No new H-2 visas since February 12, 2026: rules for current H-2 workers

This guide is for ethnic Koreans of foreign nationality (외국국적동포) who still hold the working visit status H-2 (방문취업), and for the employers who hire them. Since February 12, 2026, Korea no longer issues new H-2 visas: the H-2 and F-4 statuses were merged into the overseas Korean status F-4 (재외동포), and ethnic Koreans from China and the former Soviet countries now receive F-4 visas. People who entered on an H-2 visa issued before that date keep following the H-2 rules below. They come from the Ministry of Justice (법무부) stay manual updated on October 19, 2026, and the Act on the Employment of Foreign Workers (외국인고용법).

What changed in 2026

• No new H-2 visas from February 12, 2026. Older guides that explain H-2 sub-types, the lottery or the C-3-8 to H-2 switch are out of date.
• No one can change to H-2 from another status in Korea.
• H-2 holders who entered before the change can still register, work in permitted industries and extend their stay.
• New arrivals on F-4 may not take jobs on the Ministry of Justice's simple-labour list, except people who live in designated depopulation areas under the regional visa program (Enforcement Decree of the Immigration Act, Article 23(3)).

Registration and length of stay

1. Register within 90 days of entry at the immigration office (출입국·외국인청) covering your address. Bring the application form, passport, a colour photo, proof of address, the ₩35,000 fee, the certificate of the early adaptation program (조기적응프로그램) and a health certificate from a hospital designated by the Ministry of Justice.
2. At registration you get up to 3 years if you submit proof of Korean, or 1 year without it.
3. The employment period is 3 years from entry (Act Article 18). Before it ends, the employer can ask the Ministry of Employment and Labor (고용노동부) to rehire you once for less than 2 years (Article 18-2). With that confirmation (취업기간 만료자 취업활동 기간연장 확인서), immigration extends your stay to at most 4 years 10 months from entry, or within 6 years if the government extended stays because of an epidemic or disaster.
4. If you are diagnosed with tuberculosis, the extension follows the ministry's tuberculosis guideline.

Where H-2 holders may work

Excluded services include water supply, environmental clean-up, car sales, most transport and warehousing, software, telecoms and information services, finance and insurance, real estate, research and professional services, facility management and landscaping, job placement and staffing, public administration and education. There are exceptions: for example passenger land transport, parcel loading, cold storage, building maintenance and cleaning, and household service providers are allowed. Accommodation, restaurants, health and social work, arts and sports, and personal services are not excluded.

You may work only for an employer that holds a special employment permit (특례고용가능확인서).

How H-2 workers get hired

1. Within 15 days of entry, the worker completes employment training of at least 16 hours at HRD Korea (한국산업인력공단) or a designated institution (Act Article 11; Enforcement Rule Articles 10 and 11).
2. The worker registers as a job seeker. HRD Korea collects these applications at the training, and the worker joins the foreign job-seeker roster (외국인구직자 명부). The worker may accept a referral or find a job alone.
3. The employer first asks the Job Center (고용센터) to recruit Koreans for 7 days, or 3 days if the center accepts active recruitment efforts or the job was advertised in a newspaper or similar media for 3 days (Enforcement Rule Article 5-2).
4. If no Korean is hired, the employer applies for the special employment permit, which the center issues within 7 days. It is valid for 3 years, or the construction period if shorter, and covers hiring from the roster up to the permitted number (Act Article 12).

Reports after work starts

• Employer: report the start of work to the Job Center within 14 days, with the standard employment contract and a copy of the worker's alien registration card or passport (Enforcement Rule Article 12-3). Since October 13, 2014, this report is shared with immigration and counts as the worker's job-start report.
• Worker: report the first job and each change of workplace to immigration within 15 days (Immigration Act Article 35; Enforcement Rule Article 49-2). File online on HiKorea (하이코리아), where a friend may file for you, by fax to 1577-1346, at a booked visit or through a registered agency. Attach copies of the special employment permit, the standard contract and the business registration. Missing it can bring an administrative fine of up to ₩1,000,000 (Article 100). A change of workplace needs only this report.
• Address: report a move within 15 days of moving in (Article 36); the fine is up to ₩1,000,000 (Article 98).

If you break immigration rules, a first offence with an immigration fine (범칙금) of ₩5,000,000 or more, or several fines adding up to ₩7,000,000 or more within 3 years, leads to refusal of stay and departure. Three or more fines within 3 years have the same result whatever the amount. Working outside your permitted purpose can also bring a fine.

Moving on: F-4 and F-5

• F-4 in Korea: possible when your documents can be issued in Korea or checked in the immigration system. Ethnic Koreans from the former Soviet countries who once held C-3-8, H-2 or F-4 can change in Korea with proof of Korean ancestry. You also need the early adaptation program, a criminal record certificate and proof of Korean, such as 21 points or more on the Korea Immigration and Integration Program (사회통합프로그램) pre-test.
• After switching to F-4, a former H-2 worker who filed a job-start report can get permission for activities outside status (체류자격외 활동허가) to keep working at that workplace.
• Permanent residence F-5-14: H-2 workers in manufacturing, farming, livestock, fishing, caregiving or housekeeping with 4 years or more at the same employer (including those now on F-4) who hold a listed technical qualification or earn at least 70% of the previous year's GNI per person.

Checklist

• Register within 90 days with the health certificate and early adaptation certificate.
• Finish employment training within 15 days and join the job-seeker roster.
• Employers: 7 days of Korean recruitment, then the 3-year special employment permit.
• Report job starts and workplace changes: employer within 14 days, worker within 15 days.
• Before your 3 years end, ask your employer about the rehiring extension to 4 years 10 months.
• If you will stay longer, plan an F-4 change or F-5-14 in time.