Please note that this is a list of South Korean visas commonly used by researchers working and/or studying at an IBS research center and their dependents. If you want to see a complete list of visas that exist in Korea, please see the complete list of South Korean visas.
Once hired by the Institute for Basic Science or by a university collaboratively hosting one of their research centers, the administrative staff at your Center will be responsible for helping you with any visa and immigration matters. The contents on this page are intended to give you a general overview of what visa types exist and some of their specific information.
There are a number of different visa types available for working at IBS, and for dependent families who wish to live in Korea, but the vast majority of visas that IBS sponsors are E-1, E-3, and E-7. C class visas are for short-term work and IBS uses C-4 to hire persons for less than 90 days. D class visas are for education and certain job types. D-2 is available for UST students engaged in an MA or PhD course and this visa does permit holders to legally work but only under certain conditions. D-4 is for education programs that do not offer a degree.
E class visas are for long-term employment. E-1 is for professors or lecturers at a university, E-3 is for researchers, and E-7 is specialized employment not necessarily research based. F class visas are frequently the hardest to obtain as they are for residents (F-2), accompanying spouses and children (F-3), ethnic Koreans with overseas citizenship (F-4), permanent residents (F-5), or married to a Korean citizen (F-6).
Only one visa type, the F-5, allows holders to vote in local elections. But all visa types are not allowed to participate in political activities in any other way, shape, or form. This includes, but is not limited to participating in political protests, speaking at political rallies, or holding placards about election candidates.
If you have a friend or colleague who is considering visiting Korea for a non-work trip, they might be applicable for a visa free entry; technically the B1 (visa exemption) or B2 (tourist/transit). For specific information on these visa classes, please see the related Immigration page. If those are not applicable, you might want to consider a C-3 temporary visa, which can also be used to attend an IBS Conference. If you have visa or immigration-related questions, please talk with your Center's staff or call Immigration directly.
If you want to see more information on visas, but in a simpler format than the government website, Wikipedia has a good overview page on all South Korean visas and their sub classes. If you want to talk to other people with F class visas, the closed Facebook groups F visa holders in Korea and F Visa Help - and ONLY Visa Help could help you. If you have questions concerning the F2-7 visa, the public Facebook group F2-7 Visa holders in Korea.
List of visa types
| Visa type |
Eligibility |
Maximum residence period |
- C-4
Short-term employee
(단기취업)
|
- Individuals who do short-term employment and are financially compensated for it. Work can include lectures, research activities, or a wide variety of other jobs.
- Holders of C-4 can legally work in Korea.
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- Individuals studying in an accredited university program for BA, MA, MS, or PhD studies. Visa also allows holder to conduct specific research at a college, university, graduate school or other academic institutions established under the provisions of the Higher Education Act.
- It is possible to work under this visa class but only under very specific conditions and only after the first semester of study has been completed. These conditions make it difficult to find work outside of a university or institutional setting. Thus, it is better to think of this as a non-work visa unless arrangements have already been made.
- Holders of D-4 can legally work in Korea but it can be difficult to do so.
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- D-4
General trainee
(일반연수)
|
- Individuals studying in programs that do not hold accreditation and do not offer a formal degree. Can include those who are obtaining training for research and technology at national and public research institutes.
- Variations of this visa class include:
D-4-1: Korean language trainee
D-4-2: General trainee (other)
D-4-3: Elementary/middle/high school student
D-4-5: Chef trainee for Korean cuisine
D-4-6: General trainee (private institute)
D-4-7: Foreign language trainee
- Holders of D-4 cannot legally work in Korea.
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- Individuals who are qualified, as defined under the Higher Education Act, who wish to teach or conduct research at educational facilities. Applies for full-time lecturers or professors hired by academic organizations (e.g., college or university). Also applies for research professors in certain academic fields, laboratories attached to a university or college, or individuals who provide lectures or conduct research at science-related educational facilities.
- Holders of E-1 can legally work in Korea.
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- Scientists and engineers engaged in science or high technology research at a college, university, national institute, public institute, or non-profit research institute in science and technology.
- Holders of E-3 can legally work in Korea.
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- E-7
Specially designated activities
(특정활동)
|
- Skilled individuals who possess specialized knowledge, technology, or skills as defined under Article 16 of the Framework Act on Treatment of Foreigners Residing in the Republic of Korea.
- The law was updated in early 2015 so that international students who received a degree within Korea are no longer limited to jobs that are directly related to their university program major.
- Holders of E-7 can legally work in Korea.
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- Individuals who will stay in Korea more long-term compared to previous visa types. Can be obtained via a few different methods. If an F-2 is held for 3 years, then the holder can apply for F-5 permanent resident status.
- F-2-1 or F-6 can be obtained by marrying a Korean citizen.
- F-2-7 is nicknamed the “points-based visa” as applicants can “earn” the visa if they get enough “points” as determined by the combined social value of their age, education, tax bracket, work experience before moving to Korea, and Korean language ability, among other aspects. Points are removed for violations of Korean Immigration law, including taking more than two weeks to register your new residence with Immigration. The F-2-7 was first introduced in February 1, 2010 and the point value of each aspect has been updated several times in the years that followed. If obtained, international spouses and children also get the same status.
- F-2-7S first appeared in December 2021 and is for those with a M.S. or Ph.D. in a STEM field or certain research institutes, including the Institute for Basic Science.
- Holders of F-2 can legally work in Korea.
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- F-3
Accompanying spouse/children
(동반)
|
- Family of IBS staff (spouse and unmarried children up to international age 18 or Korean age 19) can come and live in Korea on a F-3 visa. Their status is that of a dependent of the spouse/parent which means their visa is valid for
the same length of time as the spouse/parent on any D or E class visa. When the working partner extends their visa, the family needs to also extend theirs.
- As dependents, F-3 does not allow holders to obtain legal employment. If you wish to work in Korea, you will need a different visa class to do so.
- Holders of F-3 cannot legally work in Korea.
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- Length of stay matches spouse/parent
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- F-4
Overseas Koreans
(재외동포)
|
- Individuals who are ethnic Korean but were born outside of Korea and hold citizenship outside of Korea. Also applies to former Korean citizens who renounced their citizenship. This visa has greatly expanded in usage, going from almost 130,000 issued in 2010, to over 500,000 issued in 2017.
- Holders of F-4 can legally work in Korea.
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- F-5
Permanent resident
(영주)
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- Permanent residency can be obtained if an individual has lived in Korea for a minimum length of time and can provide other necessary documentation, which will vary depending on the current visa status held before applying for F-5. As Korea does not allow dual citizenship after a certain age (one age for males and a different age for females), this is the closest a foreign national can be to holding dual citizenship with Korea.
- From 2005, individuals holding an F-5 can vote in local elections if they have held the F-5 visa for at least three years.
- Holders of F-5 can legally work in Korea.
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- F-6
Marriage to Korean Citizen
(결혼이민)
|
- Individuals who have married a South Korean citizen. This visa type was previously only obtainable if the marriage was registered in both Korea and the home country of the international spouse. The law changed in 2014 so only registration within Korea is necessary to get this visa.
- Holders of F-6 can legally work in Korea.
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Sample of South Korean visa
Image provided by Korea Tourism Organization.
① Visa number |
② Status: Visa type |
③ Period of Sojourn: Permitted term of stay starting from the date of entry |
④ Entries: Single or multiple |
⑤ Issue date: Visa issuance date |
⑥ Expiration date: Date visa expires |
⑦ Issued at: Location where visa was issued |
