E-7-1 professional jobs: 52 occupations, codes and who must recommend

This guide is for Korean companies that want to hire foreign professionals for office, research and engineering jobs, and for the candidates. Most such jobs fall under E-7-1, the professional track of the E-7 (특정활동) visa. The task is to match the candidate's degree and career to one listed occupation and to show why the company needs this person. Rules follow the Ministry of Justice (법무부) manuals updated on October 19, 2026.

Where professionals sit in the E-7 system

The E-7 list had 94 occupations as of August 2026.

There are also special tracks, such as E-7-S for high earners and high-tech workers. Jobs that fit neither the manager nor the professional list fall into the semi-professional or skilled tracks, which have stricter limits on numbers and pay.

Qualifications, pay and stay

The candidate needs one of:

• a master's degree in a field related to the occupation;
• a related bachelor's degree plus 1 year of experience in the field;
• 5 years of experience in the field.

Experience counts only after the degree or licence, except internships in high-tech fields. Exceptions include graduates of Korean universities (bachelor's or higher, any major, no experience needed; distance universities excluded), bachelor's graduates of a world top university (Times Higher Education top 200 or QS top 500), who need no year of experience, and people with 1 year in a professional job at a Global 500 company.

Pay must be at least ₩31,120,000 a year from February 1 to December 31, 2026 (Ministry of Justice Public Notice No. 2025-406), up from ₩28,670,000 in 2025. University lecturers follow a separate hourly rule. The longest stay per grant is 3 years, or 5 years for some recommended talent and special zones.

IT and engineering occupations

KOTRA is the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency. KOSME is the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency (중소벤처기업진흥공단), which recommends only for small and medium-sized companies. Companies returning from abroad (국내복귀기업) must get a KOTRA recommendation for several of these jobs.

Science, health and education occupations

Business, finance and marketing occupations

Online overseas sellers, a sub-type of overseas sales, need an employer registered as a trading company with ₩5 billion or more in exports last year and its own office space (no remote or dispatched work). The seller needs a Korean associate degree or higher, a foreign bachelor's degree plus 1 year, or a master's degree, and in every case TOPIK level 3 or higher.

Matching a newer job title

For manager and professional jobs, the office head may approve the most similar listed occupation (유사직종). A digital marketer may fit product planner (2831) or advertising and PR specialist (2833); a data analyst may fit research specialist (2834) or the statistics side of natural science specialist (2112). Database roles now have their own code, data specialist (2231). Describe study and work in the language of the chosen code: "computer engineering degree, software major, 3 years of database and system design" reads better than "computer science graduate".

Practical tips

• Match the company's main business, the job, and the candidate's major and career.
• Write the hiring reason letter (초청사유서) as a clear story: why this job, why this person, why a foreigner.
• Codes were renumbered in 2026, and some detailed sections of the manual still show other numbers (nurses appear as 2430 and 2440), so give the occupation name with the code.
• Check whether a recommendation body works only with SMEs before you apply to it.
• If unsure, call the Immigration Contact Center (외국인종합안내센터) on 1345.