Today, we will take a look at the E-7 visa (for chef) that foreigners can obtain when they are employed as chefs (kitchen managers) in South Korea.
Candidate
◆ Individuals who plan cooking schedules in hotels, restaurants, ships, etc., and supervise and coordinate the work of cooks and kitchen assistants within restaurants and other facilities (chef), as well as those who directly prepare and cook various food items for making meals.
○ Possible occupations for application
- Western cuisine kitchen chef and cook, Chinese cuisine kitchen chef and cook, Japanese cuisine kitchen chef and cook, other national cuisine kitchen chef and cook
○ Occupations not allowed for application
- Korean cuisine kitchen chef and cook, snack, coffee, traditional tea cook, beverage cook
Applicant qualifications
※ If any of the following ① ② ③ apply, you can apply E-7 visa
① Winners of domestic and international cooking competitions recognized internationally
Exemption from certificate and experience requirements
※Exemption from certificate and experience requirements ※ Award-winning documents should be submitted after obtaining consular verification, but consular verification can be omitted if it can be clearly confirmed through media coverage, etc.
② Possessors of foreign qualifications, education, and experience (after obtaining the relevant certificate)
Certification + Education | Experience | |
intermediate or higher certificate | Exemption from Experience | Chinese food level 1.2 or higher |
beginner's level certificate | More than 3 years of experience | |
completed more than 6 months of education | More than 5 years of experience | Except Chinese food |
etc | More than 10 years of experience | Except Chinese food, Japaneses food, Western food |
◆ More than 5 years of experience
- Submit cook qualification certificates, experience certificates, and education completion certificates after obtaining Apostille verification or consular verification from the Korean consulate in the host country.
※ However, in the case of cook or professional chefs selected through a direct verification process at a hotel recognized as 5-star, consular verification can be omitted.
◆ More than 10 years of experience
- Only allowed for local traditional food and similar cases where there is no formal course available.
③ Individuals with domestic education + certificates and experience
◆ Bachelor's or Master's degree and above
-Any major + acquisition of cook-related skill certificate (equivalent or higher) from the Korea Industrial Human Resources Corporation + 2 years of experience
(However, exempted if the domestic education period is 2 years or longer)
◆ Associate degree
-Degree in a related field + acquisition of cook-related skill certificate (equivalent or higher) from the Korea Industrial Human Resources Corporation + 2 years of experience
(However, exempted if the domestic education period is 2 years or longer)
◆ Private institution training
-Related field training (D-4-6) + acquisition of cook-related skill certificate (equivalent or higher) from the Korea Industrial Human Resources Corporation + 2 years of experience (However, exempted from the experience requirement if the related field training has been completed for more than 20 months while holding a D-4-6 visa in Korea)
Employer qualifications
◆ Tourism hotels, tourism restaurants, foreign tourist-specialized restaurants, airline in-flight meal departments, foreign food specialized restaurants that have not been designated as tourism convenience facilities but meet all the national employment standards, including the minimum business area value-added tax amount
※ The value-added tax amount refers to the annual sum of the "tax payable" on the "Value-Added Tax Taxable Standard Certificate" issued by the head of the competent tax office
◆ Minimum requirements for business area, etc., by employer
section | Business area | annual VAT | Domestic employment |
Chinese restaurant | more than 200㎡ | more than 5 million won | 3명 |
general restaurant | more than 60㎡ | more than 3 million won | 2명 |
Ansan Multicultural Village Special Zone restaurant | more than 30㎡ | more than 2 million won | 1~2명 |
※ Domestic employment: Nationals and ethnic Koreans, such as permanent residents and marriage immigrants, who have been registered in the employment insurance roster for more than 3 months
※ Ansan Multicultural Village Special Zone Restaurant: Only cases with an area of 151m² or more and a value-added tax of 7.5 million won or more are subject to the domestic employment standard
● If a business is designated as a tourism convenience facility and meets at least 50% of the minimum area requirement,
it will be recognized if it meets the annual value-added tax amount and domestic employment requirements
※ However, businesses in the Ansan Multicultural Village Special Zone are subject to the same criteria regardless of whether they are Chinese or general restaurants (the Ansan Multicultural Village Special Zone does not apply special exceptions to the designated tourism convenience facilities mentioned above)
● Calculation of domestic employment
Includes nationals, ethnic Koreans, permanent residents, and marriage immigrants who have been registered in the employment insurance roster for more than 3 months (within 3 months for new businesses)
※ If the opening date is within 3 months from the application date, or if a company that meets the minimum domestic employment standard applies for additional or replacement personnel, the employment insurance subscription period will not be applied
● Minimum requirement review criteria
Even if the minimum formal requirements are met, if there is no actual usage or potential for attracting foreign tourists, and it is determined to be for the purpose of utilizing low-wage foreign cooks, the invitation will be limited in principle.
Review criteria
① Calculate the sum of allowable personnel based on the average of the business area, value-added tax payment, and the number of employees, but do not exceed the allowable personnel according to the domestic employment
※ If it is impossible to confirm the value-added tax payment amount for newly established businesses, or if it is difficult to confirm the normal value-added tax payment amount compared to sales due to tax refunds or tax exemptions, the average value-added tax payment amount of similar-sized businesses in the same industry or the average monthly value-added tax payment amount up to now can be converted into an annual value-added tax payment amount or calculated based on the annual sum of the sales tax standard (the sum of the taxable and tax-exempt amounts of the revenue) on the value-added tax certificate
② Limiting employment of businesses with poor stay management
- If there are foreigners who have changed to other (G-1) qualifications due to unpaid wages as of the application date, or if there are deserters, the number of allowed personnel is deducted for one year from the date of qualification change or desertion
③ Domestic employment
- Registered in the employment insurance roster for more than 3 months as of the application date + pays monthly salary above the legal minimum wage
(Calculated as domestic employment only if both hourly and monthly wages are met in the employee salary payment statement)
④ Limiting employment of dispatched labor and businesses with difficulty in regular work
- Wedding halls, catering buffets, event companies, etc.
◆ Foreign chef calculation criteria by company type
Additional documents required for E7 foreign chef visa application apart from the basic documents
● Chef qualification proof documents: Choose one
- Award documents from domestic and international recognized cooking competitions (original presented, copy submitted)
- Certificate (original presented, copy submitted) and work experience certificate (3 years or 5 years)
- Work experience certificate (10 years, limited to local cuisine)
● Documents proving the qualifications of the employing company
- Employment insurance subscriber list (common)
- Business establishment's employment insurance insured qualification acquisition history (common)
- Business area proof documents (common)
- Value-added tax taxable standard certificate (issued by the head of the tax office, common)
- Tourism convenience facility business designation documents (applicable only to relevant businesses)
- Foreign tourist tax-free sales office (designated by the head of the tax office) or bonded sales office (licensed by the head of the customs office) documents (applicable only to relevant businesses)