South Korea Public Business Investor (F-2)

1. Residence permit60 months
2. Renew60 months at a time
3. Permanent residencyafter 5 years
4. Citizenshipafter 5 years

• Permanent residency 5 years
• Citizenship 5 years
• Dual citizenship not allowed
• Language required for citizenship KIIP level 5

Country

South Korea

Program

South Korea Public Business Investor (F-2)

Local name

공익사업 투자이민

Type

Golden visa

Status

Active

Initial duration

60 months

Renewable

Yes (60 mo)

Residence for a foreigner who invests at least KRW 1.5 billion in a Ministry of Justice public-business product. The investor, spouse and unmarried children receive resident status F-2 and can work. Permanent residence is available after the investment has been maintained for five years, and it continues after the principal is returned.

Tax regime

Remittance

Regime name

Foreign resident, first five years

Regime duration

5 years

Foreign income taxed

Yes

Capital gains taxed

Yes

Method

in country

Apply from abroad

No

The live immigration page states the general threshold as KRW 1.5 billion and the immediate-permanent-residence threshold as KRW 3 billion. The KRW 3 billion route is listed separately. On 29 June 2023 the Ministry raised the general threshold from KRW 500 million to KRW 1.5 billion and abolished the retiree discount, which had been KRW 300 million from age 55. The English immigration page still prints the pre-2023 amounts and the retiree discount. Those figures are not in force. Either a principal-guaranteed deposit with the Korea Development Bank or a designated profit-and-loss development project meets the KRW 1.5 billion test. The visa navigator lists F-2's category maximum as five years. The program page does not restate the length of each grant. Spouse and unmarried children are included on the program page. The same navigator says spouse and underage children receive F-2 for the investor's period. Its won amounts are the old ones. The visa navigator exempts this investor, at the permanent-residence stage, from the Social Integration Program requirement that applies to ordinary permanent residence. General naturalization still needs five continuous years of address, permanent residence, and Korean attainment. The fee shown is the in-country change-of-status fee of KRW 100,000, about USD 74 at KRW 1,342.80 per USD on 9 October 2026. A change to permanent residence is KRW 200,000. A visa issued abroad is a separate fee under the visa schedule.

• Workcation Visa (F-1-D)digital nomad visa

1. Oct 10, 2026

   Added

   added the F-2 public-business investor route at KRW 1.5 billion, with permanent residence after five years. The retiree discount is not included because the 29 June 2023 release abolished it (immigration.go.kr).