F-2-99 (Long-Term Resident) Korea Visa Guide | 2026

1. What F-2-99 Is

F-2-99 (기타 장기체류자) is the residual code of the residence (F-2) status — the catch-all for people granted residence on a ground that has no dedicated code of its own. It is not permanent residency (F-5), but it carries the broader stability of a residence status. The grounds behind it include the age, education and income criteria published by the Minister of Justice, investment in real estate or other assets meeting the published region, target and amount criteria, recognised special contribution to Korea or to the public interest, the spouses and qualifying children of those categories, and criteria published to support labour supply and regional revitalisation in population-decline areas.

2. Eligibility Checklist

• Granted residence status on one of the residual grounds rather than a coded route such as points-based F-2-7.
• Can prove stable lawful residence and immigration compliance history.
• Has sufficient financial or self-support evidence for review standards.
• Note on counting your residence: lawful stay is calculated including time held on short-term status, but periods spent outside Korea of 30 days or more are excluded.
• Submits complete identity, background and status-transition documentation.

3. Criteria Summary

• F-2-99 is not a pure K-point category like F-2-7.
• Review is pathway-and-compliance driven: residence continuity, legal status integrity, and supporting evidence quality.
• Manual revision notes show that family-accompaniment and condition handling can change over time.
• Always validate latest operation criteria before filing or extending.

4. Salary and Contract Rules

• F-2-99 is not employer-bound salary-threshold status like E-series work visas.
• Nonetheless, stable lawful income/self-support evidence remains important for adjudication.
• Income/tax records should be consistent with declared activity and status history.
• Unexplained income gaps or inconsistent documentation can weaken extension/change outcomes.

5. Employer and Workplace Change Rules

• Employment on F-2-99 is limited to the activities the law recognises — those permitted under short-term employment (C-4) and the work statuses from professor (E-1) through crew employment (E-10), plus working visit (H-2).
• WHETHER YOU NEED PERMISSION DEPENDS ON STAYING IN YOUR OLD FIELD. Residence status granted on this residual ground carries a condition: you must continue the activity of the field you held immediately before, in order to work without obtaining activity-outside-status permission.
• So if you keep working in that field, you may ALSO take on the other recognised employment activities with no further permission. The manual's own example: someone on conversation instruction (E-2) who obtains this residence status and continues teaching conversation can do so freely.
• If you stop working in that prior field, the free-movement basis falls away and activity-outside-status permission is required. Check before changing field, not after.
• Any workplace or activity change must remain compliant with applicable reporting obligations.

6. Required Documents

• Application set (form, passport, ARC, photo, applicable fee proof).
• Pathway evidence supporting eligibility for F-2-99 subtype treatment.
• Financial/self-support and tax/income documentation as required.
• Residence/compliance history evidence for qualifying review period.
• Any additional immigration-office-specific supporting documents requested.

7. Fees and Processing

• F-2 change/extension fees follow official stay-fee schedules in manuals.
• Processing times vary by office load and complexity of prior status history.
• Cases with weak pathway evidence often receive supplement requests.
• Early filing and clean document sequencing reduce renewal risk near expiry.

8. Common Rejection Reasons

• Pathway conditions for F-2-99 are not sufficiently proven.
• Insufficient lawful-residence continuity or unresolved compliance issues.
• Financial/self-support documentation is weak or inconsistent.
• Application based on outdated subtype assumptions after policy/revision updates.
• Mandatory supporting documents omitted or non-acceptable in form.

9. FAQ