Korean visa rule changes
When the Ministry of Justice updates its visa guidance manuals, the changes land here, each with its citation. The Visa Finder and Path Finder are rebuilt from the same manuals.
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Checked against the September 2026 Ministry of Justice manuals
The Ministry of Justice republished the 사증민원 and 체류민원 자격별 안내 매뉴얼 on 2026-09-01. Every page the Visa Finder cites was compared against the new edition. Two new permanent-residence categories were added, one document gained written rules, and the skilled-worker figures changed; all three are listed here. Everything else the finder relies on is unchanged in substance. Page numbers on the cards now follow the September edition, which inserted one page in the visa manual and up to four in the stay manual.
법무부 매뉴얼 2026. 9. 1. 편
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Skilled-worker points visa (E-7-4): income floor and hiring quota changed
The yearly income floor for the skilled-worker points visa rose from 25,000,000 won to 25,890,000 won. The number of E-7-4 workers an employer may hold is now set against the Korean regular workforce, at 30 percent (50 percent in designated sectors), instead of 20 percent of all regular workers, with a floor for the smallest employers and a separate formula for construction. Customs duties were added to the list of tax arrears that count against an applicant. The Visa Finder's E-7-4 card is a signpost that states no figures, so the card itself did not change; anyone checking a quota or income figure should use the September manual.
체류 pp.298, 301
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Digital nomads: written rules for the criminal-record certificate
The manual gained an attachment setting out the criminal-record certificate for the digital-nomad (F-1-D) visa and for a change of status to it. It must cover your country of nationality and any country where you lived for a continuous year or more in the last five years; it must be issued within six months of the application; it needs an apostille, or consular confirmation by the Korean mission where the country has no apostille; and it is submitted as an original with a notarised translation. People under 14, people born in Korea or who arrived before 14 without six continuous months abroad since, and people who gave a certificate for the visa and apply for the change within three months are exempt. Where a country cannot issue one for your age or residence, or because of war or disaster, you explain that in writing. The document row in the F-1 list now carries these rules.
사증 p.307 / 체류 pp.352-353
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Permanent residence opens to special contributors and their families (F-5-28, F-5-29)
Two new permanent-residence categories were added to the manual. A person who has held special-contributor residence (F-2-16) for two years or more can apply for F-5-28, with a livelihood standard of one times the previous year's per-person GNI, or the average household net assets, counting the income or assets of family living with them; good conduct and the basic competency requirement (KIIP level 5 or 60 points on the comprehensive test) also apply. Their spouse or minor child who has held F-2-16 for two years or more can apply for F-5-29 once the contributor has held F-5-28 for two years, with the same livelihood standard and no competency requirement. Both are now in the Visa Finder. The manual's competency tables do not yet mention the new categories, so the F-5-28 card says to confirm that point at the office.
체류 pp.473-476
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Top-Tier now includes science and technology professors and researchers
The Top-Tier scheme for world-class talent was expanded on 2026-07-09 from advanced-industry company personnel to science and technology professors and research personnel. It runs on its own guideline: promising talent can receive E-7-T with income of twice the previous year's per-person GNI and a ministry recommendation, Top-Tier residence is F-2-T, a pre-Top-Tier job-seeker status (D-10-T) exists before employment is fixed, and permanent residence (F-5-T) opens after three years on F-2-T with three times GNI and Social Integration Programme stage 3. The E-7, D-10, F-2 and F-5 checks now carry these notes.
체류 톱티어 지침 (2026. 6.)
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K-STAR: residence before a job for science and technology graduates
The K-STAR visa track covers science and technology master's and doctoral graduates of ministry-selected universities, with the university president's recommendation. Residence (F-2-7S) is granted before finding a job, for up to five years, and after three years its own permanent-residence points test (F-5-S1, 90 of 200) opens; an outstanding research record can qualify for special naturalization at any time. The F-2, F-5 and D-10 checks now explain the track and its criteria.
사증 pp.472-483
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Top-Tier now includes science and technology professors and researchers
The Top-Tier scheme for world-class talent was expanded on 2026-07-09 from advanced-industry company personnel to science and technology professors and research personnel. It runs on its own guideline: promising talent can receive E-7-T with income of twice the previous year's per-person GNI and a ministry recommendation, Top-Tier residence is F-2-T, a pre-Top-Tier job-seeker status (D-10-T) exists before employment is fixed, and permanent residence (F-5-T) opens after three years on F-2-T with three times GNI and Social Integration Programme stage 3. The E-7, D-10, F-2 and F-5 checks now carry these notes.
체류 톱티어 지침 (2026. 6.)
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K-STAR: residence before a job for science and technology graduates
The K-STAR visa track covers science and technology master's and doctoral graduates of ministry-selected universities, with the university president's recommendation. Residence (F-2-7S) is granted before finding a job, for up to five years, and after three years its own permanent-residence points test (F-5-S1, 90 of 200) opens; an outstanding research record can qualify for special naturalization at any time. The F-2, F-5 and D-10 checks now explain the track and its criteria.
사증 pp.472-483
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Checked against the August 2026 Ministry of Justice manuals
The Ministry of Justice republished the 사증민원 and 체류민원 자격별 안내 매뉴얼 on 2026-08-07. Every page the Visa Finder cites was compared against the new edition. One rule change affected what we show, the E-7 salary floor listed below, and it has been added. The remaining differences were wording, a ministry rename and re-pagination, none of which change what an applicant has to do. Cards continue to cite the pages they came from.
법무부 매뉴얼 2026. 8. 7. 편
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Models no longer need a portfolio in the E-6 document list
The line asking for other documents evidencing a model's expertise, such as a portfolio, has been removed from the E-6 visa document list. The employment recommendation from the competent ministry, or evidence that the hire is necessary, is unchanged.
사증 p.169
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Adoption paperwork can now come from the child's country of origin
For the international-adoption route (F-1-51), the document evidencing that the adoption is under way or completed may now be issued by the child's country of origin as well as by Korea's Ministry of Health and Welfare. Previously the ministry was named alone.
사증 p.307
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A lower salary floor for smaller and regional employers
E-7 occupations that require at least 80% of the previous year's per-capita GNI can now be assessed at 70% instead, for up to three years, where the employer is a small or medium enterprise, a certified venture business, or a mid-sized company outside the capital region, and the applicant has either never worked in Korea on E-7 or has three years or less of it. After three full years the 80% level applies again. Where the relaxed figure and the figure announced for that year differ, the more favourable one is used. The salary floor itself is not a fixed amount: the Ministry of Justice announces it each year, and the amount announced on the application date is the one used.
체류 p.229
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Startup Korea Special Visa noted in the D-8 stay ceilings
The D-8 stay-period table now names Startup Korea Special Visa holders: a technology-startup founder who has not yet incorporated receives a 6-month stay ceiling, against 2 years once the corporation exists.
사증 p.104
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Overseas criminal records: explicit F-4 bar periods
The manual annex spells out overseas-sentence bars for F-4: specified violent crimes bar issuance and change outright; drugs, voice phishing or habitual drunk driving bar them for 7 years from the sentencing date; other imprisonment-level sentences for 5 years. The bars end when their periods pass.
동포 별첨1 pp.29-30
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Military-service timing bar for men who renounced nationality after May 2018
Under the revised Overseas Koreans Act, a man whose first renunciation or loss of Korean nationality was on or after 1 May 2018, and who has neither completed military service nor received an exemption disposition, cannot be granted F-4 until December 31 of the year he turns 40. It is a timing bar, not a permanent one.
체류 p.528
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Waegook now follows the July 2026 Ministry of Justice manuals
The visa registry behind the Visa Finder and Path Finder is built from the 2026-07-09 editions of the Ministry of Justice guidance manuals (사증민원 and 체류민원 자격별 안내 매뉴얼). Every card cites the exact pages it comes from.
법무부 매뉴얼 2026. 7. 9. 편
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Cuba removed from the D-2 certificate-of-admission restriction
The April 2025 revision removed Cuba from the group of nationalities restricted to certificate-of-admission-only D-2 issuance: the manual strikes Cuba through on the issuance table. Cuban students follow the standard issuance rules.
사증 p.67 · 개정이력 25.4.1
Summaries of official manual changes, not legal advice. Immigration offices, embassies and consulates decide all applications.