The F-2 Visa Points System Explained: How Teachers Actually Get Long-Term Residency

Disclaimer: This guide is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal or immigration advice. The F-2-7 scoring table is set by the Ministry of Justice and is revised periodically, and individual applications are assessed by immigration officers against the table in force on the application date. The point values and income bands described here follow the official score sheet issued with the application form, supported by Korean practitioner sources published in 2026, and should still be checked against the version of the form handed out at the time of applying. Confirm requirements with the Immigration Contact Center on 1345 or a licensed immigration practitioner (행정사).

Category: Life in Korea | Reading time: ~18 minutes | Last updated: September 2026

This guide covers: who is eligible to apply for the points-based F-2-7 residence visa, the full scoring table band by band, four worked examples using realistic teacher figures, the single income threshold that moves a score by 20 points, whether TOPIK or the government integration program is the faster route, what the application requires, and what comes after F-2.

Companion piece: the guide comparing the E-2, F-2, and D-10 visas covers how the three statuses connect and when to move between them. This guide is the detailed version of the points table inside it.

Can a teacher actually get an F-2 visa?

Short answer: Yes. The most common misconception is that the points-based F-2-7 visa is for corporate professionals and out of reach on a teaching salary. In practice a teacher in their twenties or thirties with a bachelor's degree can reach the 80-point pass mark once Korean language ability is added, because age, education, and a normal academy salary already supply most of the total.

The F-2-7 is worth the effort because it changes the relationship with employers entirely. It is not tied to one sponsor, so it permits changing jobs, working for more than one employer, and working outside teaching, and it is the standard route toward permanent residency.

What the numbers look like

The pass mark is 80 out of a possible 170. That framing matters: nobody needs a high score, only a passing one.

Who is eligible to apply

Short answer: Four applicant groups qualify. The one that applies to teachers is the professional worker route: holders of statuses from E-1 through E-7-1, or D-5 through D-9, with at least three years of continuous lawful residence, which is waived where annual income reaches ₩40 million or more.

The four categories described in 2026 practitioner guidance are:

E-2 conversation instructor status falls inside the E-1 to E-7 range, so a teacher applies under the professional worker route.

What the three years means in practice: three continuous years of lawful residence on qualifying status as of the application date. For a teacher on annual contracts, that is typically reached partway through a fourth contract year, and time spent on D-2 student status or D-10 job seeker status can count toward the total in some circumstances.

The ₩40 million waiver rarely helps teachers. An academy salary of ₩2.5 million a month is ₩30 million a year, well short of the threshold. The three-year route is the realistic one.

Practical tip: Three years is a requirement, not a countdown to start thinking about. The language ability that decides most teacher applications takes longer than three years to build if it starts in year three.

The scoring table, band by band

Age: up to 25 points

The drop between 39 and 40 is the steepest in the whole table, at eight points. The drop from 34 to 35 costs three, and from 29 to 30 costs two.

Practical tip: For anyone approaching 40, the age band is the strongest argument for applying sooner rather than waiting for a better income year. Eight points is the difference between two TOPIK levels.

Education: up to 25 points

A bachelor's degree in a non-STEM field, which describes most English teachers, scores 15. Holding two degrees moves that to 17.

Korean ability: up to 20 points

Scored on the higher of a TOPIK level or a completed level of the Korea Immigration and Integration Program (KIIP, 사회통합프로그램).

This is the category teachers control, and the reason most successful applications succeed. Moving from nothing to TOPIK 4 is 15 points, and moving to TOPIK 5 is 20.

Annual income: up to 60 points

Income is the largest single category and the one where teaching salaries fall short of the top bands. These are the bands as printed on the official score sheet:

Two features of this table matter more than the headline maximum. The bands above ₩40 million are compressed, with only 20 points separating ₩40 million from ₩100 million. The bands at the bottom are not: the step from the lowest band to the next is worth 20 points on its own.

The ₩30 million cliff is the most important number in this guide. Crossing from just under ₩30 million to ₩30 million moves the score from 10 points to 30 points. That is a 20-point swing, worth more than the entire gap between TOPIK 1 and TOPIK 5, and it turns on a difference of a few hundred thousand won a year.

At a monthly salary of ₩2.5 million, annual income is ₩30 million and the higher band applies. At ₩2.4 million a month, annual income is ₩28.8 million and it does not.

Practical tip: Income is proven with the official income amount certificate (소득금액증명원), which reflects only income already finalized through tax filing for the previous year. A raise agreed this year does not appear on the certificate yet, so a salary increase needs to happen roughly a year before the application to count. Anyone planning an F-2-7 application should be thinking about the year that will be certified, not the salary currently being paid.

Bonus items: up to 40 points recognized

The official score sheet lists five bonus categories. The total recognized is capped at 40 points however many apply.

The paired figures in the degree rows are the top-ranked university value first and the Korean university value second. A bachelor's degree from a top-ranked university is worth 15 bonus points, and one from a Korean university is worth 5.

Two of these are realistically available to teachers. Integration program level 5 is worth 10 bonus points on top of the 20 it earns in the language category, which is why the same course is scored twice. The university ranking bonus applies to degrees already held, so it costs nothing to claim, and it is the reason the application checklist asks for a ranking list with the applicant's university marked.

Practical tip: Volunteer service is the slowest bonus to earn and the easiest to lose. Three years of documented service is worth 7 points, one to two years is worth 1. A teacher volunteering casually without records has nothing to submit, so formal confirmation from the organization matters from the first year.

Deductions

The score sheet itself covers common items and bonuses. A separate schedule of deductions applies for immigration violations and criminal penalties, and practitioner guidance describes immigration fines totaling ₩3 million or more within three years as disqualifying rather than merely costly.

This is a reason to take small compliance matters seriously years before applying. Late address change reports, unreported workplace changes, and unauthorized private teaching all carry fines, and fines carry consequences here.

How the sheet is actually filled in

The score table is form 1 of the application, and it is submitted with the applicant's own boxes ticked in each category. It carries a declaration above the tables stating that no disqualifying grounds apply and that the entries and submissions are truthful, signed with name and date of birth.

That declaration is the reason to be conservative when a band is ambiguous. Claiming a band that the documents do not support is not a rounding error on a form. It is a signed statement.

Four worked examples

The figures below use a non-STEM bachelor's degree and a ₩30 million annual salary, which describes a large share of academy teaching positions. They are illustrations of how the table adds up, not predictions of any particular outcome.

Example 1: age 27, TOPIK 3

Exactly at the pass mark, with no margin. A single band slipping in any category fails.

Example 2: age 27, TOPIK 4

A comfortable pass. TOPIK 4 rather than TOPIK 3 is what creates the margin.

Example 3: age 36, KIIP level 5

Age costs five points compared with Example 2, and the integration program more than compensates by scoring in two categories at once.

Example 4: age 27, TOPIK 4, salary ₩28.8 million

The same person as Example 2, earning ₩100,000 less per month, fails by 15 points. This is the income cliff in a single table.

What the examples show

• Age and education are fixed and together supply 35 to 40 points for most teachers.
• Income supplies 30 points at a normal academy salary, or 10 points just below the threshold.
• Korean ability is the variable that decides the outcome, and it is the one entirely within the applicant's control.
• Crossing ₩30 million in certified annual income is worth more than four TOPIK levels.

TOPIK or the integration program

Short answer: Both score the same in the language category, level for level. The integration program has the advantage of a separate 10-point bonus at level 5 and of teaching the civics content used in the permanent residency requirement later. TOPIK has the advantage of being a test that can be taken without enrolling in a course.

For a teacher weighing the two, the integration program is generally the better long-term investment because the same effort produces language points, bonus points, and a prerequisite for permanent residency. TOPIK is the faster option for someone who already has the language ability and needs documentation quickly.

Practical tip: Academy schedules are the real constraint. Teaching hours frequently run into the evening, which conflicts with the class times that integration program courses use. Checking the local schedule before committing avoids enrolling in something impossible to attend.

How the integration program starts. Entry is through a pre-assessment (사전평가), which places the applicant at a starting stage rather than requiring the course to begin at zero. The result certificate issued by the Ministry of Justice records the written and oral scores, the total, and the stage assigned. Someone placed at stage 2, for example, begins there and works upward toward stage 5, which is the level that carries both the full 20 language points and the 10-point bonus. Certificates can be verified by their issue number through the integration information portal, and the same certificate is what gets submitted as point system proof.

The application

The full document checklist

Short answer: The submission has four parts: the essentials every applicant brings, personal supporting documents proving eligibility, employer documents proving the job is real and tax-compliant, and evidence for every single point claimed on the score table. The employer section is the one that stalls applications, because those documents have to be requested from the academy rather than obtained personally.

The list below follows the checklist handed out at immigration offices, with additional items reported by applicants who completed the change of status in 2026. Requirements vary by office and by applicant category, so treat this as a preparation list to confirm with the specific office rather than a definitive set.

1. Essentials

• Passport (원본 및 사본)
• Residence card (외국인등록증), where one is held
• Fees (see below)
• Integrated application form, form 34 (통합신청서, 별지 34호)
• Proof of residence: the property lease contract (체류지 입증서류, 부동산 계약서)
• Employment contract (고용계약서)
• One standard-format photograph (표준규격사진), 3.5 x 4.5 cm. Some offices require an additional copy.

2. Personal supporting documents, professional worker route

• Income amount certificate (소득금액증명). The office checklist specifies the most recent year's certificate that the tax office is able to issue within two years of the application date. This is the document that decides the income score.
• Evidence supporting a residence requirement exemption, where the three-year requirement is being waived, for example the income certificate or a central government agency recommendation
• Corporate registry extract (법인등기부등본), where the applicant is a company representative. The office checklist notes this can take four to six weeks to obtain.
• Foreign national occupation and annual income report form (외국인 직업 및 연간 소득금액 신고서)
• Criminal record certificate issued in the home country, translated, notarized, and apostilled

3. Employer supporting documents

These are requested from the academy, and the request is easier to make with notice.

• Business registration certificate (사업자등록증)
• Certificate of employment (재직증명서)
• List of workplace subscribers to the four major social insurances (4대 사회보험 사업장가입자명부)
• Statement of reasons for employment (고용사유서)
• Tax payment certificates, which in 2026 applications have included the tax payment certificate (납세증명서), national tax full payment certificate (국세완납증명서), VAT tax base certificate (부가가치세과세표준증명), local tax payment certificate (지방세납세증명서), and proof of tax payment history (납부내역증명)
• Employment insurance insured qualification acquisition record (고용보험 피보험자 자격취득내역)
• List of currently employed foreign nationals (고용 중인 외국인 명단)
• Small and medium enterprise confirmation certificate (중소기업확인서)
• Company introduction and organizational chart (회사소개 및 조직도)
• Foreign worker occupation report form (외국인근로자 직종신고서)

4. Point system proof

• The score table, completed by the applicant with the points being claimed
• A supporting document for every scored item, including:
  • TOPIK score report
  • Integration program certificate (사회통합프로그램)
  • Degree certificate (학위증)
  • For a university ranking bonus, the QS or Times Higher Education ranking list with the applicant's university marked

One rule governs this entire section. Documents issued by overseas institutions must be submitted with official confirmation, meaning apostille or consular legalization, accompanied by a Korean or English translation, and they are treated as valid for three months.

The self-completed score table is the part applicants most often underestimate. Every claimed point needs a document behind it, and a claim without evidence is simply not scored.

Practical tip: Start with the employer list, not the personal list. A teacher can obtain a passport copy and an income certificate in an afternoon, while a small academy may take weeks to produce tax certificates and an insurance subscriber list, and some directors will not have been asked for them before. Handing over the Korean names of the documents in a written list, rather than describing them in English, removes most of the friction.

Practical tip: The three-month validity on overseas documents sets the order of operations. Ordering a home-country criminal record check before the employer paperwork exists risks it expiring on the desk.

Fees

Office handouts and applicant reports differ slightly on the total, ranging from ₩130,000 on one immigration office checklist to ₩139,000 reported by a 2026 applicant who selected delivery. Budget around ₩140,000 in cash and confirm the exact figure at the counter.

Where and how

Applications are made at the local immigration office with jurisdiction over the registered address, booked through HiKorea. Processing takes several weeks, and practitioner guidance suggests four to eight weeks is common.

The stay period granted

The length of stay granted scales with the score rather than being fixed. One 2026 guide describes five years at 130 points or above, three years at 120 to 129, two years at 110 to 119, and one year from 80 to 109. Those bands are worth confirming directly, because they are reported inconsistently across sources, but the principle is consistent: a higher score produces a longer permission and fewer renewal visits.

Practical tip: This is the practical argument for scoring above the pass mark rather than exactly at it. The difference between 80 and 95 points is not approval versus refusal. It is how often someone sits in an immigration office for the next several years.

A realistic four-year plan

For a teacher arriving on an E-2 and wanting F-2-7 as soon as it is available, the work is front-loaded into the years before eligibility.

• Year 1. Start Korean study in the first months rather than the third year. Register with the integration program or begin structured TOPIK preparation. Keep every year-end income document from every employer. Report every address change and workplace change on time, because deductions are permanent in a way that points are not.
• Year 2. Reach TOPIK 3 or 4, or the equivalent integration program stage. Check whether the annual salary is certifying above or below ₩30 million, and treat a salary negotiation as a points decision as well as an income one.
• Year 3. Reach TOPIK 4 or 5, or integration program level 4 or 5. Calculate the score against the current official table. Confirm the residence history adds to three continuous years, and obtain the income certificate for the most recent certified year.
• Year 4. Apply once three years of continuous residence is complete. Book the immigration appointment early, and submit with documentation for every claimed point.

Practical tip: The single highest-value action in year one is enrolling in Korean study, and the second is confirming that the salary on the contract will certify above ₩30 million. Those two decisions account for up to 50 points between them.

After F-2: permanent residency

Short answer: The F-2-7 is a step rather than a destination. The permanent residency route that follows it requires three years on F-2-7 status, income of at least twice the GNI per capita, completion of KIIP level 5 or an equivalent integration assessment result, and a clean immigration and criminal record.

The income requirement is the hard part. At twice GNI per capita, the threshold sits far above a standard academy salary, which is why the teachers who reach permanent residency have usually moved into higher-paying roles, university positions, or their own business by that point. The F-2 is what makes those moves possible, because it removes the requirement for an employer to sponsor the status.

That sequence is the honest version of the long-term path: E-2 to build residence years and language, F-2-7 to remove the employer tie, then whatever comes next to reach the permanent residency income bar.

Common problems and what causes them

Frequently asked questions

Can an English teacher get an F-2 visa in Korea?
Yes. E-2 status falls within the E-1 to E-7 range eligible under the professional worker route, which requires three years of continuous lawful residence and a score of at least 80 points.

How many points are needed for the F-2-7 visa?
80 points. The maximum possible is 170, made up of 130 points across age, education, Korean ability, and income, plus up to 40 bonus points, with deductions applied for violations.

How many points does a teacher typically score?
Age and a bachelor's degree usually supply 35 to 40 points, and a ₩30 million salary supplies 30. That leaves Korean ability as the deciding factor, with TOPIK 3 worth 10 points and TOPIK 5 or KIIP level 5 worth 20.

What income is needed for F-2-7?
There is no single minimum, but the bands matter enormously. Certified annual income of ₩30 million to ₩40 million scores 30 points, while income below ₩30 million scores 10. Income of ₩40 million or more also waives the three-year residence requirement.

Does E-2 time count toward the F-2 residence requirement?
Yes. The professional worker route counts continuous lawful residence on E-1 to E-7-1 or D-5 to D-9 status, and E-2 is inside that range.

Is TOPIK or the integration program better for F-2-7?
They score identically in the language category. The integration program adds a 10-point bonus at level 5 and provides the integration requirement used later for permanent residency, so it is generally the better long-term choice.

How long does F-2-7 status last?
The period granted scales with the score, with higher scores receiving longer permissions. The specific bands should be confirmed with immigration, as published figures vary.

What does an F-2 visa allow?
Changing employers without new sponsorship, working for more than one employer, and working outside teaching in most fields.

How much does the F-2-7 application cost?
The change of status permit is ₩100,000 and the residence card is ₩35,000, so roughly ₩135,000 in total.

Can immigration fines block an F-2-7 application?
Deductions apply for immigration violations and criminal penalties, and practitioner guidance describes fines totaling ₩3 million or more within three years as disqualifying.

Does F-2-7 lead to permanent residency?
Yes. The route after it requires three years on F-2-7, income of at least twice the GNI per capita, KIIP level 5 or an equivalent integration result, and a clean record.

When should preparation start?
In the first year. Language ability is the deciding category and takes years to build, and the income year that gets certified is decided a year before the application.

The short version

The F-2-7 is not a corporate visa that teachers cannot reach. The pass mark is 80 out of 170, and a teacher in their late twenties with a bachelor's degree and a ₩30 million salary is already at 70 before any Korean is counted.

Two numbers decide most applications. The first is Korean ability, worth up to 20 points plus a 10-point bonus, and entirely within the applicant's control. The second is whether certified annual income reaches ₩30 million, which is worth 20 points on its own and is decided by the contract signed a year earlier.

Everything else is paperwork and patience.

The application checklist

Everything required, in one list. Requirements vary by office and by applicant category, so confirm the final set with the office handling the application.

Essentials

• [ ] Passport, original and copy
• [ ] Residence card (외국인등록증), original and copy
• [ ] Integrated application form, form 34 (통합신청서)
• [ ] One standard photograph, 3.5 x 4.5 cm, with a spare
• [ ] Fees in cash, roughly ₩140,000
• [ ] Proof of residence: lease or housing contract (부동산 계약서)
• [ ] Employment contract (고용계약서)

Personal documents

• [ ] Income amount certificate (소득금액증명), most recent year issuable within two years
• [ ] Criminal record certificate from the home country, translated, notarized, apostilled
• [ ] Foreign national occupation and annual income report form (외국인 직업 및 연간 소득금액 신고서)
• [ ] Evidence for a residence requirement exemption, if claiming one
• [ ] Corporate registry extract (법인등기부등본), company representatives only, allow four to six weeks

Employer documents

• [ ] Business registration certificate (사업자등록증)
• [ ] Certificate of employment (재직증명서)
• [ ] Statement of reasons for employment (고용사유서)
• [ ] Four major social insurances workplace subscriber list (4대 사회보험 사업장가입자명부)
• [ ] Employment insurance insured qualification acquisition record (고용보험 피보험자 자격취득내역)
• [ ] Tax payment certificate (납세증명서)
• [ ] National tax full payment certificate (국세완납증명서)
• [ ] VAT tax base certificate (부가가치세과세표준증명)
• [ ] Local tax payment certificate (지방세납세증명서)
• [ ] Proof of tax payment history (납부내역증명)
• [ ] List of currently employed foreign nationals (고용 중인 외국인 명단)
• [ ] SME confirmation certificate (중소기업확인서)
• [ ] Company introduction and organizational chart (회사소개 및 조직도)
• [ ] Foreign worker occupation report form (외국인근로자 직종신고서)

Point system proof

• [ ] Score sheet, form 1, boxes ticked and declaration signed
• [ ] Degree certificate (학위증)
• [ ] TOPIK score report, if claiming TOPIK
• [ ] Integration program certificate (사회통합프로그램), if claiming KIIP
• [ ] University ranking list with the applicant's university marked, if claiming that bonus
• [ ] Volunteer service confirmation, if claiming that bonus

Rules that apply across the set

• [ ] Overseas documents carry official confirmation (apostille or consular legalization)
• [ ] Overseas documents have a Korean or English translation attached
• [ ] Overseas documents are within their three-month validity on the submission date
• [ ] Every ticked box on the score sheet has a document behind it

Sources

• F-2-7 score sheet, form 1 (점수표), issued with the application, showing the full band values for age, education, Korean ability and integration program, annual income, and bonus items, with the applicant declaration
• Yoon administrative practitioner notes, F-2-7 points calculator with full band values for age, education, Korean ability, income, bonuses, and deductions (Korean): https://yoonhjs.com/F2-7-visa-score/
• Hanvisa Korea, F-2-7 eligibility categories, application procedure, required documents, and fees, June 2026 (Korean): https://www.hanvisakorea.com/2026/06/f-2-7-point-based.html
• Vijob, detailed F-2-7 scoring table including age, education, language, and income bands (Korean): https://univ.vijob.net/ko/articles/1456
• insight administrative office, F-2-7 income scoring and the income amount certificate, August 2026 (Korean): https://insight-b2g.com/columns/f2-7-points-income-score
• VISAS KOREA, F-2-7 points guide, 170-point structure and 80-point threshold (Korean): https://www.visaskorea.com/en-blog-f2-7-points-guide/
• VISAS KOREA, F-2-7 application guide including eligibility and processing time: https://www.visaskorea.com/en-blog-f2-7-points-visa/
• Korea Law Information Center, Ministry of Justice administrative rule on the points-based residence status: https://www.law.go.kr/LSW/admRulInfoP.do?admRulSeq=2100000190908
• HiKorea, official immigration portal for applications, appointments, and fees: https://www.hikorea.go.kr
• Social Integration Information Net, integration program assessment and certificate verification: https://www.socinet.go.kr
• F-2-7 application checklist handout issued at a Korean immigration office, covering essentials, supporting documents, fees, and point system proof requirements
• Document set reported by an applicant who completed a change of status to F-2-7 in 2026, covering employer tax and insurance documents and the 3.5 x 4.5 cm photograph requirement
• Korea Immigration Contact Center: 1345

For how the E-2, F-2, and D-10 statuses connect, see the guide comparing the three visa pathways. For the income documents this application depends on, see the guide to opening a Korean bank account. For reaching 1345 in English, see the guide to English hotlines in Korea.