E7 Visa

Scope of activity and relevant person

A person who intends to engage in activities specifically designated by the Minister of Justice pursuant to a contract with a public or private institution within the Republic of Korea. In accordance with these guidelines, professional foreign personnel must comply with the scope of activities according to the joint review standards and job-specific review standards under these guidelines.

new symbol	Classification criteria	reference
E-7-1	Professional Manpower	Managers and experts (67 occupations)
E-7-2	Semi-professional workforce	Office and service workers (9 occupations)
E-7-3	General skilled manpower	Technicians and related technicians (7 occupations)
E-7-4	Skilled workforce (point system)	'17.8.1 Newly established (3 occupations)
E-7-91	FTA independent expert	T6 (Old Testament)

Upper limit of stay period granted once

3 years (5 years for excellent talent recommended by the competent ministry, E-7 workers in regional special development zones and high-tech medical complexes, and researchers at medical research and development institutions in free economic zones)

Basic principles

Depending on the level of expertise and national substitutability, they are classified into professional, semi-professional, general, and skilled workers, and are operated flexibly by varying the introduction and management standards. Professionals with high skill level and difficult to replace with nationals, highly contributing to strengthening national competitiveness. For human resources, attract and support permanent residence through simple visa and residence procedures. For semi-professional, general, and skilled workers who are at risk of infringing on national employment due to national substitutability, provide national employment protection measures such as qualifications, wage requirements, and quota settings for each company.

Applicable to

A person who intends to engage in activities specifically designated by the Minister of Justice pursuant to a contract with a public or private institution within the Republic of Korea
- ‘Specific activities’ refers to activities in fields (hereinafter referred to as ‘introduced occupations’) designated by the Minister of Justice as particularly necessary to introduce foreign workers with specialized knowledge, skills or skills in order to strengthen national competitiveness* * State and local autonomy Organizations must strive to establish systems and policies necessary to improve the legal status and treatment of foreign workers with specialized knowledge, skills, or skills in order to promote their attraction. (Article 16 of the Framework Act on the Treatment of Foreigners in Korea) (Types of occupations introduced) Classifying occupations into professional, semi-professional, general, and skilled occupations, taking into account the relative classification items and skill level of the ‘Korean Standard Classification of Occupations.’
- (Management/Professional Occupations) 67 occupations selected by the Minister of Justice among the occupations (skill levels 3 and 4) of major categories 1 (managers) and 2 (experts and related workers)* * 15 occupations including high-ranking executives of economic interest groups, managers and Experts and related workers in 52 occupations, including life science experts

- (Semi-professional occupations) Occupations in major categories 3 (office workers), 4 (service workers), and 5 (sales workers)
- (Occupational level 2, 3) 9 occupations selected by the Minister of Justice* * 5 occupations, including air transportation clerks, office workers, and 4 occupations, including transportation service workers, service workers
- (General technical occupations) Major category items 6 (skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers)․7 (technical workers and related technical workers)․ 7 occupations selected by the Minister of Justice among the 8 occupations (skill level 2) (equipment and machinery operation and assembly workers) * * General: technicians and related skilled personnel such as animal breeders, fish farming technicians, halal slaughter workers, etc.
- (Skilled technical occupations) Major category items 6 (skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers)․7 (craftsmen and related technical workers)․ Among the 8 occupations (function level 2) (equipment machine operation and assembly workers), 3 occupations selected by the Minister of Justice that apply the point system* * Point system: Skilled workers in fields such as agriculture, forestry, livestock and fisheries, manufacturing, construction, etc.

Specific activities (E7 visa) permitted areas

division

Occupation (code)

professional manpower (E-7-1)

Experts and related workers: 52 occupations 1) life science expert(2111) 2) natural science expert(2112) 3) social science researcher(2122) 4) computer hardware technician(2211) 5) communications engineering technician(2212) 6) Computer system design and analyst(2221) 7) system software developer(2223) 8) application software developer(2223) 9) web developer (2224 old 2228) 10) data expert(2231 old 2224) 11) Network system developer(2232 old 2225) 12) information security expert(2233 old 2226) 13) architect(2311) 14) Architectural Engineering Technician (2312-Newly established) 15) Civil Engineering Expert (2313 old 2312) 16) Landscape technician (2314 old 2313) 17) City and transportation expert (2315 old 2314) 18) Chemical Engineering Technician (2321) 19) Metal/Material Engineering Technician (2331) 20) Electrical Engineering Technician (2341 old 2351) 21) Electronic Engineering Technician (2342 old 2352) 22) Mechanical Engineering Technician (2351 old 2353) 23) Plant Engineering Technician (23512 old 23532) 24) Robotics Expert (2352) 25) Automotive, shipbuilding, airplane, and railroad engineering expert (S2353) 26) Occupational Safety and Risk Specialist (2364) 27) Environmental Engineering Technician (2371 old 2341) 28) Gas and energy engineer (2372 old 9233) 29) Textile Engineering Technician (2392) 30) Draftsman (2395 to 2396) 31) Nurse(2430) 32) University lecturer (2512) 33) Technology instructor at overseas technical school (2543) 34) Education-related expert (2591 old 25919) 35) Teachers at foreign schools, foreign educational institutions, international schools, gifted schools, etc. (2599) 36) Legal Professionals (261) 37) Government and Public Administration Specialist (2620) 38) Special agency administrative personnel (S2620) 39) Management and Diagnostic Specialist (2715) 40) Finance and Insurance Professionals (272) 41) Product Planning Specialist (2731) 42) Travel product developer (2732) 43) Advertising and Public Relations Specialist (2733) 44) Research Specialist (2734) 45) Event Planner (2735) 46) Overseas salesperson (2742) 47) Technical Sales Representative (2743) 48) Technology Management Specialist (S2743) 49) Translator/Interpreter (2814) 50) Announcer (28331) 51) Designer(285) 52) Video related designer (S2855)

General review standards to protect national employment

Size of employer

In principle, companies with less than 5 national employees and focusing on domestic demand are restricted from invitation. The number of employees refers to people who have been registered in the Ministry of Employment and Labor's list of employment insurance subscribers for more than 3 months and meet the minimum wage.
☞ Since you must submit a list of employment insurance subscribers for at least 3 months, in principle, you can apply at least 3 months after opening your business.

Employer's industry

If separate employment company requirements are set considering the characteristics of the industry, those requirements must be met.

Foreign employment ratio

In principle, foreign employment is permitted within 20% of national employees in occupations protected by national employment.
※ Foreign employees in the case of non-professional employment (E-9), seafarer employment (E-10), visiting employment (H-2), overseas Chinese (F-2), permanent residence (F-5), and marriage immigrants (F-6) However, employment status such as residence (F-2) is included in the number of foreign employees to calculate the ratio. ※ To prove employment of Koreans, submit documents related to employment insurance (continuous employment for more than 3 months as a regular worker, even if it is a new company, the ratio of Koreans employed is calculated) In principle, for industries to which this applies, applications are generally applied after 3 months from the date of business registration)
※ In principle, companies that employ E-7 foreigners who exceed 20% of the total number of national employees and are subject to the national employment protection review criteria are not permitted to invite new or replacement workers, change their residence status, or change or add workplaces.

wage requirements

In order to prevent the use of low-wage, illegal human resources, screening is applied differentially by occupation according to the level of professional manpower in connection with the average wage of Koreans with the same experience performing the same job.
ⅰ) Professional manpower: More than 80% of the GNI per capita of the previous year
※ However, if reasonable grounds for not meeting the wage requirements are proven for 67 professional occupations employed by non-profit organizations such as embassies, public institutions, and schools (excluding universities), the wage requirements are partially relaxed and applied.
ⅱ) Semi-professional workforce, General skilled manpower, skilled skilled manpower: Minimum wage or higher applied
ⅲ) However, for some occupations*, standards set separately by the occupation are followed. * Among semi-professional and general skilled workers, GNI of 0.8 times or more of the previous year: online shopping salesperson, form technician, etc.