Complete visa guide for South Korean passport holders — requirements, documents, fees, and application process
Study, work, family reunification, permanent residence and other stays longer than 90 days. These always require a Certificate of Eligibility (COE) and a visa, regardless of visa-free status for tourism.
Covers tourism, business meetings, conferences, family visits, and transit. Carry passport, return/onward ticket, hotel booking or host address, and funds. No paid work, no enrollment in long-term school on this status. Extension is not possible for tourism — you must leave Japan and re-enter, and immigration is increasingly strict on back-to-back "visa run" entries.
You cannot convert a tourist entry to a work/study/spouse visa inside Japan. The Japanese employer, school, or spouse files a Certificate of Eligibility (COE) with the Immigration Services Agency (1–3 months). Once issued, bring the COE plus application to the Japanese embassy or consulate serving your region; the visa sticker is typically ready in 3–7 working days.
Korean citizens enter Japan visa-free for 90 days. For long-term stays, the two common routes are Engineer/Humanities/International Services (技術・人文知識・国際業務) for Korean bilingual professionals at Japanese companies, and Business Manager (経営・管理) for Korean founders opening Japanese branches. Total timeline: 2–4 months from offer to Japan arrival.
| # | Phase | Handled by | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Job offer accepted or Japanese company incorporation planning begun | Applicant + employer / business partner | Day 0 |
| 1 | For 経営・管理: incorporate the Japanese KK/合同会社, lease office, prepare ¥30M capital injection documentation and arrange at least 1 full-time Japanese/PR employee (2025-10-16 reform). For 技人国: employer prepares job documents | Applicant + gyoseishoshi | 経営・管理: 2–3 months preparation; 技人国: 1–2 weeks |
| 2 | Japanese employer or applicant files COE at local Immigration Bureau | Japanese side | Same day |
| 3 | ISA reviews COE (技人国 avg ~1.5 months; 経営・管理 avg 2–3 months) | Immigration Services Agency | 1–3 months |
| 4 | COE issued; couriered to South Korea | ISA → employer → applicant | 3–5 business days (EMS/DHL) |
| 5 | Submit COE + visa application at Embassy of Japan Seoul, Consulate Busan, or Consulate Jeju | Applicant | 1 day |
| 6 | Embassy issues visa sticker | Embassy / Consulate of Japan | 3–5 working days |
| 7 | Fly to Japan; receive residence card at airport; register address at city office within 14 days | Applicant | First 2 weeks in Japan |
Korean HSP (高度専門職) applicants with ≥70 points see Phase 3 compressed to 10–15 working days. Note: Korean nationals have historically been one of the largest groups of Permanent Residents in Japan (specifically the 特別永住者 legacy status) — general PR via standard paths follows the 10-year + 5-year-qualifying-work-visa rules.
Korean salaries in Japan are broadly comparable to Seoul tech/finance at entry level but plateau higher: Japanese large-company lifetime employment + seniority pay tends to favor long-tenure employees. Korean-Japanese bilinguals command a 15–30% premium for client-facing roles. Below: 2025–2026 market ranges from LinkedIn Japan, BizReach Korea, and Japanese recruitment firms.
| Role | Korea entry (₩/yr) | Japan entry (¥/yr) | Japan senior (¥/yr) | Top firms hiring Koreans |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Software Engineer | ₩45–70M | ¥4.5–6.5M | ¥8–14M | Rakuten, LY Corp (LINE Yahoo), Mercari, DeNA, SoftBank |
| Product Manager / Planner | ₩55–90M | ¥6–9M | ¥10–18M | LY Corp, CyberAgent, SmartNews, DMM, Rakuten |
| Finance / consulting (bilingual) | ₩70–120M | ¥7–10M | ¥15–25M | Nomura, Daiwa, Mizuho, MUFG, McKinsey Japan, BCG Japan |
| Sales / marketing (Korea market) | ₩40–65M | ¥5–7M | ¥9–15M | Samsung Japan, LG Japan, CJ ENM Japan, Korean tourism firms |
| Founder (経営・管理) | Varies | ¥6–12M (declared) | ¥15M+ post-growth | Korean F&B chains (Tokyo Korean town), e-commerce/live commerce Japan entry |
| Student → new grad (技人国) | Student | ¥3.8–5.5M | ¥7–10M (3–5 yrs) | Standard large-cap Japanese firms — Fujitsu, NTT, Panasonic, Hitachi |
For Business Manager visa: ¥30M registered capital + ≥1 full-time Japanese/PR employee + JLPT N2 for applicant or an employee + 3 years management experience (all mandatory under the 2025-10-16 reform); existing holders may renew under the old ¥5M rule until 2028-10-16. For Highly Skilled Professional: Korean bachelor + ¥7M+ Japan salary + JLPT N2 typically scores 70+ points for 3-year PR fast track.
Our expert consultants can guide you through the entire application process.
