South Korea has published a detailed breakdown of occupations qualifying for its E-7 Specified Activities visa for foreign skilled workers. The E-7 visa targets foreign nationals who plan to work in South Korea under a formal contract with a public or private organisation. This scheme aims to attract workers with specialised knowledge, skills, or abilities in areas where the Minister of Justice has determined there is a domestic shortage.
The E-7 visa is split into four sub-categories covering professionals, semi-professionals, general skilled labourers, and skilled tradespersons. Applicants must work in roles designated by South Korea's Minister of Justice, with a maximum stay of three years per grant. The programme is structured around four distinct classifications, each serving a different tier of the workforce.
The broadest of the four is the E-7-1, which covers Professionals, specifically Managers and Specialists, across 67 occupations. The E-7-2 targets semi-professional workers in office and service roles, listing 10 qualifying occupations. General Skilled Labourers, particularly Craft and Related Skilled Workers, fall under the E-7-3 category, which also covers 10 occupations.
The fourth classification, E-7-4, is reserved for Skilled Tradespersons and differs from the others in that it operates on a point-based system, covering three occupations. Across all four sub-categories, the maximum duration of stay that can be issued at any one time is three years. A key condition running through the entire scheme is that both the employer and the job role must appear on approved occupational lists drawn up by the Minister of Justice.
Applicants cannot self-nominate their positions or argue that their role is equivalent to a listed one; the designation must be official. South Korea's full list of qualifying occupations across all four E-7 categories is publicly available on the country's official visa information portal, giving employers and prospective workers a transparent reference point before they begin the application process.
The E-7 visa scheme aims to strengthen national competitiveness by attracting foreign workers with specialised knowledge, skills, or abilities. The government created the scheme to address domestic shortages in specific areas. Prospective applicants can now access the list of eligible occupations and categories to determine their eligibility for the E-7 visa.
The publication of the eligible occupations list provides clarity for prospective applicants and employers. This move is expected to facilitate the application process for foreign skilled workers seeking to work in South Korea.
Key points
- South Korea's E-7 visa scheme has four sub-categories: E-7-1 for professionals, E-7-2 for semi-professionals, E-7-3 for general skilled labourers, and E-7-4 for skilled tradespersons.
- The maximum duration of stay for E-7 visa holders is three years per grant.
- The list of eligible occupations is publicly available on South Korea's official visa information portal.
