Immigration update: South Korea | Change in requirements for E-7 Visa applicants
Change in requirements for E-7 Visa applicants
The Ministry of Justice in Korea has issued additional requirements for all E-7 visa applicants (local hires) which will be implemented as of 18 March 2019.
All E-7 visa applicants must submit their highest degree certificate and all employment certificates in an apostille format.
The Korean Immigration Office will not accept scanned copies of either documents any longer. All E-7 applicants are required to send their apostilled original documents to the Korean Immigration Office.
Background
Due to the increased number of forged documents, the Korean Immigration Office has strengthened its screening standards and practice applied to the verification of an applicant’s educational and work background.
Santa Fe Analysis
It is our recommendation, that 4 months prior to an assignee’s employment start date in Korea, the company representative communicates with the assignee regarding this additional step and factors this into the overall immigration processing time.
An Apostille must be obtained from the Apostille Authority of the country in which the document was issued and if documents are not issued in English, these need to be translated by an official translator and notarized before applying for an apostille.
Santa Fe expects this will create an additional 1~4 weeks to the existing process :
- Collecting original documents;
- Translation/notarization (if required);
- Obtaining apostille;
- Sending original documents to South Korea.
The processing time can be negatively impacted, if all documents are not correctly presented to the authorities and this should be checked prior to submission with Santa Fe. Our recommendation is prior to the immigration process commencing, the company representative evaluates with the assignee if all the necessary documents can be provided in the format required, as the Korean Immigration Office will not accept any alternate documents.
For more information, please contact the following:
Yaenah Park
Immigration Team Lead
Santa Fe Relocation
Seoul, South Korea
D: +82 2 2235 3391
E: Yaenah.Park@staging.santaferelo.com
Thomas Morocz
General Manager – South Korea & Mongolia
Santa Fe Relocation
Seoul, South Korea
D: +82 2 797 3138
E: Thomas.Morocz@staging.santaferelo.com
Soumeya Messadi
Head of Immigration – Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa
Santa Fe Relocation
Singapore
D: +65 6398 3520
M: +65 9169 6061
E: Soumeya.Messadi@staging.santaferelo.com
To read more immigration updates, click here
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Santa Fe Relocation is a global mobility company specialising in managing and delivering high-quality relocation services worldwide. Our core competence is providing services that help corporations and their employees relocate and settle in a new country, assisting them with immigration, home and school searches, language and cultural training, property rentals, and domestic and international household goods shipments. We provide these services to a consistently high standard, locally and globally. A key strength is our ability to manage these services through our own operations around the world. Santa Fe Relocation Services is wholly owned by the Santa Fe Group, which is listed on NASDAQ in Copenhagen, Denmark. For more information, visit us at blue.santaferelo.com
