South Korea D-8 Corporate Investment Visa

Min investment

$75,000

Investment routes

Business / enterprise

Time to status

~2–4 months (company registration + visa)

Path to citizenship

F-5 permanent residency typically after 5 years' residence while maintaining KRW 500M+ investment and employing 5+ Korean nationals; naturalisation follows, but Korea generally does not permit dual citizenship for adults.

Residency requirement

Actively run the Korean company; renewals are tied to the business being real and trading.

Visa-free destinations

Not specified

Dual citizenship allowed

No

Notes

Korea's corporate investor route: invest at least KRW 100,000,000 (about US$75,000) into a Korean corporation you own or co-own, register it with the authorities and obtain the D-8. It is the lowest-cost investment entry to Korea by a wide margin, but it is an operating-business visa — the company must genuinely trade, and renewals scrutinise substance, employees and turnover. The route to F-5 permanent residency generally requires five years' residence, a KRW 500M+ investment and five or more Korean employees. Korea does not generally allow dual citizenship for adults, so naturalisation means renouncing your existing nationality.

About South Korea

Healthcare

★★★★★

Safety

★★★★★

Cost of living

High

Climate

Temperate