Today, we will explore whether it is possible to change from a C3 (short-term visa) or B1/B2 (visa-exempt, transit) status to an E7 visa upon entry to Korea, using a case study.
Firstly, our client is a young representative of a company engaged in providing purchasing and shipping services for Korean products to overseas foreign individuals, in other words, a proxy shopping agency. They were interested in hiring an applicant with Hong Kong nationality, who was in Korea on a D4 visa, as an overseas sales representative under an E7 visa. For detailed eligibility criteria and required documents for an E7 visa overseas sales representative, please refer to the link below.
Unfortunately, the applicant was unable to prepare the required documents, especially the overseas university degree certificate and employment certificate for the E7 visa application, before the expiration date of their D4 visa. Therefore, they had to return to the Philippines and apply for a C3 visa. After returning to Korea with the C3 visa, they decided to apply for a change of status to an E7 visa.
1.The applicant, who is of Hong Kong nationality, completed their middle and high school education as well as university studies in the Philippines and possessed a permanent residence status in the Philippines.
2.All documents obtained overseas, especially the overseas university degree certificate and employment certificate required for the E7 visa application, need to be authenticated by either the Korean consulate in the respective country or an apostille if the country is a signatory to the Apostille Convention. This is necessary for these documents to be considered valid in Korea.
(1) This process can be time-consuming. Obtaining either authentication or an apostille, as well as shipping the documents to Korea, takes time, which can vary depending on the applicant's country or individual circumstances. Based on my experience, it can take anywhere from 10 days for very proactive applicants to several months in cases where the process is prolonged.
(2) In principle, for almost all visa applications, including E7, documents obtained overseas need to be authenticated by either the consulate or apostille before being submitted to immigration for processing.
Therefore, if the documents are still in transit to Korea when the applicant's visa is close to expiring, meaning they need to stay beyond their visa's expiration date to wait for all the required documents, the only option is to discuss the situation with the immigration officer.
In my case, I have previously encountered situations where I explained to the immigration officer, "Due to these circumstances, it's impossible to stay illegally, so could you please accept the application first? Once the authenticated documents arrive, we can submit them for further processing." I have had instances where the immigration officer accepted the application first and then allowed us to supplement the documents upon arrival. However, this is not consistently applied in all immigration offices. Since the principle is to submit documents authenticated by apostille or consulate for immigration purposes, there might not be much room for negotiation if they refuse to accept the application first.
※ While your visa is in the process of being authenticated does not lead to illegal stay
(3) In the applicant's case, since it was predicted that it would take more than a month to prepare and receive the required documents, they decided to leave the country and re-enter with a C3 visa to apply for a change of status to an E7 visa.
So why did the applicant choose to enter with a C3 visa and change status to E7 within Korea instead of entering with E7 visa through a confirmation of visa issuance from abroad? In my experience and subjective opinion, this is because confirmation of visa issuance applications are often scrutinized more rigorously than changing status within Korea. While it may not be unusual for an E7 visa to be denied even when all requirements are met, there may be cases where the requirements are not strong enough or the situation is not straightforward. In such cases, it's preferable to choose the option that offers more flexibility.
Now, let's address the main topic, Can you change from a C3 or B visa (visa-exempt, transit) to an E7 visa within Korea?
Now, the information I'm about to provide is not documented in the manuals. According to the manual, as shown below, and in the perception of most people and even administrative attorney, changing status from C3 to E7 is generally not allowed.
E7 Visa Change of Status General Criteria for Approval
- Foreign residents meeting the requirements for specific activity (E-7) visa categories
※ Change of status is restricted for short-term stay (B series, C series), technical training (D-3), non-professional employment (E-9), seafarer employment (E-10), and others (G-1)
To start with the conclusion, changing status from a C3 or B series visa (visa-exempt, transit) to an E7 visa is that 1.Depends on the applicant's nationality and country of origin 2.Also depends on the specific E7 job category the applicant is interested in
If the applicant's nationality does not belong to the list of 21 countries with high illegal stay rates, they may have the possibility to apply for a change of status from C3 or B visa to E7 within Korea
◆ 21 countries with high illegal stay rates ◆
China | Philippines | Indonesia | Bangladesh | Vietnam | Kyrgyzstan |
Mongolia | Thailand | Pakistan | Sri Lanka | India | Ukraine |
Myanmar | Nepal | Iran | Uzbekistan | Kazakhstan | Nigeria |
Ghana | Egypt | Peru | | | |
1.However, not all C3 visas are eligible
C3 visas are categorized from C-3-1 to C-3-11. Naturally, activities such as group tourism (C-3-2) or medical tourism (C-3-3) are subject to restrictions on changing status to E7, even if they are not from one of the 21 countries with a high rate of illegal stay 2.Additionally, not all 87 job categories under the E7 visa are eligible E7 visas are categorized as E-7-1, E-7-2, E-7-3, and E-7-4 Only those in the E-7-1 category, which includes pure professional workers in 67 job categories, can apply for a change of status within Korea. For example, occupations such as medical coordinators, hotel receptionists, and cooks fall under E-7-2 (semi-professional workers), while occupations such as shipyard welders, painters, and electricians fall under E-7-3 (ordinary skilled workers). Even if they are not from one of the 21 countries with a high rate of illegal stay, those in E-7-4 (skilled professional workers) are also subject to restrictions on changing status within Korea.