E-7 visa paperwork: 2026 pay floors, company documents and hiring plan

This guide is for Korean companies that hire foreign professionals on the E-7 (특정활동) visa, and for their candidates. The immigration office decides mostly on paper: it checks that the job fits a listed occupation, that the company is real and pays its taxes, that the salary meets the yearly floor, and why the company needs a foreigner. Figures apply to 2026 and follow the Ministry of Justice (법무부) manuals updated on October 19, 2026.

Where to file

A company inviting someone from abroad applies for a Certificate for Confirmation of Visa Issuance (사증발급인정서, CCVI) at the immigration office (출입국·외국인관서) that covers its location. Foreigners already staying legally on statuses such as D-2 (study), D-10 (job seeking) or E-1~E-6 (except E-6-2) can apply for a change of status with the same papers. Short-term visitors (B and C statuses), D-3, E-8, E-9, E-10 and G-1 holders cannot. The office may add or drop documents, so treat the lists below as the minimum.

Documents the company prepares

The company must have no unpaid national or local taxes. For some occupations, including mechanical engineers, drafters, travel product developers, overseas sales staff and translators, the office also applies a domestic employment test. Firms with fewer than 5 Korean employees that sell mainly in Korea are generally refused, and E-7 staff in these jobs may not exceed 20% of Korean staff. Korean staff are counted from the employment insurance roster: people enrolled for 3 months or more at the minimum wage or above. Such a firm can usually apply only 3 months after opening. The roster (사업장 가입자 명부) is issued by the Social Insurance Information Linkage Center (4대사회보험 정보연계센터, 4insure.or.kr).

A small foreign-invested company or venture company may hire into the 67 professional (E-7-1) occupations without a sales record for up to 5 years from founding. If you rely on a special rule for small firms, attach an SME confirmation (중소기업확인서, from sminfo.mss.go.kr) or a venture confirmation (벤처기업확인서, from smes.go.kr/venturein). See SME confirmation certificates run 1 year from 3 months after year-end.

Documents the candidate prepares

• Passport copy and one colour photo.
• The signed employment contract.
• Proof of qualifications: degree certificate, career certificates, CV and licences. Documents issued abroad need a Korean or English translation, and key documents need consular notarisation or an apostille.
• Proof of address (체류지 입증서류) for foreign resident registration and for each extension: a lease (임대차계약서), or an accommodation confirmation (숙소제공 확인서) when the company or a hotel provides the room.

A registered foreigner who moves must report the new address within 15 days of moving in (Immigration Act, Article 36). Not reporting can lead to a fine of up to ₩1,000,000 (Article 98).

Pay floor and contract wording

The floors come from Ministry of Justice Public Notice No. 2025-406. Occupations with their own wage rule follow that rule. The E-7-1 floor was ₩28,670,000 from April 1, 2025, and the 2027 floors had not been announced as of October 23, 2026.

• State the annual salary against working hours in the contract, with daily and monthly hours.
• Pay must also meet the minimum wage by the hour and by the month: ₩10,320 an hour in 2026 and ₩10,700 from January 1, 2027.
• Where an occupation's floor is 80% of the previous year's gross national income (GNI) per capita, SMEs, venture companies and mid-sized firms outside the capital region may apply 70% for up to 3 years. The more favourable figure applies.
• At an extension or a workplace change, the office checks last year's income certificate (소득금액증명) issued by the tax office.

Choosing the occupation code

Each E-7 job must match one of 94 listed occupations. Codes were renumbered in 2026, and the manual shows the new and former numbers, for example business support managers (경영지원 관리자) 1212, formerly 1202, and event planners (행사 기획자) 2835, formerly 2735.

Some codes need a recommendation from a ministry. Performance planners under 2835 need one from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (문화체육관광부); the office head may waive it for companies with annual sales of ₩5 billion or more. Universities and public institutions, and large companies hiring managers, are exempt from recommendations.

Choose the code that matches the core of the job. If the person's main duties genuinely fall under a code without a mandatory recommendation, such as a business support manager, apply under that code and show the fit in the letter. For manager codes, the office looks at the department, its staff numbers and the manager's pay, and in principle accepts only managers of head-office departments.

Writing the hiring reason letter

Many people call this paper the employment use plan (고용활용계획서). The manual asks the company to describe in concrete terms why it needs a foreign worker, how it will use the person and what effect it expects. A structure that works:

1. Candidate profile: check education and relevant career against the code, and list all relevant work so it can be counted.
2. How you found the person: global recruitment channels and your selection process.
3. Domestic hiring efforts: job boards, internships, university partnerships and the number of Korean hires in recent years.
4. Why a foreigner: for example, partners abroad who need native-level English together with specialist knowledge that a small company finds hard to hire in Korea.
5. Duties and effects: what the person will do and what the company gains.
6. Use plan: a job description with tasks, role and expected results.

Officers often ask about this letter, so whoever files it should know it well.

Checklist

• Occupation code chosen; recommendation obtained if the code requires one.
• Salary at or above the 2026 floor, with working hours written in the contract.
• National and local tax payment certificates issued within their validity.
• Employment insurance roster ready if the domestic employment test applies.
• Degree and career papers translated, with an apostille or consular notarisation.
• Proof of address ready for registration; any later move reported within 15 days.
• Extension filed before the stay expires (Immigration Act, Article 25).