E-7-2 visa in Korea: rules for 10 clerical and service jobs

This guide is for Korean businesses hiring foreign sales clerks, airline or hotel clerks, medical coordinators, call center staff, cabin crew, tour guides, casino dealers, cooks or care workers, and for the workers. These 10 jobs form the semi-professional group of the E-7 visa (E-7-2, 준전문인력), each with its own rules on qualifications, employers and quotas. Figures follow the Ministry of Justice (법무부) visa manual of October 2026.

Rules for all 10 jobs

• The 2026 pay floor for E-7-2 is ₩25,890,000 a year (February 1 to December 31, 2026) unless the job has its own rule. Contracts must state monthly pay and hours, and hourly and monthly pay must meet the minimum wage (₩10,320 an hour in 2026, ₩10,700 from January 1, 2027).
• Korean staff count only after 3 months on the employment insurance roster at the minimum wage or above, so a new company normally applies at least 3 months after business registration. Without a special quota, foreign staff may not exceed 20% of Korean employees.
• The employer applies for a Certificate for Confirmation of Visa Issuance (사증발급인정서) at the immigration office (출입국·외국인관서) covering its location. Most of these jobs get a single-entry visa for a stay of up to 2 years.
• Sales clerks, customer service clerks, hotel receptionists, medical coordinators and cooks need permission before changing or adding a workplace and a personal guarantee (신원보증서).

Duty-free and Jeju sales clerks

This covers selling to foreigners in duty-free shops, selling in Jeju English Education City shops, and interpreting and selling in Jeju restaurants.

Airline, hotel, medical and call center clerks

• Airline ticketing clerks (항공운송 사무원): reservations, ticketing and seat assignment. A master's degree, or a bachelor's degree plus 1 year of experience.
• Hotel receptionists (호텔 접수사무원): a Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (문화체육관광부) recommendation is mandatory, and experience without a degree is not accepted. The hotel must be a tourist, floating, traditional Korean or family hotel under Article 2 of the Enforcement Decree of the Tourism Promotion Act (관광진흥법 시행령) with foreign guests above 30% of last year's guests (15% outside the capital area, 10% in depopulation areas). Up to 5 per hotel and 400 nationwide; graduates of Korean tourism or hotel programs (associate degree or higher) with the recommendation are exempt from the ratio and quota.
• Medical coordinators (의료 코디네이터): a Ministry of Health and Welfare (보건복지부) recommendation is mandatory. The employer must be a medical institution or agency registered to attract foreign patients under Article 6 of the Medical Overseas Expansion and Foreign Patient Attraction Act. Quota: 2 per institution and 1 per agency, plus 1 for every 1,000 foreign patients above 1,000 last year (3 and 2 if certified under Article 14). The worker needs a health care licence (doctor, nurse, pharmacist and others) or a related associate degree; a Korean bachelor's plus the medical coordinator or medical interpreter course of the Korea Health and Welfare Personnel Development Institute (한국보건복지인재원); the national international medical tourism coordinator licence; or the medical interpretation certificate under Article 13.
• Customer service clerks (고객상담 사무원): online sales and support for foreign customers under international service contracts (telemarketers and street sellers excluded). The employer needs 500 or more regular employees, ₩5,000,000,000 or more of international service sales last year, direct hiring and its own office (no remote work). Pay must at least match the average for Korean staff doing the same work there. The worker needs a Korean associate degree, a foreign bachelor's plus 1 year or a master's, and TOPIK level 2, KIIP level 2 or TOEIC 730. Quota: up to 40 at ₩5,000,000,000 to ₩10,000,000,000 of such sales, and up to 70% of staff in that field above that. Visas run up to 1 year; workplace changes only in unavoidable cases such as closure.

Crew, tour guides and casino dealers

• Transport service workers (운송 서비스 종사자): international airline cabin crew and crew on international passenger ships or Korean transport companies' ships (not ship waiters). A master's, a bachelor's plus 1 year, or 3 years' experience. Embassies may issue visas of up to 1 year at their discretion.
• Tour interpreter guides (관광통역 안내원): the culture ministry's recommendation is mandatory. The worker needs a master's, a foreign bachelor's in Korean studies plus 1 year, a Korean degree in tourism or history, or a junior college degree plus the tourist interpreter guide licence (관광통역안내사). The employer must be a registered travel agency (the manual says 일반여행업, now called 종합여행업) with an average of 2,000 or more foreign tourists a year over the last 2 years. Up to 2 guides per agency, plus 1 for every 2,000 foreign tourists. Nationals of countries that bar Koreans from guiding may be refused on reciprocity grounds.
• Casino dealers (카지노 딜러): at least 5 years' experience. The culture ministry issues recommendations, but this job is not on the manual's mandatory list.

Cooks and chefs

Western, Chinese, Japanese and other foreign cuisines qualify. Korean cuisine, snack, coffee and traditional tea cooks are excluded.

Foreign certificates need an apostille or consular confirmation. Employers are tourist hotels and restaurants, restaurants for foreign tourists, airline catering units, or foreign-cuisine restaurants meeting these minimums:

Korean employees here include permanent residents and marriage migrants on the insurance roster for 3 months. The number of foreign cooks allowed rises with floor area, VAT paid and Korean staff.

Care workers

Care workers (요양보호사) help elderly people with meals, bathing, moving and daily life. The worker needs all of these: a Korean associate degree or higher, a care worker licence, and KIIP level 3, a KIIP pre-test score of 61 or more, or TOPIK level 3. The employer must be an elderly medical welfare facility under the Welfare of Senior Citizens Act (노인복지법) holding a long-term care designation whose code starts with 1. Foreign care workers may not exceed 20% of Korean employees, and pay must be at least the minimum wage. A workplace change is allowed when the worker is not at fault, such as a closure or the end of the contract.

Checklist

• Match the worker's degree, major and experience to the job's own rule.
• Check floor area, sales or VAT, Korean staff on the insurance roster and current foreign staff against the quota.
• Get the ministry recommendation first where it is mandatory (hotel receptionists, medical coordinators, tour guides).
• Write a specific invitation letter: why the business needs a foreigner and how this person's language and experience fit.
• Prepare a personal guarantee where needed and get permission before any workplace change; for the employer's reporting duty see the 15-day report guide.
• The immigration office can ask for more documents or accept fewer.