Visa information

South Korea offers three named routes in the 2026 guide: the E-7 skilled worker visa via an employer, the D-8 for corporate investors, and the Workation (F-1-D) digital-nomad visa for remote workers. The guide scores South Korea 44/100 for visa and bureaucracy — the joint-lowest dimension — so expect Korean-only paperwork and plan for the longer paperwork stages the guide builds into every plan tier.

The three routes the guide names

E-7 skilled worker visa — described in the guide as via an employer; the D-8 is listed alongside it for corporate investors.

Workation (F-1-D) digital-nomad visa — up to 2 years, on ~$65k/yr income (see the income test below).

F-2 points-based residency and F-5 permanent residence — listed for long-term residents. The guide names both without printing points tables, qualifying periods or absence rules.

The guide also lists Jeju investor residence among its schemes, noting Jeju Island has its own investor residence scheme (see the Retirement page).

The income test — what the sources actually say

For the Workation (F-1-D), the guide gives the test twice in the same terms: up to 2 years on ~$65k/yr income, restated in its remote-work line as ~$65k/yr foreign income. The site data carries the identical wording. No other income threshold is printed: the guide gives no salary figure for the E-7, no investment amount for the D-8, and no points threshold for the F-2, so this page does not invent them.

At the guide's exchange rate of $1 ≈ ₩1380 (South Korean won), dollar figures convert at roughly that rate for planning.

What the paperwork costs — plan budgets, not government fees

The guide does not list individual government visa fees. What it gives is a bundled “Visa, permits & translations” budget line in each move plan, described in the plans as covering government fees, apostilles and translations — and those lines are the only sourced cost figures for the application itself:

• $950 — Affordable plan (you file yourself)
• $1,400 — Mid-range and Retirement plans
• $3,350 — Luxury plan (the plan notes the luxury tier adds an immigration lawyer)

The Retirement plan carries one further, separate line: $2,600 for “Retirement visa, lawyer & pension certification”, covering an immigration lawyer, apostilled pension letters, medicals and translations — even though, as the Retirement page explains, the guide states there is no dedicated retirement visa.

Application steps and timelines, by tier

The guide builds the application into each plan's timeline rather than printing a single step list. The common sequence across the plans and checklists is:

• Choose the route first and print its requirements; the Affordable checklist starts with “Visa route chosen and requirements printed.”
• Gather and legalise documents — apostilles and translations are named in every tier; the Retirement paperwork stage adds pension or income letters certified and apostilled, a police certificate, a medical, and birth and marriage certificates translated.
• Check your passport — the Affordable checklist requires a passport valid 18+ months.
• Arrange health insurance before you file (see the Hospitals page for the guide's first-year insurance budgets).
• File — yourself on the Affordable tier, or with a lawyer or agent on the Mid-range, Luxury and Retirement tiers.

Paperwork-stage durations in the guide: ~10 weeks filing yourself (Affordable), ~8 weeks with a lawyer or agent filing (Mid-range), ~6 weeks with a lawyer filing everything (Luxury), and ~14 weeks for the Retirement paperwork stage. After the move, the settle stage includes registering your address and opening a bank account.

Long-term residency — the honest limit of the guide

The guide names F-2 points-based residency and F-5 permanent residence for long-term residents, and lists National Health Insurance after 6 months among its schemes. Neither the guide nor the site data gives the F-2 points table, the years required before F-5, renewal intervals, or absence limits, so this page does not state them. Treat F-2 and F-5 as confirmed route names in principle, and the qualifying detail as something to confirm with an immigration lawyer or the embassy before you rely on it.

Frequently asked questions