F-2-7 Points Visa: The Route from Student to Long-Term Resident in Korea

"I want to stay in Korea after I graduate. Not just for one job, but properly. What is the path?"

For a lot of graduates the answer runs through F-2-7: a residence status awarded on a points table rather than tied to a single employer.

GoKorea Study is not an agency. We do not place students or sell visas. This guide is free information in simple English, based on official immigration information. Immigration rules change, so verify on HiKorea, Korea Immigration, or the current Ministry of Justice notice before acting.

This article is information only. It is not legal or immigration advice.

The Short Answer

F-2-7 is "Residence by Points System" (거주, 점수제 우수인재). You must already be living in Korea legally, fall into one of five eligible groups, and score at least 80 points on the official table.

The current standard is Ministry of Justice Notice No. 2025-408, a partial amendment effective 2025-10-24. It sets the 80-point pass mark, defines the eligible groups, and fixes the table at a maximum of 170 recognised points: 130 basic plus 40 bonus, minus deductions of up to 70. Applications received before that date are judged under the previous notice.

What F-2-7 gives you is the thing E-series work visas do not: you can work freely and change jobs without a new employer-tied permit.

Why It Matters More Than It Sounds

On an E-7 work visa your status is attached to your employer. Changing jobs means a new sponsorship and a new application, and leaving a job puts your stay at risk. That single fact shapes a lot of early-career decisions for foreign professionals in Korea: people stay in roles they have outgrown, accept conditions they would not otherwise accept, and time their job searches around visa expiry rather than opportunity.

F-2 residence removes that dependency. It is issued for up to five years per grant and is renewable, and in practice it is the step most people take before F-5 general permanent residence, which typically becomes reachable after around five years of qualifying residence.

The Five Eligible Groups

Under Notice 2025-408:

1. Listed-company professionals. Employees of KOSPI or KOSDAQ-listed companies working as managers or professionals.
2. Advanced-industry and high-tech workers whose annual income is at least 1.5x per-capita GNI. Which fields count is tied to a separate Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy notice.
3. Established professionals. People who have held an E-1 to E-7 or D-5 to D-9 visa (excluding E-6-2 and E-7-2/E-7-3/E-7-4) and have lived legally in Korea for three or more continuous years while meeting extension conditions.
4. Study talent. Holders of a master's degree or higher from a regular Korean university program who take a professional job (E-1 to E-7 or D-5 to D-9, with the same exclusions) within five years of graduation. This group also covers talent from Korean War participant countries holding a Korean bachelor's degree with a central-government recommendation.
5. Potential talent. Master's and doctoral graduates, under conditions set in the notice.

Group 4 is the students' door. If you complete a master's or doctorate in Korea and move into professional employment within five years, you are looking at the shortest realistic route to F-2-7.

Notice what the five groups have in common: every one of them assumes you are already inside Korea, already in a recognised status, and already either employed or freshly graduated. Group membership is the gate you pass before the points are even counted. Scoring 80 points while belonging to no group gets you nothing.

The Typical Path from a Student Visa

The route most graduates actually walk:

D-2 → D-10 → E-7 → F-2-7 → F-5

• D-2: your degree.
• D-10: job-seeking status after graduation, which buys you time to find professional work.
• E-7: professional employment, employer-sponsored.
• F-2-7: points-based residence, employer-independent.
• F-5: general permanent residence, typically after about five years of qualifying stay.

The study-talent route can compress this. A Korean master's into a professional job can lead toward F-2-7 without the long professional-track waiting period that Group 3 requires. Compare the two doors side by side:

A bachelor's graduate who goes straight to E-7 is on the Group 3 clock and needs the three continuous years. A master's graduate in the same job is on the Group 4 clock and does not.

What Earns Points

The table is published in the notice. Broadly, points come from age, education, Korean ability, income, work experience in Korea, and bonus categories such as volunteering or recommendations. Deductions apply for things like immigration violations.

Two things worth knowing before you plan around it:

There is no hard TOPIK floor. Korean ability adds points; it is not a separate pass/fail gate. Applicants often assume a specific level is mandatory. It is not, but points are points, and Korean is one of the more controllable ways to earn them.

Points peak in the 25 to 29 age band. Age scoring is not linear, and being outside the peak band means you need to make it up elsewhere.

The practical reading of the table is that most categories are fixed by the time you apply. Your age is what it is. Your degree is finished. Your income is whatever your contract says. The categories you can still move in the year before applying are Korean ability and the bonus items, which is why people who plan for F-2-7 tend to be sitting a TOPIK exam or completing KIIP in the twelve months beforehand.

Documents You Will Actually Need

• Passport, application for change of status, and your alien registration card
• Income certificate (소득금액증명) from the tax office, proving last year's taxable income
• Degree certificate (학위증) if you are claiming education or study-talent points
• TOPIK or KIIP (사회통합프로그램) completion certificate if claiming Korean-language points
• Employment contract or proof of employment
• Supporting documents for bonus points: volunteer records, recommendation letters
• Application fee

The income certificate is the one people get wrong. Informal proof of earnings does not substitute for the tax office document, and "last year's taxable income" means a full tax year on record. Someone who started work in November has very little to show in January, which is a timing question rather than an eligibility one.

Where Applications Go Wrong

Confusing F-2-7 with F-2-T. Top-Tier is a separate track with different criteria. The K-STAR track introduced in December 2025 is also a different F-2 pathway, not F-2-7.

Assuming a mandatory TOPIK level. There is no hard floor.

Trying to apply from overseas. F-2-7 is a domestic change of status, so you must already be in Korea legally.

Claiming income informally. Use 소득금액증명.

Missing the three-year continuity requirement on the professional route (Group 3). "Three years in Korea" and "three continuous years of legal stay meeting extension conditions" are not the same thing. A gap in status, or an extension refused for any reason, resets the count.

Letting the five-year window close. On the study-talent route the clock starts at graduation. A graduate who spends years on D-10 and short contracts before landing a professional job can find the window has closed before the application is ready.

Plan It From Year One, Not From Graduation

If staying in Korea long term is the goal, the decisions that matter start early:

• Degree level. A master's opens the study-talent door that a bachelor's alone does not.
• Korean. It adds points, and it decides which jobs are open to you in the first place.
• A clean record. Immigration violations deduct heavily. Working without the part-time permit as a student is not a small thing here.
• Timing. The study-talent route runs on a five-year window after graduation.

Read those four together and a pattern appears. The student who arrives on D-2 for a master's, keeps the part-time permit in order, sits TOPIK before the final year, and moves to a professional job within a reasonable time of graduating has done most of the F-2-7 work before ever opening the application form. The student who decides at graduation that they want to stay is starting from behind on every line.

Verify Before You Apply

The governing document is the current Ministry of Justice notice, and the points table inside it is what your case is scored against. HiKorea publishes the procedural guidance.

Because the notice was amended in October 2025, be careful with older guides, including forum answers and agency pages that predate it.

자주 묻는 질문 (FAQ)

Do I need a specific TOPIK level for F-2-7? No. Korean ability adds points but there is no mandatory floor.

Can I apply for F-2-7 straight after graduating? Not directly from student status alone. The study-talent route requires a master's or higher plus professional employment, taken up within five years of graduation.

Can I change jobs on F-2-7? Yes. That is the main practical advantage over E-series work visas.

How long is F-2-7 valid? Up to five years per grant, renewable. Offices may issue a shorter initial period.

Does F-2-7 lead to permanent residence? It is the usual step before F-5 general permanent residence, typically after around five years of qualifying residence.

I have a Korean bachelor's degree, not a master's. Which group am I in? Unless you fall under the Korean War participant country provision, a bachelor's alone does not open the study-talent door. You would be on the professional route (Group 3) once you hold a qualifying work status, which means the three continuous years of legal stay apply.

Internal links: D-10 job seeking visa · D-2 to E-7 work visa · D-2 visa subtypes · Korean student visa full guide · Part-time work permit Lead magnet CTA: Student Visa Checklist → GoKorea Insider Data source: 04-data/visa-guides/visa-guides.csv (F-2-7 row) · 법무부고시 제2025-408호 (2025-10-24 시행) · HiKorea