Rule changes
- Announced on 22 October 2026: Korea plans to ease E-7-4 skilled worker visa, simplifying extension documents.
- Announced on 22 September 2026: Korea drafts rule letting it refuse visa-issuance certificates to employers punished under labour laws.
Looking for a route based on a job offer rather than an investment? South Korea's routes here are all capital-based. Browse other countries
South Korea. What the capital buys, and what it risks.
Residence built on a capital placement, not a job offer or a family tie.
When rules change mid-way, the date your application is filed is what often decides which rules apply to you. Where are you right now?
South Korea offers several residence routes anchored in placing capital into the country's economy rather than securing a job offer or family sponsorship. The paths range from an actively managed business investment to a passive placement in a government-approved fund, plus a dedicated route tied to hospitality and leisure-facility property. Each leads toward permanent residence and, further down the line, citizenship, though the routes differ in how the money must be structured and how long it needs to stay in place. None of them ask for family ties or an employer sponsor — the qualifying step is the investment itself.
What you keep, what you don't
5 tiers, three very different relationships with your money. Everything below is what Immimaps has verified against South Korea's official programme rules — not a marketing minimum.
Your money is exposed to the asset it sits in, or spent outright. Where the source names a holding period, it's in the ledger below.
Not an investment route at all — for people who can document steady income or savings and don't want to deploy capital.
Living on the income you already have
Not everyone here is investing. This route asks for proof of steady income instead of a capital placement.
₩31,120,000 shown as proof of means — nothing is transferred.
The ledger
| Route | Capital | Your money is | Hold period | Comes back? | Service fees on file |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D-8 Corporate Investor Visa | ₩100,000,000one-time | Capital at risk | — | At market | KRW 2,750,000typical · middle half KRW 2,125,000–5,552,857 · 6 firmsmixed scope, one stage only to full package · tax excluded on 1 of 6, not stated on 5 · dated 2026 Check a quote |
| F-2-12 Public Fund Investment | ₩1,500,000,000one-time | Capital at risk | 5 years | At market | CNY 40,000typical · middle half CNY 30,000–40,000 · 5 firmsone stage only · tax not stated · dated 2023 Check a quote |
| F-5-25 Immediate Permanent Residence | ₩3,000,000,000one-time | Capital at risk | 5 years | At market | CNY 40,000typical · middle half CNY 30,000–40,000 · 5 firmsone stage only · tax not stated · dated 2023 Check a quote |
| South Korea — E-7 Specially Designated Activities Visa (특정활동): E-7-1 Professional Employment | ₩31,120,000/ year, shown — not held | Threshold, not at risk | — | Never leaves you | Benchmark coming soon Check a quote |
| Tourism/Recreational Facility Investment | ₩1,000,000,000one-time | Capital at risk | 5 years | At market | Benchmark coming soon Check a quote |
What each route costs, stage by stage
Added up from the official figures on file for each route — split into money spent for good, money locked and returned later, and money shown but never transferred. Not a modelled estimate.
D-8 Corporate Investor Visa▾
At application
Decision — reported: 3 months.- Spent for goodGovernment fees on file: $60 – $90, paid to the government for the initial application.
- Locked₩100,000,000 placed as capital — recoverable in principle, exposed in practice.
Figures in more than one currency; not added together.
F-2-12 Public Fund Investment▾
At application
Decision — reported: 1 month.- Spent for goodGovernment fees on file: $90, paid to the government for the initial application.
- Locked₩1,500,000,000 placed as capital — recoverable in principle, exposed in practice.
Figures in more than one currency; not added together.
F-5-25 Immediate Permanent Residence▾
At application
Decision — reported: 1 month.- Spent for goodGovernment fees on file: $150, paid to the government for the initial application.
- Locked₩3,000,000,000 placed as capital — recoverable in principle, exposed in practice.
Figures in more than one currency; not added together.
South Korea — E-7 Specially Designated Activities Visa (특정활동): E-7-1 Professional Employment▾
At application
- Spent for goodGovernment fees on file: $60 – $90, paid to the government for the initial application.
- Shown, never leaves you₩31,120,000 shown as proof of means every year — nothing is transferred.
At renewal
Renewal — reported: 3 years.- Shown, never leaves you₩31,120,000 — the same proof is shown again.
2 ways to qualify — shown: the cheapest. Alternatives: $60 (shown) / ₩100,000.
Figures in more than one currency; not added together.
Tourism/Recreational Facility Investment▾
At application
Decision — reported: 1 month.- Spent for goodGovernment fees on file: $90, paid to the government for the initial application.
- Locked₩1,000,000,000 placed as capital — recoverable in principle, exposed in practice.
Figures in more than one currency; not added together.
The order D-8 Corporate Investor Visa follows
No confirmed rule change has been flagged for South Korea since it was last checked against the official immigration.go.kr portal on 2026-08-29. Immimaps keeps watching official immigration sources and will list dated changes here as soon as one is confirmed.
Check the immigration.go.kr portal directly →Upload it and Immimaps checks it against what South Korea's official programme actually requires — the threshold, the hold period, the fees the brochure leaves out — and reads the contract clause by clause. Free, no account.
Check my documentCountry Analysis lays out policy stability, financial exposure and process risk across all of South Korea's routes side by side.
Open Country AnalysisEvery official figure on this page is checked against South Korea's official immigration sources. Service fees are what independent firms publish for a route — not an official figure, and never any one firm's price. Immimaps does not publish success rates, approval odds or any probability score — here or anywhere else.
Don’t take a life-changing move on someone else’s word.
Immimaps is not an agency and takes no placement fees. We show the real figures on every route, show the working, and tell you what it actually costs.
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