E-8 Seasonal Employment Visa Korea — Who Can Apply, the Five Routes & What to Expect

Before 2025, short-term seasonal agricultural and fishery workers could also enter Korea under the C-4 (short-stay employment) subtypes C-4-1 through C-4-4 — one program split across two axes: which sector (agriculture for C-4-1/C-4-2, fishery for C-4-3/C-4-4) and who recommended the worker (an MOU-partner foreign local government for C-4-1/C-4-3, or a marriage migrant sponsoring a relative for C-4-2/C-4-4). These allowed up to 90 days of seasonal work on a single-entry visa, under a municipality-filed process.

Those four codes are no longer issued. The current visa-issuance manual states that C-4-1~4 visa issuance stopped from 2025, and its former line allowing up to 90 days of C-4 seasonal employment is struck through. The manual still prints the old C-4-1~4 CCVI (Certificate of Visa Eligibility) procedure, which is why you may still see the codes referenced, but new seasonal workers are invited under E-8, which allows up to 8 months. Non-seasonal short-term work (lectures, performances, technical assignments and similar) still uses C-4, under the code C-4-5.

E-8 is not individually applied for — a Korean local government (a city, county or district — 시·군·구) must file your invitation. The visa-issuance manual's E-8 table lists nine codes, which come down to five routes. In each one the worker, once in Korea, works for up to 8 months.

Route 1 — MOU between a Korean and a foreign local government (E-8-1 farm work, E-8-3 fishery work) A Korean local government signs a Memorandum of Understanding on seasonal labour with a foreign local government. The foreign local government selects workers from among its own residents and recommends them to the Korean local government, which allocates them to a farm (E-8-1) or a fishing household (E-8-3) and files the invitation (the Certificate of Visa Eligibility application).

Route 2 — Relatives of a marriage migrant (E-8-2 farm work, E-8-4 fishery work) A marriage migrant staying in Korea (the manual includes those who have since acquired Korean nationality) can recommend relatives living abroad to the local government as seasonal workers. The visa manual prints the scope as relatives within the 4th degree of kinship (4촌 이내) and their spouses, but the Ministry of Justice announced a narrowing to the 2nd degree from 2026, and local governments' 2026 notices take new recommendations only within the 2nd degree (such as parents, children and siblings, with their spouses). Relatives within the 4th degree who already came under this route can still be re-invited. The local government then allocates the worker to a farm or fishing household and files the invitation.

Route 3 — Re-entry after seasonal work on G-1-19 status (E-8-5 farm work, E-8-6 fishery work) For a foreigner who took part in seasonal farm or fishery work while holding G-1-19 (기타, miscellaneous) status, the employer recommends re-employment to the Korean local government. The local government allocates the worker to a farm or fishing household and files the invitation.

Route 4 — Parents of a D-2 student (E-8-7 farm work, E-8-8 fishery work) A D-2 (university-track) student who meets the programme's requirements can ask a Korean local government to invite their parents as seasonal workers. The local government allocates the parent to a farm or fishing household and files the invitation. The issuance manual names only D-2 students for this route, not D-4 language trainees.

Route 5 — Support staff such as language-communication helpers (E-8-99) When a foreign local government sends staff for management purposes, such as language-communication helpers (언어소통 도우미), it applies to the Korean local government, which checks points such as whether their entry is needed and then files the invitation. The manual lists the work field for this code as other (기타) rather than farm or fishery.

Apart from E-8-99 support staff (language-communication helpers and similar, whose work field the manual lists as other, 기타), E-8 holders may only work in: • Agriculture (농업): Crop cultivation and harvesting, greenhouse operations, fruit picking, and directly linked primary processing • Fishery (어업): Primary processing of seafood (for example drying laver and anchovies, sorting and shucking oysters) and harvesting at the seaweed, shellfish and sea-squirt farms on the manual's list. Going to sea as fishing-vessel crew is not E-8 work

All work must be at the specific farm or fishing household designated by the local government. E-8 holders cannot change worksites without local government approval.

• Maximum stay: Up to 8 months. The manual sets the upper limit of a single grant at 8 months and states that total stay cannot exceed 8 months; every E-8 code is a single-entry visa • Extension: Possible only within that 8-month total. The request goes through the local government: 60 to 40 days before your stay expires it applies to the immigration office on your behalf; inside the last 40 days you get its extension recommendation letter and apply at the immigration office in person • Re-entry: Eligible E-8 workers can be re-invited in subsequent seasons through the same pathway • Work location: Fixed to the designated employer. Adding a second workplace is not allowed. A change of workplace is possible only where the employer's fault ended the contract early, or by agreement between employer and worker before alien registration • Labour contract standard (from January 2026): The employing farm or fishing operation must use a contract template approved by the Ministry of Employment and Labour, specifying wages (minimum wage or above), hours, rest days, accommodation terms, and safety obligations

• Construction work — even during busy seasons, construction requires E-9 or other work visas • Factory or manufacturing work — requires E-9 EPS • Service industry seasonal work (tourism, hospitality, etc.) — not covered by E-8 • Working for multiple employers — you are assigned to one specific operation • White-collar work of any kind

If you or a family member in Korea wants to access seasonal work outside these categories, the relevant pathway is E-9 EPS through HRD Korea, not E-8.