E-7 VISA (WORK)
We will quickly reply to you all about visa inquiries by e-mail.
(If you need, we will also guide you on our visa service scope and fee.)
Foreigners who have D-2 visa (Student visa) or D-4 visa (Language studying visa) or D-10 visa (Job seeking visa) wish to change to E-7 visa at the same time once they get a job in Korean companies.
Eligible applicant is a person who engage in 86 job fields designated by the Minister of Justice of Korea for the enhancement of national competitiveness by adopting foreign workers with professional knowledge/technology in accordance with a contract with a public institution or private company in Korea.
In order to proceed with E-7 visa, the first thing to do is to check whether the applicant and company meet the basic requirements.
The qualifications of foreigner and company are as follows
Qualifications for Applicant (Foreigner)
-Basic requirements
1. Bachelor’s degree + 1 year of work experience in the occupation
you are applying for
2. Master’s degree or higher in the occupation you are applying for
3. 5 years of work experience in the occupation you are applying for
-Preferential requirements
1. Have 1 year of work experience at World’s top 500 companies
(Even if you do not meet educational background and career requirements, you are allowed if the need for employment is recognized.)
2. Graduates from World’s top 500 QS universities or Times top 200 universities
(Even if you do not meet the requirements for more than a year of job experience related to your major, you are allowed if the need for employment is recognized.)
3. Received Bachelor’s degree or a higher degree from a Korean university
(Exemption from career requirements regardless of major)
4. Graduates from Korean vocational colleges (Exemption from career requirements when working in major related industry)
5. Outstanding talent in science and technology field recommended by KOTRA and Small & Medium Business Corporation
6. Excellent talent with professional competency recommended by ministries
7. High income professional talent
8. Excellent private Institution Training Completion
Requirements for Employer (Company)
1. Principles for Application of National Employment Protection Standards
In principle, it is not applied to E-7-1 (professionals) in consideration of the difficulty of replacing foreign manpower and the high contribution to national wealth creation and job creation.
However, in the following cases, the National Employment Protection Standards are exceptionally is applied.
(1) The National Employment Protection Standards are exceptionally applied to mechanical engineers, institutionalists, travel product developers, overseas sales people, interpreters, and customer service clerks who are likely to overissue visas.
(It’s a national employment protection occupations)
(2) National employment protection occupations among professionals (E-7-1), semi-professionals (E-7-2), general skilled worker (E-7-3) and skilled worker (E-7-4) are applied by setting qualifications for employers, upper limits on foreign employment rate per company and minimum wage requirements to protect national employment
1) The size of an employment company
In principle, companies with fewer than 5 national employees and a focus on domestic demand are limited.
Proof of Korean employment refers to the number of persons who have been registered for more than 3 months who meet the minimum wage in the employment insurance subscriber list.
2) The occupation of an employment company
If a separate employer requirement is established in consideration of the characteristics of the industry, the requirements must be met.
3) Restriction on the employment rate of foreigners
In principle, foreigners are allowed to be hired within 20% of national employees.
2. Minimum wage requirements are evaluated differently by occupation according to the level of professionals.
(1) Professionals (E-7-1) : Payment of 80% or more of previous year’s GNI
(Exceptionally, in the case of small and medium-sized enterprises, venture enterprises, and non-metropolitan enterprises, only 70% or more of GNI is satisfied, and it is applied only when foreign workers do not have work experience in domestic enterprises or less than 3 years)
(2) Semi-professionals (E-7-2), General Skilled Worker (E-7-3), Skilled Worker (E-7-4) : Minimum wage or higher
(3) For some occupations, they follow the criteria set separately by that occupation
3. If a separate employer requirement is established for each occupation in consideration of the characteristics of the industry, the requirements must be met.
4. There should be no tax (national tax, local tax) arrears.
You should select one job code among 86 job fields considering occupation you are applying for and your previous job experience with major. This means that you are able to get E-7 visa if your major or job career is related to a job field in the company
The classification criteria for each occupation are as follows.
E7 Visa 86 Job Categories and Code
|
E-7-1 |
Professional |
Managers and Experts (67 occupations) |
|
E-7-2 |
Semi-professional |
Office and service workers |
|
E-7-3 |
General Skilled Worker |
Skilled workers and related workers |
|
E-7-4 |
Skilled Worker (Scoring System) |
E-9 occupation (3 occupations) |
1. Professional (E-7-1) (67 occupations)
A. Manager : 15 occupations → E-7-1
1) Executives of economic interest group (S110)
2) Executives of enterprise (1120)
3) Business manager (1212)
4) Education administrator (1312)
5) Insurance and finance manager (1320)
6) Culture, arts, designs and image related manager (1340)
7) Information and communication manager (1350)
8) Other professional service manager (1390)
9) Construction or mining manager (1411)
10) Manufacturing manager (1413)
11) Manager in agriculture or fisheries (14901)
12) Sales manager (1511)
13) Transportation manager (1512)
14) Manager in accommodation, travel or sports (1521)
15) Food service manager (1522)
B. Expert and Specialist : 52 occupations → E-7-1
1) Expert in life science (2111)
2) Expert in natural science (2112)
3) Researcher in social science (2122)
4) Computer hardware engineer (2211)
5) Telecommunication engineer (2212)
6) Computer system designer and analyst (2221)
7) System software developer (2222)
8) Application software developer (2223)
9) Web developer (2224)
10) Data expert (2231)
11) Network system developer (2232)
12) Computer security expert (2233)
13) Architect (2311)
14) Architecture engineer (2312)
15) Civil engineering expert (2313)
16) Landscape engineer (2314)
17) City and traffic expert (2315)
18) Chemical engineering expert (2321)
19) Metal materials engineering expert (2331)
20) Electrical engineer (2341)
21) Electronics engineer (2342)
22) Mechanical engineer (2351)
23) Plant engineering expert (23512)
24) Robotics expert (2352)
25) Automobile, marine, aircraft or railroad car engineering expert (S2353)
26) Industrial safety expert (2364)
27) Environmental engineering expert (2371)
28) Gas and energy expert (2372)
29) Textile engineering expert (2392)
30) Draftsman (2395)
31) Nurse (2430)
32) University lecturer (2512)
33) Technical instructor at overseas technical college (2543)
34) Education expert (2591)
35) Teacher at international school, international education institution, foreign school and school of gifted children (2588)
36) Expert in law (261)
37) Government administration expert (2620)
38) Special agency administrative personnel (S2620)
39) Business and diagnostic expert (2715)
40) Finance and insurance expert (272)
41) Product planning expert (2731)
42) Travel package developer (2732)
43) Advertisement and promotion expert (2733)
44) Research expert (2734)
45) Event planner (2735)
46) International sales (2742)
47) Technical salesperson (2743)
48) Technology management expert (S2743)
49) Translator and interpreter (2814)
50) Announcer (28331)
51) Designer (285)
52) Video related engineer (S2855)
2. Semi-professional (E-7-2) (9 occupations)
A. Office worker : 5 occupations → E-7-2
1) Sales staff at duty-free shop or Jeju English city (31215)
2) Air transportation staff (31264)
3) Hotel receptionist (3922)
4) Medical coordinator (S3922)
5) Customer consultation (3991)
B. Service worker : 4 occupations → E-7-2
1) Shipping service worker (431)
2) Tourism interpretation guide (43213)
3) Casino dealer (43291)
4) Chef and cook (441)
3. General Skilled Worker (E-7-3) (7 occupations)
A. General Skilled Worker : 7 occupations → E-7-3
1) Zookeeper (61395)
2) Aquaculture technician (6301)
3) Halal butcher (7103)
4) Instrument maker or tuner (7303)
5) Shipbuilding welder (7430)
6) Aircraft mechanic (7521)
7) Vessel painter (78369)
4. Skilled Worker Scoring System (E-7-4) (3 occupations)
B. Skilled Worker (Scoring System) : 3 occupations → E-7-4
1) Skilled worker in root industry (S740)
2) Skilled worker in agriculture, livestock and fishing industry (S610)
3) Skilled worker in general manufacturing and construction companies (S700)
Reasons why experienced visa expert is needed to get E7 visa without fail
E-7 visa is known to be the most difficult visa to obtain among Korean visas.
You must meet demanding conditions for application and prepare a lot of required documents. If you don’t prepare thoroughly, your visa may be rejected or denied.
Moreover, screening process is very strict so that it is good way to save money and time by entrusting your visa to expert of E-7 visa with abundant experiences and many successful cases.
1. In order to apply for E-7 visa, it is necessary to check the basic requirements for foreigners and companies first. If you fail to meet the basic qualifications, the application itself will be rejected, so we will carefully review it during the initial consultation.
2. Among the 86 job categories on the E-7 visa, you should select a suitable job code that matches the job field in company with the educational background, major, and job experience of foreigners.
Employer of company and foreigner often have the most difficulty choosing the job code. As a result, it may be difficult to issue a visa by selecting the wrong code. Therefore, you need to select a job code guided by an experienced E-7 visa expert to put the first button on well.
3. Statement for employment should describe the reason for hiring foreign workers instead of domestic workers, foreigner’s special technology & expertise, utilization plans, effects of foreign professionals in detail.
As you proceed with E-7 visa, it seems that sponsor company have difficulty filling out this statement.
If you provide us with basic information only, we will revise and complete it in place of you using our experiences and data.
In some cases, Immigration office request foreigners to get recommendation letter from KOTRA or Ministry of Health and Welfare etc as per job categories. We will guide you how to issue the document
4. There are more than 20 documents to be prepared by company’s side and foreigner’s side both to apply for E-7 visa. If the necessary documents are not properly prepared, it may be difficult to issue a visa, such as supplementation and delay in screening. We will carefully check and take care of the required documents through guidance, review and making of documents.
Required documents for E-7 Visa
1. Passport
2. Integrated application form or application for certificate of visa eligibility
3. Alien Registration Card
4. Photo (It should be taken within 6 months)
5. Employment contract
6. Statement of employment
7. Employment recommendation letter if necessary
8. Documents related to company
9. Documents proving foreigner’s qualification
10. Documents separately determined for each job type