E-7 Visa Requirements in Korea: Occupation Codes, Employer Criteria and Documents

Two applicants, not one

An E-7 application is really an assessment of two parties.

You — do your qualifications match the occupation? The employer — is this company eligible to sponsor, and is the role genuine?

Applicants often prepare their own documents thoroughly and are refused on the employer side. If the sponsoring company is small, recently incorporated, has little revenue, or already employs a high ratio of foreign staff, the application becomes difficult regardless of your credentials.

That is worth knowing before you accept an offer. Asking a prospective employer whether they have sponsored E-7 before is a reasonable question, not an impolite one.

Occupation codes and the matching rule

E-7 is not a general work visa. It covers a published list of occupations, each with its own code, grouped roughly into:

• E-7-1 — professional personnel (managers, specialists, technicians)
• E-7-2 — semi-skilled personnel
• E-7-3 — skilled personnel in designated fields
• E-7-4 — a points-based route for skilled workers already in Korea

The core rule is matching. Your background has to line up with the code you are hired under, typically through one of:

• A bachelor’s degree or above in a related field, plus at least one year of relevant experience, or
• Five or more years of relevant work experience in the field

“Related field” is judged against the occupation description. A computer science degree for a software role matches; a marketing degree for the same role usually does not. Where the fit is arguable, a detailed job description and a career certificate that spells out actual duties carry weight.

Salary and staffing conditions

Two conditions come up in almost every case.

Minimum salary There is a published salary floor, generally tied to gross national income per capita. Because that reference figure is republished annually, the floor moves. Check the figure in force when you apply.

Foreign-to-Korean staff ratio A sponsoring company can generally employ foreign nationals only up to a proportion of its Korean workforce. A company with few Korean employees on payroll cannot sponsor many E-7 holders, however willing it is.

Companies sometimes propose to “fix this later”. Immigration assesses the position at the time of application, so an intention to hire Korean staff in future does not resolve a present shortfall.

Documents and changing employer

Typical documents

• Application form, passport, photograph
• Employment contract
• Degree certificate and transcript (apostilled or consular-authenticated, with Korean translation)
• Career certificate describing actual duties, dates and employer details
• Employer’s business registration certificate
• Employer’s financial statements and tax payment records
• Employee roster showing the Korean/foreign staff ratio

Career certificates are the most common weak point. A one-line letter saying you worked somewhere is rarely enough — offices look for duties, dates and verifiable contact details.

Changing employer E-7 is tied to your sponsor. Moving to a new company requires reporting the change and, in practice, a fresh assessment of the new employer and role. Do not start at a new company on the assumption that the paperwork will follow.

If you lose your job There is a reporting obligation and a limited window to find a new sponsor or change status. Many people move to D-10 while searching. Acting early gives you more options than waiting.