F-2-R (Regional-Specialized Talent) Korea Visa Guide | 2026

1. What F-2-R Is

F-2-R is the principal status of Korea's 지역특화형 비자 (Regional Specialized Visa) program, run under 출입국관리법 제25조의2 and 시행령 별표1의2 거주(F-2) 파목. It exists to steer foreign residents into population-declining regions (인구감소지역) that a metropolitan/provincial government (광역지자체) has enrolled in the program, in exchange for streamlined status-change, extension, and stay-period rules. F-2-R holders get a local-government recommendation (추천서), then change status from an existing legal stay, committing to 5+ years of residence and work/business activity inside the recommending region.

2. Eligibility Checklist

• Base eligibility table: (1) recommendation letter from the relevant 광역지자체 head; (2) either a domestic associate degree or higher, OR annual income at/above that province's living wage (생활임금); (3) 5+ years of residence plus employment or business activity in the recommended region; (4) 사회통합프로그램 3단계 이상 이수 (or 사전평가 4단계) OR TOPIK 3급 이상 — note: a later detailed subsection in the same manual states a HIGHER bar for this same item, 사회통합프로그램 4단계 이상 / TOPIK 4급 이상, which conflicts with the summary table above; treat the summary-table figures (Step 3 / TOPIK 3) as the headline requirement but flag this internal inconsistency before relying on either number in a filing.
• Employment terms once qualified: contracted salary at/above the province's 생활임금 and at/above minimum wage, employment starting within 3 months of application, contract term of 1+ year, employer must be current on national/local tax; max employable F-2-R headcount scales with the employer's Korean-employee count (e.g. 3 people if 1-5 Korean employees, 50% of Korean headcount for 6-50, tapering to a flat 50-person cap above 151).
• A time-limited 'population-decline small-business hiring exception' (지역활력 소상공인 고용특례, pilot running '26.5.18–'27.12.31) lets a qualifying small business or agricultural corporation with zero Korean employees still hire 1 F-2-R worker, if it meets business-age (3+ years operating), revenue (KRW 100M+ prior year, or 2-year average), and sector restrictions (manufacturing/wholesale-retail/restaurant for small businesses; any sector for agricultural corporations).
• Entrepreneur route requires KRW 200M+ investment, at least a stated portion of which must be capital genuinely brought in from abroad (exact split figure blank in extracted text) — investment-fund sourcing rules otherwise track the D-8-1 (corporate) or D-9-4 (individual business owner) requirements.
• For the first 2 years after the status change, the holder must reside AND work/run their business inside the recommended region (some regions allow residence/work-location splits under lettered exception types A-D); after 2 years, relocation is allowed within the same metropolitan/provincial jurisdiction to another population-declining area.
• Existing 숙련기능인력(E-7-4) holders can convert to F-2-R only after 3+ years on E-7-4, if either staying with the current employer or having an employment contract ending within a stated window; 지역특화 숙련기능인력(E-7-4R) holders need 2+ years on E-7-4R plus residence in a population-declining (not just population-decline-adjacent) area.
• Program is actively current: HiKorea revision-log entries for '26.5.21 ('지역특화형 비자 지침 개정사항 반영') and '26.7.31 ('지역특화형 비자 업무처리 지침 개정사항 반영') both touched this program, and it did not exist on this site before this pass.

3. Criteria Summary

• F-2-R is not a points-based category.
• The definition above is taken from the manual's own wording for this code.
• Numeric thresholds, stay periods and fees are set in the manual's tables and annexes and are deliberately not reproduced here — confirm the current figures before filing.
• Where a rule depends on another status, check that status's own criteria too; several of these codes take their conditions from a principal holder.

4. Salary and Contract Rules

• The manual does not attach a salary or contract framework to this code specifically.
• Where income or financial capacity is assessed, it is evidenced with the documents named under that requirement rather than against a published floor.
• If your circumstances involve employment, verify separately whether this status authorises it — several of these categories do not.
• Do not assume the salary rules of a neighbouring code apply; they are set per status.

5. Employer and Workplace Change Rules

• Employer sponsorship is not the organising basis of this code.
• Any economic activity must fall within what the status authorises; where it does not, activity-outside-status permission is the mechanism.
• Report changes of circumstance that bear on the ground for the status.
• Keep the evidence that established eligibility available for extension reviews.

6. Required Documents

• Application form, passport, standard photograph and the fee.
• Evidence establishing the ground on which this status is claimed, as described above.
• Residence and identity documents as required at the counter.
• Any further documents the reviewing office considers necessary.

7. Fees and Processing

• Fees follow the published schedule for the application type rather than the subtype.
• Processing time varies by office workload and by how clearly the qualifying ground is evidenced.
• Where a principal holder's status governs the period granted, the principal's expiry date is the practical constraint.
• Apply with margin before any existing permission expires.

8. Common Rejection Reasons

• The qualifying ground for this specific code is not established by the evidence.
• The circumstances fit a neighbouring code better, making this a category mismatch.
• Supporting documents are incomplete, inconsistent, or out of date.
• An underlying condition the status depends on has ceased to apply.
• Unresolved immigration compliance history.

9. FAQ