🇰🇷Work visa options in South Korea

The E-7 visa is South Korea's primary work visa for skilled foreign professionals. It covers a wide range of occupations published on the government's eligible occupation list, which includes IT specialists, engineers, natural scientists, architects, designers, and various professional services roles. Your job must fall within one of these designated occupation codes, and your employer must demonstrate that the position requires foreign expertise.

The E-7-1 is a points-based variant of South Korea's skilled worker visa, designed to attract talent based on a holistic assessment rather than rigid occupation codes alone. The points system evaluates candidates across multiple dimensions including age, education level, Korean language proficiency (TOPIK), work experience, annual income, and additional factors such as whether you have Korean language qualifications or have studied in Korea.

The D-8 visa is South Korea's corporate investment visa for foreign nationals who establish or invest in a Korean business. It is primarily used by entrepreneurs founding startups, executives of foreign companies setting up Korean subsidiaries, and investors making direct equity investments in Korean enterprises. The minimum investment amount is generally 100 million KRW (approximately $75,000 USD), though this threshold can vary based on the type of investment and applicable treaties.