The F-2 visa is Korea's long-term resident visa — a step up from work or study visas, granting near-permanent residency rights with broad employment freedom. Unlike E-7 which ties the holder to a specific employer, F-2 lets the holder change jobs, start businesses, and live in Korea with minimal restrictions. It is also the gateway to F-5 (permanent residency). The most common F-2 path is F-2-7, the points-based long-term residency visa. This guide covers the point system, the five subcategory paths, and which documents need translation.

Five F-2 subcategories

F-2 has several specific subcategories:

F-2-1 — Spouse or child of a Korean national (less common nowadays; replaced by F-6 for spouses).
F-2-2 — Long-term resident of Korean descent (similar to F-4 but with different path).
F-2-3 — Spouse or child of permanent resident (F-5 holder).
F-2-6 — Refugee / humanitarian status holder.
F-2-7 — Long-term resident on points-based system. Most common path for skilled foreigners. Requires accumulating points from income, education, language, age, and other factors.

For most readers, F-2-7 is the relevant path — it does not require Korean ancestry or marriage to a Korean.

The F-2-7 point system

F-2-7 awards points across multiple categories. Minimum 80 points required to qualify; up to 130 points possible. Categories:

Income — Korean-declared annual income drives the largest share. KRW 30M+ baseline, scaling up to 50+ points at KRW 100M+.
Education — bachelor's (10 pts), master's (15 pts), doctorate (20 pts), bonus for Korean universities (+5 pts).
Korean language — TOPIK level 5+ (15 pts), level 6 (20 pts), KIIP completion (additional 10 pts).
Age — 25–34 peak; older or younger applicants score less.
Continuous residence in Korea — 5+ years required minimum; additional points for longer.
Special skills / professional certifications — bonus for engineering, healthcare, science, education.

The 80-point threshold roughly equates to: bachelor's degree + 5 years of E-7 work + TOPIK 4 + KRW 50M income. Higher income, advanced degrees, or top language proficiency raise the score.

Required documents

For F-2-7 application, you typically need:

Passport copy — usually no translation.
Current visa status documents — already in Korean.
Income proof — 소득금액증명원 from NTS for the last 3 tax years (in Korean). See translate-korean-income-certificate-tax-visa.
Educational credentials — diplomas and transcripts. Korean university docs in Korean; foreign degrees translated to Korean. See translate-korean-academic-records for parallel guidance.
TOPIK certificate if claiming language points — already in Korean.
Korean residence record (주민등록등본 or 외국인등록 사실증명) — already in Korean.
Continuous residence proof — visa stamps in passport plus residence records.
Marriage certificate if including spouse on F-2 dependents — translated to Korean if foreign.
Family relations if including children — usually 가족관계증명서 from Korea (already in Korean).
Police clearance — usually from the country of origin if not in Korea long enough; translate to Korean.

For applicants who have been in Korea for 5+ years on E-7 or D-2/D-10 → E-7 transition, most documents are already in Korean. Translation is mainly needed for:

Foreign educational credentials (if not yet translated for E-7)
Foreign police clearance (if recently obtained from abroad)
Foreign marriage/family documents (for dependents)

KIIP integration program

The Korea Immigration and Integration Program (KIIP, 사회통합프로그램) provides language and culture training. KIIP completion adds points to F-2-7:

KIIP 5-stage completion: +10 points
KIIP 5 + final test pass: counts as language proficiency

KIIP is offered by HiKorea-designated institutions across Korea. Completion takes 6–12 months part-time. For applicants close to the 80-point threshold, KIIP can be the deciding factor.

What to translate

For the F-2-7 application package, translation is needed for foreign-origin documents that are not already in your file:

Foreign university diploma and transcript — if you have not yet translated them for E-7 or another previous visa
Foreign marriage certificate — if your spouse is foreign and you are adding them as a dependent
Foreign children's birth certificates — if including children as dependents
Foreign police clearance — if you have lived abroad for substantial time before Korea or if Immigration requests it

Korean-origin documents (income, residence, family relations) do not need translation because they are already in Korean.

How ZenTrans handles F-2-7 document translation

ZenTrans translates foreign documents into Korean for F-2 submission:

Foreign academic records render in Korean academic style
Foreign marriage and birth certificates preserve seals and registrar information
Foreign police clearance maintains issuing authority info
15 source languages supported, including English, Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Indonesian, Arabic

A typical F-2-7 applicant who has been in Korea for years may need very little translation — just any new foreign documents (marriage cert, new police check). Processing is usually under 30 minutes.

Step-by-step

Check your point total using HiKorea's calculator (available online).
If short of 80 points, consider: more years of work, KIIP completion, TOPIK upgrade, professional certifications.
Gather Korean-side documents — income certs, residence record, current visa status.
Translate foreign documents to Korean using ZenTrans.
File F-2-7 application at HiKorea with all documents.
Wait 4–8 weeks for processing. Status remains current visa during review.
Receive F-2 status — initially 5 years, renewable.

Frequently asked questions

How long does F-2 last? Initially 5 years, renewable indefinitely. After 5 years on F-2 (i.e., 10 years total in Korea with the last 5 on F-2), applicants are eligible for F-5 permanent residency.

Can I work in any role on F-2? Yes — F-2 allows virtually any employment, business ownership, or freelance work in Korea.

Can F-2 holders sponsor family for visa? Yes — spouses and minor children can join on F-2 dependent status.

My TOPIK level dropped this year. Will I lose points? TOPIK is valid for 2 years from the test date. Re-take if expired; the new score replaces the old.

Can I include my foreign-born child on my F-2 application? Yes — bring the child's foreign birth certificate (translated to Korean) and prove the parent-child relationship through 가족관계증명서 or equivalent.

The F-2 visa is the long-term residency status most foreign professionals in Korea aim for. By the time most applicants reach the 80-point threshold, their document base in Korea is robust — translation is mostly for new foreign documents (marriage, dependents, new police check). Clean translation of those few items removes the final friction in the application.

Ready to translate your F-2 dependent or foreign documents? Open ZenTrans and upload your first document — the first 5 pages are free.