E-7 manager visas in Korea: 15 codes, the 2026 pay floor and exemptions

The specific activity visa, E-7 (특정활동), lets foreign professionals work for a company or public body in Korea in jobs listed by the Ministry of Justice (법무부). This guide is for companies that want to hire a foreign manager and for their candidates. It follows the Ministry's manuals as of October 2026.

Where managers fit in E-7

E-7 now covers 94 listed occupations: 67 professional occupations (E-7-1), 10 semi-professional (E-7-2), 14 general skilled (E-7-3) and 3 points-based skilled (E-7-4). Managers are 15 of the 67 E-7-1 occupations. Each grant of stay is capped at 3 years, or 5 years for talent recommended by a ministry and some workers in special zones.

The manual treats professionals as hard to replace with Korean workers, so the domestic employment test (국민고용 보호 심사) does not apply to them apart from the pay floor. The test covers only certain professional jobs, such as mechanical engineers, drafters, travel product developers, overseas sales staff and interpreters, not the manager codes.

The 15 manager codes

Rules for all manager codes

• In principle, only managers of head office departments qualify. The office looks at the department, its independence, the number of ordinary staff in it and the manager's pay.
• Large companies hiring managers, universities and public institutions need no ministry recommendation. Where the manual names a recommending body, it can be required only for managers at small and medium-sized companies.
• The employer must have no unpaid national or local taxes and must not fall under the visa restrictions in Article 17-3(2) of the Enforcement Rule of the Immigration Act, such as recent immigration or labor law offences.
• Small foreign-invested companies and venture companies may hire into E-7-1 occupations without a sales record for up to 5 years from founding.

Education, experience and exemptions

The general rule needs one of: a master's degree in a related field, a related bachelor's degree plus 1 year of related experience after the degree, or 5 years of related experience. Exceptions include:

• 1 year or more of professional work at one of the world's top 500 companies.
• A bachelor's degree from a university in the TIME top 200 or the QS top 500, which waives the 1-year experience rule.
• A degree from a Korean university: a bachelor's or higher waives the experience rule in any field, and a junior college degree waives it for jobs related to the major.
• Annual pay of 3 times the previous year's gross national income (GNI) per capita or more, which waives education and experience rules and the need for a recommendation.
• Talent recommended by a ministry with annual pay of 1.5 times GNI per capita or more, which can waive education and experience rules for the 67 E-7-1 occupations.

The office must also accept that the company needs to hire the person.

The 2026 pay floor

The 2026 floor comes from Ministry of Justice Public Notice No. 2025-406, and the 2025 floor still applied until January 31, 2026. Occupations with their own wage rule follow that rule. The 2027 floor had not been announced as of October 23, 2026. Write daily and monthly working hours into the contract, and make sure hourly and monthly pay meet the minimum wage: ₩10,320 an hour in 2026 and ₩10,700 from January 1, 2027.

Building a convincing application

The office wants to know why the company needs this foreigner. A clear file links three things: the person's major, their management experience and the duties planned in Korea.

1. Describe management, not only technical work. "Led a development team and ran projects for 3 years" fits a manager code better than "Java development for 3 years".
2. Use numbers you can prove, such as team size, budget and results.
3. Explain the business need in the invitation reason letter (초청사유서) and the foreign worker use plan (외국인활용계획서), for example entry into the person's home market.
4. If the major and career do not match directly, show the link, such as related roles or training.
5. Translate documents issued abroad into Korean or English, and get an apostille or consular confirmation for the key ones. Keep names, dates and titles the same across all papers.

The company files the application for a certificate for confirmation of visa issuance, Form No. 21 (별지 제21호서식), with proof of establishment such as the business registration, the employment contract, national and local tax payment certificates and the papers showing the need to hire.

Checklist

• Pick the code that matches the person's real duties and check whether it needs a recommendation.
• Confirm the head office department, its staff and the manager's pay.
• Offer at least ₩31,120,000 a year in 2026 and write working hours into the contract.
• Prepare degree and career proof with translations and an apostille.
• Write a specific hiring reason letter and know it well.