A spouse cannot work without a separate permit, and proven Korean is often required for it. Access to entry scores 80.
Korea is recruiting skilled people rather than pushing them away. In the past 12 months we found no state pressure on foreigners living there legally: the trend is the opposite, with stable quotas for professional visas, easier work rules for spouses since April 2026 and a workation visa made permanent. Rules change prospectively with dates announced in advance, and statuses are not revoked retroactively. Raids target illegal stays, not legal residents.
The weak spots are transparency and family. The state does not publish refusal rates for work visas. The quota for low-skilled labour has been cut two years running: 165,000 in 2024, 130,000 in 2025, 80,000 in 2026. Since 2025 visas for a spouse and children can no longer be applied for inside Korea, only through a consulate abroad, and bringing the family now takes about four months. A spouse cannot work on their status alone: they need a separate permit, often with a Korean language condition.
Status holds up reasonably well if you lose your job. An E-7 holder has 30 days to find a new sponsor and must report the dismissal to immigration within 15 days. After a forced exit or a company closure you can switch to the D-10 job-seeker visa, available for up to three years since October 2025, and insured workers get unemployment benefit. A renewal filed on time lets you live and work in Korea until the decision.
Day to day, banks add friction: one account per person per bank, and new accounts come with transaction limits that are lifted once you prove what the account is for. Foreigner registration is mandatory within 90 days of arrival, and a change of address must be reported within 15 days. Children are admitted to state schools whatever their parents' status, and primary school is free. No integration courses are required to live in Korea.
The index score ignores nationality. This is what changes for citizens of specific countries.
No visa for up to 90 days for tourism, business meetings or family visits, and the stay cannot be extended. US citizens do not need a K-ETA travel authorisation until 31 December 2026.
According to the Korean Embassy in Ukraine, a visa is required to enter, but the consular fee is waived under a bilateral agreement. After that, the same work visa route as for everyone.
When we checked on 9 August 2026 we found no direct nationality restrictions on the E-7 visa: it is open to all nationalities. Under an intergovernmental agreement, visa-free entry for up to 60 days at a time and no more than 90 days in 180.
When we checked on 9 August 2026 we found no direct nationality restrictions on the E-7 visa; the procedure is the same as for everyone.
The place interval 9-17 shows where the country lands when the data is nudged and the index is recalculated. One place of difference in the table means nothing; a difference of a league means something.
The thin mark on each bar is the average across 97 countries
The strongest category here is Pressure on newcomers: 92 out of 100, against a 97-state average of 65.2. The weakest is Agency processing: 53 against 48.7. Above the world average: 7 out of 7.
All 97 states are calculated for one applicant: 35 years old, income of $2,500 and $3,856 a month before tax, passport not counted, the most accessible route that is actually in use.
Your passport, your income and your family do not change the table. They change which of its lines apply to you. A different income makes entry read differently, a family makes the family category read differently, and your passport makes everything read differently.
An E-7 decision usually takes 3-4 weeks, a renewal 7-15 working days. For in-country procedures add the immigration office appointment: about three weeks in Seoul, up to six in peak seasons.
Yes, but the bar is high. For most applicants the F-1-D workation visa requires income of twice the national average and bans local work; the D-8 investor visa starts at ₩100 million (about €63,000).
State fees are low: an E-7 visa from abroad is ₩60,000-110,000, the residence card ₩30,000 and a renewal ₩60,000. Over five years that is ₩350,000-400,000 (about $250-290) per adult.
You have 30 days to find a new sponsor or leave, and must report the dismissal within 15 days. After a forced exit you can switch to the D-10 job-seeker visa for up to three years.
Permanent residence after 5 years, or 3 years via the F-2-7 points visa, but you need income of about twice the national average and the KIIP integration programme. Citizenship only after permanent residence, so 6-7 years in practice, giving up your previous citizenship and passing TOPIK level 4 or KIIP.
The state is open to skilled workers: we found no pressure on legal residents, rules are not changed retroactively and status survives a job loss. Families have it harder: visas for relatives only through a consulate abroad, a spouse works only with a separate permit, and dual citizenship is not recognised.
97 states, 26 indicators, seven categories, 2,522 scores. Every score has a source and a source class: primary means the texts of laws and government portals; reliable secondary means reports by international organisations, tax reviews by audit firms and specialist legal publications; weak means community posts and single secondary sources. The classes add up to a confidence level for the country, and a country with low confidence gets neither a score nor a place.
Every indicator is scored against a fixed ruler, not against its neighbours. Adding new countries therefore does not move the old ones, and a change in a score means a change in policy and nothing else.
A high place does not mean a good country. It means one thing: the state machine treats newcomers predictably and by the rules. Living there may be expensive, dull or hot; that is not our question.
Checked 01/10/2026. Facts come from the country's index card and official websites.
We make mistakes and we will go on making them: policy changes faster than any database. Our answer is not a pose of infallibility but a visible trail of corrections. Every correction is published: what it was, what it became, the source and the reason for the error. The corrections log opens with the second issue, together with the first block of changes.