E7 Visa (Senior Corporate Executive), Foreigner, Employee Recruitment, Visa Issuance, Documents

Today, I will be posting about a case where I applied for an E7 visa issuance approval at the Suwon Immigration Office. The inviting company was a foreign-invested corporation located in Suwon, and I was in charge of visa management for their employees.

First of all, in the case of this company, I have already invited 15 foreign employees with a D8 visa.

However, for the first time today, I invited a vice president with an E7 visa. This is the first employee deemed as a foreign expert by the immigration office. Until now, the company has mostly sent employees from the headquarters or branches in other countries, so they have always invited employees with a D8 visa. ​

Of course, from the company's perspective, they could still invite more foreign employees with a D8 visa, but this time they decided to hire an executive from the Russian branch as a vice president for the Korean branch. That's why they prepared documents for an E7 visa, not a D8 visa. In other words, whether you invite with a D8 visa or an E7 visa depends on whether it's a secondment or a hire. ​ So, the Assignment Letter, which is one of the most important documents when applying for a D8 visa, becomes the Copy of Employment Contract, which is one of the most important documents when applying for an E7 visa.

The vice president who was invited this time did not have a degree. However, he had a distinguished career as an executive at famous foreign car companies that everyone knows. In other words, in line with the characteristics of foreign companies that value ability over academic credentials, he was hired as a vice president in recognition of his abilities.

When inviting employees with a D8 visa, i.e., when applying for a D8 visa issuance approval, there is no need for apostille or consular verification. I'm not exactly sure why, but I think it may be because they are companies that have invested abroad, i.e., in our country, and so they are given some kind of special treatment?

However, when inviting with an E7 visa, documents that prove the applicant's qualifications, such as a certificate of career and degree, must absolutely be apostilled or consular verified. That's the principle. In most cases, if you don't have it, not only will the application not be accepted, but the submission itself will be rejected.

※Apostille exemption applies if the annual salary is more than 3 times the GNI.

In the case of the person being invited, i.e., the vice president who was hired, the annual salary was 200 million won, so it was a case where apostille was not needed.

Now, let's look at the documents needed for the E7 visa issuance approval application.

Required documents for E7 visa issuance approval application

Preparation of documents Required documents from the applicant ​ 1. Copy of passport ​ 2. One(1) passport size photo (white background, taken within 6 months) ​ 3. Copy of resume (CV) ​ 4. University degree – The degree should be with apostille confirmation or notarization from Koran consulate (needs to be matched with the particular occupation being applied) ​ 5. Certificate of employment verification from current and previous companies – This certificate should be with apostille confirmation or notarization from Korean consulate (needs to be matched with the particular occupation being applied) ​ 6. Copy of Chinese ID Card if the applicant is Chinese *Documents not in English must be translated into English. ​ Required documents from local sponsoring office ​ 1. Copy of employment contract ​ 2. Letter of recommendation of employment from the head of state administration or a document which can prove the necessity of employment ​ 3. Original corporate tax certificate ​ 4. Original certificate of corporate tax payment ​ 5. Original local tax payment certificate ​ 6. Original Verification of Value Added Tax ​ 7. Copy of business registration ​ 8. Certificate of foreign invested company if available ​ 9. Original certificate of corporate registration ​ 10. List of employees who are registered with unemployment insurance ​ 11. Letter of Guarantee – This is required for certain occupations. ​ 12. Power of Attorney ​ 13. Application Form ​ 14. CEO’s ID copy