Working as a professional DJ, artist, or freelance designer in Korea can be a good source of income. Plus, you have the added bonus of doing something you love. The problem is — one cannot legally work at these other jobs on the E2 visa. In order to do anything outside of normal work duties, one must get the permission of their visa sponsor. Sure, some might do a few weekend gigs for cash, but to make real money you need something other than an E series visa. How does one accomplish this? Well, there are two options: 1) Marry a Korean national and enjoy the benefits (and hope your spouse doesn’t drop your F6 sponsorship) or 2) Get a “new” F2 visa based on a point system.

The Korean F2 visa was implemented about three years ago because it has become popular for Koreans to marry women from South East Asia. The Korean government developed the F2 visa program in order to help these women adjust to Korean life, educate them in the language and culture, and give them an alternative Visa process to stay in Korea if their marriage ended.

However, one does not have to be a foreign bride to take part in this program. Soon after its creation, expats began applying and taking the courses needed to acquire points. There are 120 points possible in the F2 visa application. One can earn points based on: age, level of education obtained (abroad and in Korea), volunteer work, income, taxes paid, and of course Korean language ability. Eighty (80) points is the magic number to get the visa. Most of us get 23-25 points for our age (23 points 25-29, 25 points 30-34) and at least 26 points for education (this number can be higher depending on your field and level). So that’s a minimum of 49 points. We’re over half way there and we haven’t even done anything yet!

How does one gain the other 31 points?

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UPDATE: Due to this post’s popularity, we’ve activated the comment system on this post for you to ask questions or let us know if something has changed within the system. We’ll do our best to respond as quickly as possible.