national health insurance after a short qualifying period.

The thing nobody warns you about: your spouse can't just start working. F-3 doesn't come with work permission. To get a part-time work permit, your spouse files a separate application at immigration after arrival. It's usually granted but it's a few weeks of paperwork and limits the hours. If your spouse needs to work full-time, F-3 isn't the right answer — they need their own work visa.

Documents to bring for F-3 applications: marriage certificate (apostilled), children's birth certificates (apostilled), your ARC plus employment confirmation, and proof you can financially support them. Processing at the embassy is 1-3 weeks.

Path to permanent residence

Most E-7 holders eventually want off the renewal treadmill. The standard path is E-7 → F-2-7 → F-5. Roughly 5-7 years total if nothing goes sideways.

F-2-7 (points-based residence) unlocks after about 3 years on E-7. It's a points system across language ability, education, income, age, and a few bonus categories. You typically need 80+ points to qualify. The points that move the needle:

• TOPIK score (Korean language test): up to 25 points — biggest single lever
• Education: bachelor's 10, master's 15, PhD 25
• Annual income relative to GNI: up to 25 points
• Age peaks around 35: up to 10 points
• Volunteer work, Korean culture knowledge: bonus points (often the easiest way to top up if you're close to threshold)

F-2 is the big upgrade — no more sponsor required, you can change jobs freely, you can start a business. It renews independently of your employment.

F-5 (permanent residence) is the end of the line. Roughly 5+ years of continuous residence (E-7 + F-2 years stack toward this), stable income (usually 2x GNI per capita), TOPIK level 3 or equivalent, no criminal record, real housing in Korea. F-5 doesn't need renewal tied to employment — just an admin card refresh every 10 years. From that point on, you're basically a permanent resident in everything but citizenship.

Frequently asked