D-7
& D-8 Visa - Destination to South Korea
At
a time when companies get their employees to travel to one of their associated
offices in South Korea, there are two types of visas that they can select from,
for their visiting employees; the D-7 visa and the D-8 visa.
There
are a lot of questions to the tune of why some immigrants to Korea have the D-7 visa whereas others have the D-8 visa. In this article, we take a look at
the main characteristics of both these types of visas so that it is easy to know
which visa is suitable in what kind of situation.
Identifying the Type of
Local Entity
Once
a company has been established in Korea, it is issued a document that states
the nature of the setup; a branch office or a foreign-invested company. In the
case of a branch office, it would be required to get a ‘permission for the
establishment of the branch office’ or an ‘acceptance of the declaration of the
branch’.
Apart
from that, if the established entity is a ‘foreign-invested company’ would
require a ‘certificate of foreign-invested company’. Apart from the investor,
the employee of the investor company is also eligible for the D-8 visa. Thus to
understand it better, the D-7 visa is a transferee to the branch and the D-8
visa is a transferee to the foreign-invested company.
These
are the certificates that tell the companies whether they should be processing
the D-7 visa or the D-8 visa for their employees, who are on the way to Korea.
This means it important to keep these documents kept safely since they are
necessary to get the D-7 or D-8.
The
D-7 visa is known as ‘Intra-Company-Transferee’ and the D-8 visa is known as
‘Corporate/Foreign Investor by Korea’s immigration office.
D-7: Employee Transfer to
Branch or Liaison Office in Korea
Once
a company establishes its branch or liaison office in Korea, the next step would be
to allocate an employee to the new premises. For this, the establishment of a branch
office or a copy of acceptance of declaration decides that D-7 is the visa
applicable in this case.
Routine Employee
Condition
The
employee to be transferred to the branch office in Korea must have at least one
year of working experience in the head office or other associate offices.
Nevertheless, this criterion can be excluded, subject to proving that more than
USD 500,000 of operating funds have been transferred from the head office to
the established branch. Proof such as a copy of the foreign currency transfer
from the bank can solve the purpose.
Usually,
the initial fund transfer to the branch office is not as much as USD 500,000.
Therefore, the 1-year employment condition becomes mandatory.
Routine Branch Office
Condition
The
immigration manual does not state the routine conditions for the branch office.
To put it differently, the branch office or the liaison office has no special
condition attached. However, there are a few documents that are often ignored
in this case. These are an employment certificate from the head office, an
assignment letter and a proof of foreign currency transfer.
The
head office is supposed to make the employment certificate and the assignment
letter. The copy of permission for establishment of the branch office displays
the name of the head office. Only that company is seen as the head office by
the immigration office and it will reject the assignment letter and employment
certificate, if issued by another company.
The
proof of foreign currency transfer is also required to be submitted to the
immigration office. This is because according to them some fund is essential
for the initial operations of a branch office. However, if the branch office can
prove that it is making enough profit, the proof of foreign currency is not
required.
D-7 Visa Process
The
routine process for a D-7 visa is to get a confirmation done on the issue of
visa in Korea, before the employee steps into the country. An application for
the confirmation of visa issuance must be first submitted to the immigration
office in Korea.
In
the usual circumstances, the confirmation of visa issuance number is issued in
2 weeks. This is a type of pre-authorization number. Following this, the
employee must apply for a visa sticker at the Korean consulate outside Korea.
This sticker can be obtained in 4 to 7 days from the consulate.
Finally,
when the employee steps into Korea with the visa sticker, he must apply for the
Alien Registration Card at the appropriate immigration office. The Alien
Registration Card can be obtained 2 weeks after the application is submitted.
D-8: Employee Transfer to
Foreign-Invested Company in Korea
If
a company seeks to send its employee to a foreign-invested company in Korea,
the employee will need to apply for the D-8 visa. The ‘Certificate of Foreign
Invested Company’ is the formal paper from the local bank.
D-8 Visa Application
The
application of the D-8 visa can happen in one of the two ways: by a change of
visa status or through a consular process (visa issuance confirmation). The
change of visa status is permitted for very few visa types, therefore this
works in favor of the D-8 visa.
Visa Issuance
Confirmation
For
visa issuance confirmation, the local associated company must apply for the
visa issuance confirmation at Korea’s immigration office. Once the immigration
office allocates the visa issuance number, an application must be filed for the
actual visa at a Korean consulate that is outside Korea. The employee can then
enter Korea with the visa and apply for the Alien Registration Card at the
appropriate immigration office.
Change of Visa Status
When
the change of visa status is opted for, the employee does not need a long-term
visa to enter Korea. Foreigners from a country that has signed a visa waiver
agreement with Korea do not even need an entry visa to land in the country.
However,
for foreigners from other countries, a short-term visa is required to serve as
an entry visa. After the employee is in Korea without a visa, the next thing
for him/her is to go to the appropriate immigration office for a change of visa
status from a visitor to a D-8 visa holder. Simultaneously, an application for
the Alien Registration Card can be filed.
Conclusion
To know how the
D-7 visa and the D-8 visa differ from each other, one must be aware of the visa
system of South Korea. A visa issuance confirmation lowers the risk of the
recipient having to leave Korea due to the visa being denied, though the visa
is rarely denied unless the conditions are not met.
The change of
visa status, on the other hand, can make the visa process shorter by skipping
the need to go through the consular process.
We can make the
entire process much simpler and streamlined for you. Contact us to help you turn
your Korea vision into reality.
