Blog | Is it necessary to have five Korean employees to hire one foreign employee?๐ง
Is it necessary to have five Korean employees to hire one foreign employee?๐ง
May 17, 2024
Jinyoung Kim
CEO
Hello. This is Kowork ๐
We would like to clarify a common misunderstanding among companies preparing for foreign recruitment regarding the E-7 visa requirements.
One of them is the National Employment Protection Review criteria!
One of the frequently asked questions at Kowork is as follows:
"Do we need to have 5 Korean employees to hire one foreign employee?"
"Is it true that the E-7 visa allows hiring only up to 20% of non-Korean employees?"
In short, the answer is "No".
The E-7 visa covers a total of 87 detailed job codes.
Specific job codes are exceptions where the National Employment Protection Review criteria applies.
According to the guidelines, even if the number of Korean employees is less than 5, applications are possible excluding specific job codes! ๐๐ปโโ๏ธ
"So, what are the job codes subject to the National Employment Protection Review criteria?"
There are only 5 job codes that need to meet the 5:1 ratio:
- Mechanical Engineering Technician
- Architect
- Travel Product Developer
- Overseas Sales Representative
- Translator/Interpreter
With these 5 job codes excluded, the National Employment Protection Review criteria generally does not apply!
Of course, we cannot definitively say that the E-7 visa is 100% obtainable.
The screening criteria are quite strict, and the visa application process can be seen as convincing immigration officers.
However, deciding that the E-7 visa cannot be issued because there are not 5 Korean employees, or because the ratio of already hired foreign employees exceeds 20%, is "incorrect".
In fact, even in "small-scale startups" where there are less than 5 Korean employees, Kowork has successfully processed E-7 visa issuance without any difficulty. โบ๏ธ
KoWork conducts visa issuance through certified immigration professionals, and the success rate of E-7 visa issuance is over 90%.
If you have any other questions or inquiries about E-7 visas, please feel free to contact Kowork anytime. ๐
