Invest KOREA

Those who are eligible shall be as follows: – A foreign investor who invested KRW 100 million or more to establish and operate a foreign-invested company – A person who is dispatched as an indispensable professional specialist from the overseas parent company (or a third country’s branch) of a foreign-invested company established in Korea and intending to engage in management, business administration or technology (those who are dispatched as management or a professional technician/engineer shall be included, but those who are hired in Korea shall be excluded) ※ "Indispensable professional specialist" refers to executives and senior managers that operate and manage a foreign-invested company, and professional technicians/engineers with advanced and specialized background and knowledge who have been dispatched to provide relevant technological assistance. ◎ Therefore, the representative executive from the investor's side engaging in the business and management of a foreign-invested company that has been established domestically, as well as technicians engineers that have been dispatched because of the inevitable need for technological support, are indispensable professional specialists. On the other hand, persons that provide general administrative work, technicians engineers that can be replaced with domestic hires, or direct service providers are not considered indispensable professional specialists.

In order to facilitate the domestic business activities of foreign investors in Korea, KOTRA’s Foreign Investor Support Center (FISC) provides one-stop services to Business Investment (D-8) visa holders. In particular, officials dispatched from the Minister of Justice process visa and sojourn matters on the same day of application if there are no problems with documentation and evaluation. ※Visa and sojourn services provided by FISC – Granting of status of stay, permission of change of status of stay, alien registration (re-issuance), permission of re-entry, permission of extension of period of stay, report of change in alien registration matters, report of change of place of stay, permission of activities outside the ones permitted under the current status of stay, addition or change of workplace, certificate of entry & exit, certificate of alien registration (including perusal of information) ◎ FISC also provides services for Dependent Family (F-3) members of Business Investment (D-8) visa holders. The services include alien registration, permission of change of status of stay, permission of extension of period of stay, permission of re-entry, and issuance of certificate of entry & exit and alien registration certificate.

When calculating the period of stay, the date of entry is not included, and the period is calculated from the day following the date of entry. When the date of expiration of the period of stay falls on a public holiday, the following day shall be the expiration date. If it falls on a Saturday, two days later (Monday) shall be the expiration date. ◎ For example, when a foreigner has entered the country with a Tourist/Transit (B-2, 30 days) visa on March 31, 2020, the effective period of the visa shall begin from the following day, April 1, and the expiration date of the stay shall be April 30. However, since April 30 is a public holiday (Buddha's Birthday, Thursday), the expiration date shall be the following day, May 1 (Friday). If April 30 (Buddha's Birthday) is not a Thursday but a Friday (a public holiday), the day after the following day (May 2, Monday), shall be the expiration date. ◎ On the other hand, if the foreigner has entered the country on March 31, 2020 with a Tourist/Transit (B-2, 3 months) visa, the effective stay period shall be calculated in months, and the expiration date shall be June 30, 2020. If the expiration date is a public holiday, the following day shall be the effective expiration date, while if the end of the visa period lands on a Saturday, the following Monday shall be the effective expiration date. This is because Korea’s Civil Act prescribes that if a period has been fixed by the week, month or year, the first day of such period shall not be included in the computation, and it shall be computed according to the calendar.

Korea’s status of sojourn system acts as a basic management system for foreigners' immigration and stay. A status of stay is a classification of the status of foreigners in Korea and the social activities that they can engage in, and acts as a standard for the management of foreigners' stay in Korea. ◎ As long as a foreigner who entered Korea under a certain status of stay maintains his/her permitted activities and status, his/her stay in Korea is guaranteed for the permitted period of stay. However, if a foreigner changes his/her status of stay or intends to engage in an activity other than the ones permitted under his/her current status of stay, a permission of the Minister of Justice should be obtained in advance. ◎ Most countries prescribe certain standards for foreigners’ status of stay for convenient management of foreigners entering and staying in the country, and designate foreigner’s status of stay based on such standards. ◎ A status of stay is marked with a combination of capital letters of the alphabet and numbers, and Article 12 of the Enforcement Decree of the Immigration Act (attached Table 1: Short-term stay; attached Table 2: Long-term stay) classifies the qualifications for each status of stay and the scope of permitted activities. ◎ In Korea, a short-term stay is a period of 90 days or less, and a longterm stay is a period of 91 days or longer. Foreigners intending to stay in Korea for 91 days or longer should complete alien registration within 90 days from the date of entry.

If deemed necessary, the Minister of Justice may issue a visa issuance certificate to a foreigner who intends to enter the Republic of Korea, upon application of the foreigner, before an overseas diplomatic mission issues a visa. An application for a visa issuance certificate may be filed by any person who intends to invite a foreigner to the Republic of Korea on behalf of the foreigner (Article 9 of the Immigration Act). The purpose of issuing a visa issuance certificate is to simplify the visa issuance procedure and to shorten the visa issuance period in order to enhance the convenience of foreigners and their inviters in Korea. When the visa issuance certificate is issued, the inviter sends the issuance number and documents to the foreigner living abroad. When the foreigner applies for a visa at an overseas diplomatic mission of Korea, he/she can receive the visa if he/she submits the documents and the issuance number of the certificate. ※ A foreigner who wishes to receive a visa issuance certificate must submit the application form and required documents to the immigration office with jurisdiction over the residence of the person who wishes to invite him/her. The effective period of the visa issuance certificate is three months from the date of issuance.

1. Types of visas ◎ Single-entry visa – Entry limited to one occasion within the expiration period – Expiration period: 3 months from the date of issuance ◎ Multiple-entry visa – The visa holder can enter the country on two or more occasions within the expiration date. – Expiration period: Entry is permitted for the following period from the date of issuance: ○ Multiple entry visas pertaining to Diplomat (A-1), Government Official (A-2), International Agreement (A-3): Within 3 years ○ Multiple entry visas pertaining to Visiting Employee (H-2): Within 5 years ○ Multiple entry visas issued under an agreement for the issuance of multiple entry visa: The period prescribed in the agreement ○ Other visas mostly have an expiration period of one year. 2. Classification of short-term sojourn and long-term sojourn visas ◎ Short-term sojourn visa – Short-term visas issued to foreigners who intend to stay shortterm (within 90 days): Short-term Press Coverage (C-1) Visa, Shortterm General (C-3) Visa, Short-term Employee (C-4) Visa ◎ Long-term sojourn visa – Visas issued to diplomats, foreign government officials, those exempted in accordance with international agreements (persons subject to SOFA) and their family members: Diplomat (A-1) Visa, Government Official (A-2) Visa, International Agreement (A-3) Visa – Visas that are issued to persons that can engage in employment (visa with E type sojourn status): Professor (E-1) Visa, Foreign Language Instructor (E-2) Visa, Researcher (E-3) Visa, Technical Instructor/Technician (E-4), Professional (E-5) Visa, Arts/Athlete (E-6) Visa, Foreign National of Special Ability (E-7) Visa, Seasonal Worker (E-8) Visa, Non-professional (E-9) Visa, Vessel Crew (E-10), Working Holiday (H-1) Visa, Work and Visit (H-2) Visa – Other general visas: Korean Arts and Culture (D-1) Visa, Student (D-2) Visa, Industrial Trainee (D-3) Visa, General Trainee (D-4) Visa, Longterm News Coverage (D-5) Visa, Religious Worker (D-6) Visa, Intracompany Transferee (D-7) Visa, Business Investment (D-8) Visa, International Trade (D-9) Visa, Family Visitor (F-1) Visa, Resident (F2) Visa, Dependent Family (F-3) Visa, Overseas Korean (F-4) Visa, Permanent Resident (F-5) Visa, Miscellaneous (G-1) Visa

A business specializing in environmental construction is a business that specializes in construction work related to the design and construction of air pollution prevention facilities, water quality pollution prevention facilities and noise/vibration prevention facilities. In order to engage in this business, a registration must be made at the city mayor or provincial governor's office. Foreigners or foreign corporations must also register its business specializing in environmental construction in order to conduct this business.

The Ministry of Environment has secured funds to nurture environmental companies and offers such companies funds in the form of long-term, low-interest loans, so that such funds can be invested for the promotion of green businesses, green facilities and green management in the field of green industries that contribute to solving environment and climate problems and create jobs. – The criteria for classification of an industry as an environmental industry is based on the industries and items pursuant to the "Special Classification of the Environmental Industry." If a business is conducted based on various environment-related technologies, patents, or approvals and permits, foreign-invested companies can also receive loan assistance as a domestic environment-related business.

According to the Water Environment Conservation Act, wastewater treatment business refers to the system in which business sites with low wastewater discharge volume consign the treatment of wastewater that they generate to a specialized treatment business without building their own water pollution prevention facility. – In Korea, small-scale businesses such as photograph processing facilities and plating facilities account for 91 percent of the total wastewater generating businesses, but such businesses only account for a small portion (7 percent) of the total discharged wastewater. – In this regard, the wastewater treatment business system is operated to alleviate the burden of small-scale businesses’ waste treatment costs and to effectively manage wastewater. ◎ Wastewater treatment businesses can be classified into consigned wastewater treatment businesses equipped with wastewater treatment facilities that treat consigned wastewater by regeneration, reuse, etc., and wastewater reclamation businesses that regenerate or use consigned wastewater as raw materials and materials of products.

◎ "Strategic environmental impact assessment" means an assessment conducted to determine the feasibility of a plan, the appropriateness of a site location, etc. from an environmental perspective by verifying whether the plan conforms to the relevant environmental conservation plan and by developing and analyzing alternatives to promote sustainable development of national land when it is intended to formulate a plan that has an environmental impact. ◎ The plans subject to strategic environmental impact assessment are classified into 'government plan' and 'master development plan', and are prescribed under Article 9 of the Environmental Impact Assessment Act and Table 2 of the Enforcement Decree of the same Act. – Government plan: A plan that generally indicates the basic directionsetting for, or guidelines for, the development and conservation of all or some national land (33 plans in 9 fields) – Master development plan: A plan for the designation of a particular development zone or a plan that is required to be formulated by a specific statute or regulation before formulating an implementation plan to form the basis for a standard for an implementation plan (84 plans in 16 fields) ◎ The strategic environmental impact assessment procedure is as follows: ① Prepare a strategic environment impact assessment report and request consultation – The head of the administrative agency who intends to formulate a government plan shall draw up a strategic environmental impact assessment report and request a consultation with the Minister of Environment. When requesting a consultation, he/she shall give preliminary administrative notice pursuant to the Administrative Procedures Act. – The head of the administrative agency who intends to formulate a master development plan shall draw up a draft and gather consensus from the head of the relevant administrative agency and residents of the assessed area and draw up a strategic environmental impact assessment report reflecting the consensus and request a consultation with the Minister of Environment. ◎ However, in the case of a master development plan formulated through a suggestion of a person other than an administrative agency, the person who made the suggestion shall draw up a draft and submit it to the head of the administrative agency formulating the master development plan. – The head of the administrative agency formulating the government plan or master development plan that requires approval shall draw up a strategic environmental impact assessment report and submit it to the head of the approving authority, and the head of the approving authority shall request a consultation with the Minister of Environment before approving the plan. ② Notification and implementation of matters of consultation – The Minister of Environment shall, within 30 days of receiving a request for consultation (40 days where the period is extended for unavoidable reasons), inform the details of the consultation that was conducted to the head of the relevant administrative agency. ③ Implementation of consultation matters that were notified – The head of the relevant administrative agency shall take the necessary measures to reflect the consultation matters that were reported into the relevant business plan, and report the Minister of Environment of the results.