Around 90% of foreign workers in Korea are working in the field of physical work(and a manual labour) to resolve a manpower shortage of SMEs. The professional workers are the rest of 10% and the visa they could get are as following below. [College Professor(E-1) Language Teacher(E-2) Researcher(E-3) Technician(E-4) Professional(E-5) Artist(E-6) and Special ability worker(E-7) and so on.] Nowadays, it is inevitable for a lot of korean company to hire global human resources for worldwide competitive advantages. In particular, most of small business companies are in need of global manpower to make up for the lack of it.

• Subject to

  E-7 visa is issued to “foreigners participating in activities specially designated by the Minister of Justice through a contract with public/private organization in Korea.” In short, E-7 is a general work visa for foreigners in Korea.

• The maximum period of sojourn per one time : 3 years

  *5 years in case of as following, a talent recommended from the official government ministries, a worker having a job classified as E-7 job fields located in a Special District for the regional development or for medical technology, a researcher working at a medical lab in Free Economic Zone.

• General qualification

  Master’s degree or higher in a relevant major.

  Bachelor’s degree and one year of work experience in a relevant field

  5 years of work experience in a relevant field

• Special qualification

  +1 year of work experience at global top 500 entrepreneur

  Graduated from world top 200 university

  Bachelor’s degree or higher from one of korean university

  Expecting to graduate from one of korean university

  Recommended from KOTRA or Korea SMEs and Startups Agency

Anyone who wants to study in Korea should get a student visa from Korean Embassy or Consulate in their country of residence. Applicants seeking a degree higher than a professional school, research course, or exchange student course need D-2 visa and those studying korean language at a university language school need D-4 Visa.

• D2 visa : Subject to

  who study and research at educational/academic institutions (community college or higher)     who would like to study, research or enroll in a full-time program (i.e. Bachelor's, Master’s, Ph.D.) at academic institutions (community college or higher) established under either the Higher Education Act or the Special Act.

• The maximum period of sojourn per one time : up to 2 years

• D4 visa : subject to

  Who do research, study or train at an educational institution, academic research institution, private enterprise or other groups that do not fall under D-2 categories.
  
  - who learning Korean at a university-affiliated language center
  - who studying at an educational organization or an academic research center that does not fall under D-2 categories
  - who training skills/techniques at a public/private research institute or training center
  - who is on-the-job training, researching, or is an intern at a foreign investment company or foreigner-invested company

• The maximum period of sojourn per one time : up to 2years

  * 6 months/time for students learning korean language at language school

There are F-1 for Visiting or joining family, F-2 for Resident, F-3 for Acoompanying spouse/child, F-4 for Overseas korean, F-5 for permanent resident, f-6 for marriage to korean citizen. F type visa enables to stay in Korea longer than other types of visa and has less restrictions on the job activity.

• Resident (F2-7) subject to (Type 1)

  Professional, semi-professional
  : who applies to one of the fields as follows
  E-1 for professor to E-7 for special worker, D-5 for journalist to D-9 for trade management

• Resident (F2-7) subject to (Type 2)

  Student
  : who is in D-2 visa to study or D-10 visa for job-seeking

• The maximum period of sojourn per one time : 1-5years

• Permanent Resident(F-5)

  : No restrictions on activity

• The maximum period of sojourn per one time : -

• Marriage to korean citizen(F-6)

  Who would like to stay in Korea to sustain marriage(should be a valid status) with a korean person.

• The maximum period of sojourn per one time : up to 3years