day, let's take a broad look at the issuance requirements and evaluation criteria for the E-7 visa.
First, let's summarize what the E-7 visa is briefly
The E-7 visa is issued when the combination of the applicant (foreigner) and the hiring company meets the requirements, and one of the 87 job categories under the E-7 visa is selected for application. In other words, the applicant and the company together must be suitable for the chosen job category
E-7 Visa has been briefly described, but, in fact, this is the core of the E-7 Visa.
Now, let's look at some real-life examples that can commonly be seen
First, let's assume that both individuals have no prior experience.
1. A Vietnamese student who graduated from a domestic 2-year college (majoring in hotel and tourism) gets employed as a group inbound coordinator at a domestic travel agency with five Korean employees.
2. A Russian student who completed a Bachelor's degree in Psychology in Russia, obtained a Master's degree in Korean Cultural Studies from a domestic graduate school, and then completed a Ph.D. in International Trade at another domestic graduate school (with only a completion certificate, as no thesis was written). If this student is employed as a marketing specialist in a company with more than 1,000 Korean employees,
which of the following scenarios is more likely to have a higher probability of obtaining an E7 visa?
If I were to express E7 visa in a shorter sentence, I would describe it as follows
What is an E7 visa? = KEYWORDS MATCHING
In the first scenario, there are no significant issues that would raise concerns for the responsible government official. While the student has a Bachelor's degree, their major matches exactly, and the need for employment is clear, as they plan to work as an inbound specialist for Vietnam using the special language Vietnamese.
Let's now consider the second scenario. Are there any matching factors at all? There are no matching factors at all, meaning that the necessity of employment is not evident. Will an E7 visa be issued simply because the application requirements are met?
※ Only the degree is recognized as education. Graduation certificates and completion certificates are not recognized. In the case of Russian student, the Master's degree is the highest level of education.
※ Meeting the application requirements means that you can submit the documents and have your E7 visa application assessed.
This is a separate issue from approval, and meeting the application requirements does not guarantee approval.
What I want to emphasize here is that whether the applicant is a Master's or Ph.D. holder and whether the company is a small or large enterprise are not the most important factors. While these factors may have some influence, what matters much more is that the keywords match.
Of course, the employment reason statement is also important. In cases where it is difficult to prove the necessity of employment based solely on the submitted documents, writing a strong employment reason statement is crucial. However, even more important than that is the need for keywords to match.
In essence, it means that the applicant's background (major and experience) must align with the field in which the hiring company operates. This aspect can easily be verified through the documents submitted (company introduction and the applicant's degree and career certificates).
In my experience, when the officials responsible for reviewing the documents
1. First, they check if the application requirements are met, i.e., whether they will reject the application or proceed with the assessment after receiving it.
2. Then, they review whether the applicant's background (major and experience) has some relevance to the company's field of work, i.e., whether the keywords match, using the submitted documents.
3. Afterward, they examine the employment reason statement.
For more information on the basic eligibility requirements for the E7 visa, please check the link below ↓
Companies hiring foreign employees under the E-7 visa can be broadly divided into Korean companies and foreign investment companies. Now, let's explore the differences when hiring foreign employees between Korean companies and foreign investment companies. ※This post is based on my experiences with numerous E-7 Visa cases, and it is not an absolute rule. E-7 visa is a professional employment visa that is fundamentally different from the E-9 visa (non-professional employment). Therefore, the most crucial aspect of E-7 visa issuance is demonstrating the need for hiring professional personnel and proving that the applicant is an indispensable professional who cannot be replaced by a Korean worker. E-7 visa is a Positive way visa and applicants must choose one of the 67 job categories that match their professional background.
※ These 67 categories fall under E-7-1 (Management and Professional) visa.
1.Hiring Foreign Employees by Korean Companies with E-7 Visa
When Korean companies hire Korean professionals, they typically look for candidates who have graduated from relevant majors, have relevant work experience, and have strong qualifications. This is entirely reasonable. However, when Korean companies hire foreign professionals, the situation and purpose are often different from when they hire Korean professionals. Moreover, many cases involve applicants with visa statuses that do not allow them to work, such as D-2 or D-10 visas. In these situations, the only legitimate way to hire a specific foreign individual is through an employment visa, specifically the E-7 visa. Through numerous meetings with company representatives, I have come to realize that the primary reason most Korean SMEs hire foreigners is not necessarily because the applicants are true professionals. (1) Hiring foreigners is more efficient than hiring Koreans for the specific job (2) They cannot find suitable Korean candidates. Instead, there are two main reasons Even if a case is not subject to rejection, the fundamental issue often lies here. Essentially, they are not hiring foreign employees because they are true professionals; they are hiring them for reasons different from the E-7 visa's intended purpose. Therefore, if an E-7 visa is denied, the root cause often lies in this discrepancy. In other words, the applicant's background (major and experience) does not align with the company's intended field. The applicant's major and experience can not be changed This situation often results in companies trying to tailor their intended field to match the applicant's qualifications. Therefore, this often leads to cases where the visa application is denied.
2.Hiring Foreign Employees by Foreign Investment Companies (Foreign-Invested Corporations) with E-7 Visa
When foreign investment companies hire foreign professionals, they generally fall into two categories
1.Hiring through employment contracts (E-7 Visa)
2.Assigning foreign professionals to Korea with dispatch orders from the head office (D-8 Visa)
Let's focus on the first case of hiring through employment contracts and obtaining an E-7 visa.
In cases where foreign investment corporations hire foreign personnel, they overwhelmingly prefer to invite foreign professionals with outstanding qualifications from overseas (confirmation of visa issuance) rather than hiring foreign students studying in Korea (changing visa status).
Most of the cases I have handled for foreign investment companies have involved inviting foreign professionals with outstanding qualifications from overseas. To date, there has not been a single case of rejection when inviting foreign professionals with outstanding qualifications from overseas.
In fact, when Korean small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) hire international students studying in Korea for E-7 visas, most of the cases have been similar to the situations described above. As a result, the processing time for E-7 visas has often been lengthy, and while there haven't been any rejections so far, I still feel anxious every time, wondering what would happen if it were rejected.
However, when foreign investment companies apply for E-7 visas, they don't worry much about the process.
This is because hiring foreign professionals is not much different from hiring Korean professionals for them.
In other words, when foreign investment companies hire through the E-7 visa, they are genuinely hiring professionals. Their qualifications, including their majors and work experience, precisely match the company's field of expertise. In most cases, their experience is so relevant that it's almost taken for granted.
Moreover, the salary level is also considered at the level of a professional.
This is quite different from hiring foreigners in Korean companies, where there is a minimum salary requirement (precisely GNI 80% = monthly salary of 2.7 million won) for E-7 visa application.
The E-7 visa can be challenging, but it is gradually being improved and relaxed, considering the urgent need for foreign employment by domestic employers. We can hope for further improvements in the future.
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