F-5 Visa Korea (Permanent Residence): Requirements, Income and Language

What F-5 gives you

F-5 is South Korea’s permanent residence status (yeongju 자격). Once granted it carries no limit on the period of stay and no restriction on the scope of activity — you can live and work in any field without employer sponsorship.

The status itself is permanent. The permanent resident card (영주증) is valid for 10 years and must be reissued before it expires; renewing the card does not re-review your status.

If you stay abroad continuously for more than 2 years without a re-entry permit, your permanent residence status can be revoked, so maintaining re-entry cover matters.

Who qualifies — the main routes

The F-5 eligibility table is set out in the Enforcement Decree of the Immigration Act (별표 1의3). The routes most applicants use are:

• General route (F-5-1) — an adult who has stayed 5 years or more on a qualifying status such as D-7 to D-10, E-1 to E-7, or F-2.
• Points-based route (F-5-16) — 3 years or more on the points-based F-2 residence status, scored on age, education, income and Korean ability.
• Degree route (F-5-10) — a bachelor’s, master’s or higher, or certain technical certifications, with 3+ years in Korea and employment in a Korean company at a wage set by the Ministry of Justice.
• Investment routes — for example F-5-5 for foreign investment of US$500,000 or more that employs 5+ Korean nationals, and F-5-21/23 for public-works investment projects.

Each subdivision has its own precise conditions, so check the subdivision that fits your status before planning paperwork.

Income requirement

Most F-5 routes carry an income requirement that is checked against the previous year’s income (with the year before that as a fallback).

The benchmark for general permanent residence is around 2 times Korea’s per-capita GNI. For 2025, per-capita GNI was announced at about 52.4 million KRW, making the 2x threshold approximately 104.8 million KRW — the figure used for applications from April 2026 to March 2027.

Some routes use a lower multiple:

• 1x per-capita GNI — degree-based routes (F-5-10), doctorate routes (F-5-9, F-5-15), and dependents (F-5-4)
• 2x per-capita GNI — general route (F-5-1), points route (F-5-16), annuity retirees (F-5-13)

Income can combine your spouse’s for the threshold in some routes, but your own income generally must make up at least half of the combined amount. The annual figure is read from the Immigration Service’s notice for the application year.

Korean language requirement

Permanent residence applicants must show basic Korean competency. Current official channels (as of August 2026) are:

• Completion of the Korean Immigration and Integration Program (KIIP, 사회통합프로그램), or
• A score of 60 or more on the comprehensive evaluation for permanent residence (영주용 종합평가).

TOPIK certificates no longer satisfy the requirement for regular F-5 applications — TOPIK level 4 was accepted only for applications filed before April 2019. Exemptions apply to certain high-investment and doctorate routes, so confirm your exemption before assuming the language test is unnecessary.

Criminal record and good conduct

Applicants must not fall under the disqualifying grounds in the Enforcement Rules of the Immigration Act. These include conviction for imprisonment or a suspended prison sentence within the last 5 years, a fine imposed within the last 3 years, and most immigration-law violations within the last 5 years.

In practice you will usually be asked for a certificate of criminal record from your country of nationality (and any country where you stayed a year or more in the last 5 years). Records from overseas are generally required to be authenticated or translated.

Applying and common mistakes

Applications are filed at the immigration office with jurisdiction over you — usually booked through HiKorea (hikorea.go.kr) — and must be submitted before your current status expires.

Steps:

1. Check which F-5 subdivision matches your history on the official route list.
2. Book an appointment and prepare the application and supporting documents (passport, ARC, income evidence, language proof, criminal record).
3. Pay the application fee and submit.

Common mistakes to avoid:

• Missing the income figure for the current year — the threshold is updated annually with the GNI announcement.
• Assuming TOPIK counts — the current requirement is KIIP completion or the permanent-residence comprehensive evaluation.
• Applying after your current visa expires — file before the expiry of your current status.
• Advising no time limit — the status is permanent, but the 10-year card must be reissued and long absences need re-entry planning.

This guide reflects the rules as published for 2026. Immigration criteria and the annual income figure change, so confirm the current notice on the Korea Immigration Service and HiKorea before applying.