The Status Decides the Job, the Permit Names the Workplace, and the Decree Says What E-7 Means Without Saying What It Is
Article 18(1) of the Immigration Act makes employment a function of status: a foreigner who wants to work in Korea must hold a status of residence that permits employment activity, as prescribed by Presidential Decree. The Decree supplies that list in Attached Table 1-2, which runs from D-1 to H-2 and names the employment statuses one by one - professor E-1, foreign-language conversation instructor E-2, research E-3, technical guidance E-4, professional employment E-5, arts and entertainment E-6, specified activity E-7, seasonal work E-8, non-professional employment E-9, vessel crew E-10. Only one of them is open-ended, and it is open-ended by delegation: E-7 covers a person who intends to engage in activities specially designated by the Minister of Justice under a contract with a Korean public institution or private organisation. The occupations are in the Minister's notice, not in the Decree, and that notice is where the route actually lives. Two further restrictions sit on top of the status. Article 18(2) says a holder may not work anywhere but the designated workplace, and article 21(1) requires prior permission from the Minister of Justice to change or add one - with a proviso that lets a person of expert knowledge, skill or ability, as prescribed by Presidential Decree, report within 15 days instead; article 26-2 of the Enforcement Decree identifies that person as a holder of E-1 to E-7 who meets requirements the Minister notifies, and article 21(3) switches off the designated-workplace rule for them entirely. Doing anything outside your status needs its own permission under article 20. The maximum period of stay per grant is in Attached Table 1 of the Enforcement Rules: three years for E-7 and E-9, two for E-2 and E-6, five for E-1, E-3, E-4 and E-5, and one year for the job-seeking status D-10.
At a glance
- Maximum period of stay granted at once, E-7
- 3 years
Attached Table 1 of the Enforcement Rules of the Immigration Act, as amended on 24 December 2024. The same table gives E-9 three years, E-2 and E-6 two years, and E-1, E-3, E-4 and E-5 five years.
- Maximum period of stay granted at once, job-seeking D-10
- 1 year
Attached Table 1 of the Enforcement Rules. The Minister of Justice may exceed the maxima in that table under article 25 of the Act where he finds it necessary, which the table says in its own closing note.
- Deadline to report a change of workplace, where reporting replaces permission
- 15 days from the change or addition
Proviso to article 21(1) of the Immigration Act. Everyone outside the proviso needs permission before the change, not a report after it.
- Who may report instead of asking permission
- Holders of E-1 to E-7 who meet the requirements the Minister of Justice publicly notifies
Article 26-2(1) of the Enforcement Decree of the Immigration Act, as amended on 18 September 2018. The notice itself was not read.
- Working outside the designated workplace
- Prohibited, except for those within the proviso to article 21(1)
Article 18(2) of the Immigration Act, disapplied for those people by article 21(3).
- Employer's reporting duties
- 15 days to report a dismissal, resignation, death, disappearance, or a change to a material term of the contract
Article 19(1) of the Immigration Act.
- Where the E-7 occupations are written
- In a notice of the Minister of Justice, not in the Act or the Decree
Item 20 of Attached Table 1-2 of the Enforcement Decree defines E-7 by reference to activities the Minister specially designates. The notice was not located or read for this record.
Requirements
- A status of residence that permits employment activity - one of the statuses in Attached Table 1-2 of the Enforcement Decree
- For E-7, a contract with a Korean public institution or private organisation for an activity the Minister of Justice has specially designated
- Work only at the designated workplace, unless you hold E-1 to E-7 and meet the requirements the Minister notifies
- Prior permission to change or add a workplace, or a report within 15 days if the proviso applies to you
- A separate permission under article 20 for any activity outside your status
In detail
E-7 is a delegation, not a category
Every other employment status in Attached Table 1-2 describes an activity: teaching at a university, instructing in a foreign language, research at an institute, providing specialised technical knowledge, practising as a lawyer or doctor, performing. E-7 describes a procedure. It covers a person who, under a contract with a Korean public institution or private organisation, intends to engage in activities the Minister of Justice specially designates. Which occupations those are, and what qualifications and salary each requires, is set by notice and changes without any amendment to the Decree. A reader who looks up the Act and the Decree will find the frame of the main skilled-worker route and none of its content.
The workplace is part of the permission
Article 18(2) is short and absolute: a holder of an employment status may not work anywhere other than the designated workplace. Changing employer therefore is not a private matter between worker and employer - it needs the Minister of Justice's prior permission under article 21(1), and an employer who takes on someone who has not got it commits an offence under article 21(2). The exception runs the other way round from what a reader might expect: it is not a lighter rule for the lowest-paid but a lighter rule for the most qualified. A holder of E-1 to E-7 who meets the Minister's notified requirements reports the move within fifteen days instead of asking first, and article 21(3) takes them out of the designated-workplace prohibition altogether.
Length of stay is set per status, by ministerial table
Article 18-3 of the Enforcement Rules sends the maximum period of a single grant to its own Attached Table 1, and the figures do not track how skilled the work is. Professor E-1, research E-3, technical guidance E-4 and professional employment E-5 get five years; specified activity E-7 and non-professional employment E-9 get three; conversation instruction E-2 and arts and entertainment E-6 get two; the job-seeking status D-10 gets one. The table closes by saying the Minister of Justice may permit a stay beyond the maximum under article 25 of the Act where he finds it necessary, so the figures are ceilings on the ordinary grant rather than on the stay.
Exceptions by origin
No exceptions recorded
Nothing we have read treats any nationality differently for this topic. The rule above applies to everyone.
What the law says
«제18조(외국인 고용의 제한) ① 외국인이 대한민국에서 취업하려면 대통령령 으로 정하는 바에 따라 취업활동을 할 수 있는 체류자격을 받아야 한다. ② 제1항에 따른 체류자격을 가진 외국인은 지정된 근무처가 아닌 곳에서 근무하여서는 아니 된다. ③ 누구든지 제1항에 따른 체류자격을 가지지 아니한 사람을 고용하여서는 아니 된다.»About this source
The Korean state's legal information centre, run by the Ministry of Government Legislation. It publishes the consolidated current text of every Act, Presidential Decree and Ministerial Decree, each pinned to the date from which that version is in force, and prints the version line at the head of the document - 출입국관리법 [시행 2026. 10. 2.] [법률 제21857호, 2026. 8. 4., 타법개정] - which gives both the commencement date and the Act number that made the version. Three address shapes matter and only the third serves text. https://www.law.go.kr/법령/<name> is a 1.2 KB iframe shell; /LSW/lsInfoP.do?lsiSeq=<N>&chrClsCd=010202&urlMode=lsInfoP&efYd=<YYYYMMDD>&ancYnChk=0 is a second shell with the chrome but no articles; THE BODY IS AT /LSW/lsInfoR.do?lsiSeq=<N>&chrClsCd=010202&efYd=<YYYYMMDD>&ancYnChk=0, which answers an ordinary request and was read for this corpus with `pnpm sources:fetch --direct`. The lsiSeq is version-specific, so an address taken this way is pinned to the consolidation it was read from, which is why every citation of it carries a cut-off. Attached tables (별표) are not in the body: /LSW/lsBylContentsInfoR.do?bylSeq=<B>&lsiSeq=<N> returns hanFlSeq and pdfFlSeq, and https://www.law.go.kr/LSW/flDownload.do?flSeq=<pdfFlSeq> is the table as a PDF with a text layer. The site also carries the government's English translations at /LSW/eng/engLsInfoR.do?lsiSeq=<N>, keyed to the English version's own lsiSeq rather than the Korean one.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: **It consolidates; the Official Gazette (관보) promulgates.** What this site serves is the state's working consolidated text, and where it differs from the gazette the gazette is the instrument. The site says as much about its own comparison tool: 국가법령정보센터에서 제공하는 신구법 비교는 시스템으로 자동 생성한 것으로 참고용으로만 이용하시기 바라며, 정확한 개정내용의 확인은 제·개정이유(제·개정문) 또는 관보를 확인해 주세요. **Its English translations carry no legal effect and say so**, on the page: "ㅇ This English translation of the legislation has been provided by the relevant government ministry solely for the purpose of facilitating understanding of Korean laws. It does not have any legal authority or official effect and may not reflect the most recent amendments." It cannot be cited for the English. **It is not a substitute for the ministerial notices (고시) that carry most of the numbers.** Korean immigration, health insurance, driving and marriage-visa law delegate thresholds to notices of a Minister or a Commissioner, and those are published elsewhere; a reading of law.go.kr establishes the rule and not the figure. **The body address is undocumented and could move.** If /LSW/lsInfoR.do stops answering, re-derive it from the iframe src inside https://www.law.go.kr/법령/<name>.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«(1) Every alien who intends to engage in employment in the Republic of Korea shall obtain the status of stay that entitles him or her to engage in job-seeking activities, as prescribed by Presidential Decree.»The Korean is 취업활동을 할 수 있는 체류자격 - a status of residence that permits employment activity. This translation says 'job-seeking activities', which in Korean immigration law is a different thing with its own status, 구직(D-10). The publisher states its translations are for reference only and are neither official nor legally effective.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The state-funded research institute that produces and hosts the English translations of Korean statutes, at elaw.klri.re.kr under the title Statutes of the Republic of Korea. Its own statistics page counts 3,070 current translations - 1,593 statutes, 1,389 enforcement decrees, 3 enforcement rules and 83 others - against 21,044 former ones. Two addresses matter: /eng_service/lawView.do?hseq=<N>&lang=ENG is the frame, which carries the disclaimer and nothing else, and /eng_service/lawViewContent.do?hseq=<N>&lang=ENG is the text. The hseq identifies a particular translated version of a particular statute, so it behaves like a pinned address. Its own search is broken for an ordinary client: /eng_service/lawTotalSearch.do, /eng_service/lawAllSearch.do and /eng_service/lawTotalSearchList.do?type=abc all answer HTTP 500 with a Java NullPointerException. **The route that works is a POST to /eng_service/lawNameList.do with page=1, searchType1=korean and searchValue=<the Korean statute name>**, which returns the Korean and English titles with their hseq. A session cookie from /eng_service/main.do is required for anything on the site.
Standing: Reports, establishes nothing
Cannot be cited for: **Its translations are not law and it says so on every statute page**: "* Translations provided here are for reference only, and are neither official nor legally effective. * The links provided by an automatic program for the convenience of users may have some errors." It cannot be cited as the text of a Korean statute; the Korean at law.go.kr is. Four divergences were found in a single country's reading and all four change the rule: the English of 소득세법 제1조의2(1)1 attaches 183 days to both the domicile and the residence limb where the Korean attaches it only to the second; the English of 소득세법 시행령 제4조(3)1 says "exceeds 183 days" where the Korean says 183일 이상, 183 or more; the English of 출입국관리법 제18조(1) says a status entitling the holder to "job-seeking activities" where the Korean says 취업활동, employment activity, job-seeking being a different status in the same table; and the English of 재외동포법 제5조(2) makes the military-service bar lapse automatically from 1 January of the year the man turns 41, where the Korean makes it a discretion the Minister of Justice may exercise from that date. **It also lags.** Each translation states the Act it renders: the Immigration Act is translated at Act No. 20677 of 21 January 2025 while the Korean in force on 2 October 2026 is Act No. 21857, and the Enforcement Decree of the Immigration Act is at Presidential Decree No. 35540 of 27 May 2025 against No. 36728 in force. **It does not carry the attached tables** - every Appendix is referred to and none is reproduced - so the status-of-residence lists exist only in Korean. **No translation exists at all for 출입국관리법 시행규칙**, the Enforcement Rules, which carry the stay-period table and the marriage-visa criteria. **Its pages are English with Korean furniture**: the string 법령보기 화면 is printed as a table caption before every article, hundreds of times per document, so a reading from this publisher is a Latin text carrying a non-Latin script in place and `audit:readings` flags every quotation taken near one.
We re-read it every 180 days. More about this source
«20. 특정활동 대한민국 내의 공공기관ㆍ민간단체 등과의 계약에 따라 법무 (E-7) 부장관이 특별히 지정하는 활동에 종사하려는 사람»Our translation - not official
20. Specified activity (E-7): a person who intends to engage in activities specially designated by the Minister of Justice under a contract with a public institution, private organisation or the like within the Republic of Korea.
The table is laid out with the status name and code in a narrow left column, so the code (E-7) falls inside the sentence in the published text and the words 법무 and 부장관 are split across the two lines it interrupts. The quotation reproduces the page rather than repairing it.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Korean state's legal information centre, run by the Ministry of Government Legislation. It publishes the consolidated current text of every Act, Presidential Decree and Ministerial Decree, each pinned to the date from which that version is in force, and prints the version line at the head of the document - 출입국관리법 [시행 2026. 10. 2.] [법률 제21857호, 2026. 8. 4., 타법개정] - which gives both the commencement date and the Act number that made the version. Three address shapes matter and only the third serves text. https://www.law.go.kr/법령/<name> is a 1.2 KB iframe shell; /LSW/lsInfoP.do?lsiSeq=<N>&chrClsCd=010202&urlMode=lsInfoP&efYd=<YYYYMMDD>&ancYnChk=0 is a second shell with the chrome but no articles; THE BODY IS AT /LSW/lsInfoR.do?lsiSeq=<N>&chrClsCd=010202&efYd=<YYYYMMDD>&ancYnChk=0, which answers an ordinary request and was read for this corpus with `pnpm sources:fetch --direct`. The lsiSeq is version-specific, so an address taken this way is pinned to the consolidation it was read from, which is why every citation of it carries a cut-off. Attached tables (별표) are not in the body: /LSW/lsBylContentsInfoR.do?bylSeq=<B>&lsiSeq=<N> returns hanFlSeq and pdfFlSeq, and https://www.law.go.kr/LSW/flDownload.do?flSeq=<pdfFlSeq> is the table as a PDF with a text layer. The site also carries the government's English translations at /LSW/eng/engLsInfoR.do?lsiSeq=<N>, keyed to the English version's own lsiSeq rather than the Korean one.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: **It consolidates; the Official Gazette (관보) promulgates.** What this site serves is the state's working consolidated text, and where it differs from the gazette the gazette is the instrument. The site says as much about its own comparison tool: 국가법령정보센터에서 제공하는 신구법 비교는 시스템으로 자동 생성한 것으로 참고용으로만 이용하시기 바라며, 정확한 개정내용의 확인은 제·개정이유(제·개정문) 또는 관보를 확인해 주세요. **Its English translations carry no legal effect and say so**, on the page: "ㅇ This English translation of the legislation has been provided by the relevant government ministry solely for the purpose of facilitating understanding of Korean laws. It does not have any legal authority or official effect and may not reflect the most recent amendments." It cannot be cited for the English. **It is not a substitute for the ministerial notices (고시) that carry most of the numbers.** Korean immigration, health insurance, driving and marriage-visa law delegate thresholds to notices of a Minister or a Commissioner, and those are published elsewhere; a reading of law.go.kr establishes the rule and not the figure. **The body address is undocumented and could move.** If /LSW/lsInfoR.do stops answering, re-derive it from the iframe src inside https://www.law.go.kr/법령/<name>.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«21. 비전문취업 「외국인근로자의 고용 등에 관한 법률」에 따른 국내 취업 요건을 갖춘 사람(일정 자격이나 경력 등이 필요한 전문직종 (E-9) 에 종사하려는 사람은 제외한다)»Our translation - not official
21. Non-professional employment (E-9): a person who meets the requirements for employment in Korea under the Act on the Employment of Foreign Workers, excluding a person who intends to engage in a professional occupation requiring particular qualifications or experience.
The code (E-9) again falls inside the sentence because of the table's two-column layout. E-9 is the status used by the employment permit system, whose conditions are in a separate Act that was not read here.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Korean state's legal information centre, run by the Ministry of Government Legislation. It publishes the consolidated current text of every Act, Presidential Decree and Ministerial Decree, each pinned to the date from which that version is in force, and prints the version line at the head of the document - 출입국관리법 [시행 2026. 10. 2.] [법률 제21857호, 2026. 8. 4., 타법개정] - which gives both the commencement date and the Act number that made the version. Three address shapes matter and only the third serves text. https://www.law.go.kr/법령/<name> is a 1.2 KB iframe shell; /LSW/lsInfoP.do?lsiSeq=<N>&chrClsCd=010202&urlMode=lsInfoP&efYd=<YYYYMMDD>&ancYnChk=0 is a second shell with the chrome but no articles; THE BODY IS AT /LSW/lsInfoR.do?lsiSeq=<N>&chrClsCd=010202&efYd=<YYYYMMDD>&ancYnChk=0, which answers an ordinary request and was read for this corpus with `pnpm sources:fetch --direct`. The lsiSeq is version-specific, so an address taken this way is pinned to the consolidation it was read from, which is why every citation of it carries a cut-off. Attached tables (별표) are not in the body: /LSW/lsBylContentsInfoR.do?bylSeq=<B>&lsiSeq=<N> returns hanFlSeq and pdfFlSeq, and https://www.law.go.kr/LSW/flDownload.do?flSeq=<pdfFlSeq> is the table as a PDF with a text layer. The site also carries the government's English translations at /LSW/eng/engLsInfoR.do?lsiSeq=<N>, keyed to the English version's own lsiSeq rather than the Korean one.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: **It consolidates; the Official Gazette (관보) promulgates.** What this site serves is the state's working consolidated text, and where it differs from the gazette the gazette is the instrument. The site says as much about its own comparison tool: 국가법령정보센터에서 제공하는 신구법 비교는 시스템으로 자동 생성한 것으로 참고용으로만 이용하시기 바라며, 정확한 개정내용의 확인은 제·개정이유(제·개정문) 또는 관보를 확인해 주세요. **Its English translations carry no legal effect and say so**, on the page: "ㅇ This English translation of the legislation has been provided by the relevant government ministry solely for the purpose of facilitating understanding of Korean laws. It does not have any legal authority or official effect and may not reflect the most recent amendments." It cannot be cited for the English. **It is not a substitute for the ministerial notices (고시) that carry most of the numbers.** Korean immigration, health insurance, driving and marriage-visa law delegate thresholds to notices of a Minister or a Commissioner, and those are published elsewhere; a reading of law.go.kr establishes the rule and not the figure. **The body address is undocumented and could move.** If /LSW/lsInfoR.do stops answering, re-derive it from the iframe src inside https://www.law.go.kr/법령/<name>.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«제21조(근무처의 변경ㆍ추가) ① 대한민국에 체류하는 외국인이 그 체류자격의 범위에서 그의 근무처를 변경하거나 추가하려면 대통령령 으로 정하는 바에 따라 미리 법무부장관의 허가를 받아야 한다. 다만, 전문적인 지식ㆍ기술 또는 기능을 가진 사람으로서 대통령령 으로 정하는 사람은 근무처를 변경하거나 추가한 날부터 15일 이내에 대통령령 으로 정하는 바에 따라 법무부장관에게 신고하여야 한다. <개정 2020. 6. 9.> ② 누구든지 제1항 본문에 따른 근무처의 변경허가ㆍ추가허가를 받지 아니한 외국인을 고용하거나 고용을 알선하여서는 아니 된다. 다만, 다른 법률에 따라 고용을 알선하는 경우에는 그러하지 아니하다. ③ 제1항 단서에 해당하는 사람에 대하여는 제18조 제2항 을 적용하지 아니한다.»About this source
The Korean state's legal information centre, run by the Ministry of Government Legislation. It publishes the consolidated current text of every Act, Presidential Decree and Ministerial Decree, each pinned to the date from which that version is in force, and prints the version line at the head of the document - 출입국관리법 [시행 2026. 10. 2.] [법률 제21857호, 2026. 8. 4., 타법개정] - which gives both the commencement date and the Act number that made the version. Three address shapes matter and only the third serves text. https://www.law.go.kr/법령/<name> is a 1.2 KB iframe shell; /LSW/lsInfoP.do?lsiSeq=<N>&chrClsCd=010202&urlMode=lsInfoP&efYd=<YYYYMMDD>&ancYnChk=0 is a second shell with the chrome but no articles; THE BODY IS AT /LSW/lsInfoR.do?lsiSeq=<N>&chrClsCd=010202&efYd=<YYYYMMDD>&ancYnChk=0, which answers an ordinary request and was read for this corpus with `pnpm sources:fetch --direct`. The lsiSeq is version-specific, so an address taken this way is pinned to the consolidation it was read from, which is why every citation of it carries a cut-off. Attached tables (별표) are not in the body: /LSW/lsBylContentsInfoR.do?bylSeq=<B>&lsiSeq=<N> returns hanFlSeq and pdfFlSeq, and https://www.law.go.kr/LSW/flDownload.do?flSeq=<pdfFlSeq> is the table as a PDF with a text layer. The site also carries the government's English translations at /LSW/eng/engLsInfoR.do?lsiSeq=<N>, keyed to the English version's own lsiSeq rather than the Korean one.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: **It consolidates; the Official Gazette (관보) promulgates.** What this site serves is the state's working consolidated text, and where it differs from the gazette the gazette is the instrument. The site says as much about its own comparison tool: 국가법령정보센터에서 제공하는 신구법 비교는 시스템으로 자동 생성한 것으로 참고용으로만 이용하시기 바라며, 정확한 개정내용의 확인은 제·개정이유(제·개정문) 또는 관보를 확인해 주세요. **Its English translations carry no legal effect and say so**, on the page: "ㅇ This English translation of the legislation has been provided by the relevant government ministry solely for the purpose of facilitating understanding of Korean laws. It does not have any legal authority or official effect and may not reflect the most recent amendments." It cannot be cited for the English. **It is not a substitute for the ministerial notices (고시) that carry most of the numbers.** Korean immigration, health insurance, driving and marriage-visa law delegate thresholds to notices of a Minister or a Commissioner, and those are published elsewhere; a reading of law.go.kr establishes the rule and not the figure. **The body address is undocumented and could move.** If /LSW/lsInfoR.do stops answering, re-derive it from the iframe src inside https://www.law.go.kr/법령/<name>.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«(1) If an alien staying in the Republic of Korea intends to change or add his or her workplace within the scope of his or her status of stay, he or she shall obtain prior permission from the Minister of Justice, as prescribed by Presidential Decree; provided, a person prescribed by Presidential Decree who has expert knowledge, skill or ability shall report to the Minister of Justice within 15 days of change or addition of his or her workplace, as prescribed by Presidential Decree.»Reference only and neither official nor legally effective, in the publisher's own words.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The state-funded research institute that produces and hosts the English translations of Korean statutes, at elaw.klri.re.kr under the title Statutes of the Republic of Korea. Its own statistics page counts 3,070 current translations - 1,593 statutes, 1,389 enforcement decrees, 3 enforcement rules and 83 others - against 21,044 former ones. Two addresses matter: /eng_service/lawView.do?hseq=<N>&lang=ENG is the frame, which carries the disclaimer and nothing else, and /eng_service/lawViewContent.do?hseq=<N>&lang=ENG is the text. The hseq identifies a particular translated version of a particular statute, so it behaves like a pinned address. Its own search is broken for an ordinary client: /eng_service/lawTotalSearch.do, /eng_service/lawAllSearch.do and /eng_service/lawTotalSearchList.do?type=abc all answer HTTP 500 with a Java NullPointerException. **The route that works is a POST to /eng_service/lawNameList.do with page=1, searchType1=korean and searchValue=<the Korean statute name>**, which returns the Korean and English titles with their hseq. A session cookie from /eng_service/main.do is required for anything on the site.
Standing: Reports, establishes nothing
Cannot be cited for: **Its translations are not law and it says so on every statute page**: "* Translations provided here are for reference only, and are neither official nor legally effective. * The links provided by an automatic program for the convenience of users may have some errors." It cannot be cited as the text of a Korean statute; the Korean at law.go.kr is. Four divergences were found in a single country's reading and all four change the rule: the English of 소득세법 제1조의2(1)1 attaches 183 days to both the domicile and the residence limb where the Korean attaches it only to the second; the English of 소득세법 시행령 제4조(3)1 says "exceeds 183 days" where the Korean says 183일 이상, 183 or more; the English of 출입국관리법 제18조(1) says a status entitling the holder to "job-seeking activities" where the Korean says 취업활동, employment activity, job-seeking being a different status in the same table; and the English of 재외동포법 제5조(2) makes the military-service bar lapse automatically from 1 January of the year the man turns 41, where the Korean makes it a discretion the Minister of Justice may exercise from that date. **It also lags.** Each translation states the Act it renders: the Immigration Act is translated at Act No. 20677 of 21 January 2025 while the Korean in force on 2 October 2026 is Act No. 21857, and the Enforcement Decree of the Immigration Act is at Presidential Decree No. 35540 of 27 May 2025 against No. 36728 in force. **It does not carry the attached tables** - every Appendix is referred to and none is reproduced - so the status-of-residence lists exist only in Korean. **No translation exists at all for 출입국관리법 시행규칙**, the Enforcement Rules, which carry the stay-period table and the marriage-visa criteria. **Its pages are English with Korean furniture**: the string 법령보기 화면 is printed as a table caption before every article, hundreds of times per document, so a reading from this publisher is a Latin text carrying a non-Latin script in place and `audit:readings` flags every quotation taken near one.
We re-read it every 180 days. More about this source
«제26조의2(근무처의 변경ㆍ추가 신고) ① 법 제21조 제1항 단서에서 “대통령령으로 정하는 사람”이란 별표 1의2 중 14. 교수(E-1)부터 20. 특정활동(E-7)까지의 체류자격 중 어느 하나의 체류자격을 가진 외국인으로서 법무부장관이 고시하는 요건을 갖춘 사람을 말한다.»Our translation - not official
Article 26-2 (Report of a change or addition of workplace) (1) A person prescribed by Presidential Decree in the proviso to article 21(1) of the Act means a foreign national holding one of the statuses of stay from 14. Professor (E-1) to 20. Specific Activities (E-7) in Appended Table 1-2, who meets the requirements published by the Minister of Justice. Translation ours.
Added on 11 October 2026 because this was the only article in the Korean corpus stated on the English translation alone. The Korean is the law and it is in force on 2 October 2026; the translation beside it is of an earlier Presidential Decree. It also renders 특정활동(E-7) as "Foreign National of Special Ability", where the Korean says specific activities - the status is defined by what the Minister designates, not by the holder's ability.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Korean state's legal information centre, run by the Ministry of Government Legislation. It publishes the consolidated current text of every Act, Presidential Decree and Ministerial Decree, each pinned to the date from which that version is in force, and prints the version line at the head of the document - 출입국관리법 [시행 2026. 10. 2.] [법률 제21857호, 2026. 8. 4., 타법개정] - which gives both the commencement date and the Act number that made the version. Three address shapes matter and only the third serves text. https://www.law.go.kr/법령/<name> is a 1.2 KB iframe shell; /LSW/lsInfoP.do?lsiSeq=<N>&chrClsCd=010202&urlMode=lsInfoP&efYd=<YYYYMMDD>&ancYnChk=0 is a second shell with the chrome but no articles; THE BODY IS AT /LSW/lsInfoR.do?lsiSeq=<N>&chrClsCd=010202&efYd=<YYYYMMDD>&ancYnChk=0, which answers an ordinary request and was read for this corpus with `pnpm sources:fetch --direct`. The lsiSeq is version-specific, so an address taken this way is pinned to the consolidation it was read from, which is why every citation of it carries a cut-off. Attached tables (별표) are not in the body: /LSW/lsBylContentsInfoR.do?bylSeq=<B>&lsiSeq=<N> returns hanFlSeq and pdfFlSeq, and https://www.law.go.kr/LSW/flDownload.do?flSeq=<pdfFlSeq> is the table as a PDF with a text layer. The site also carries the government's English translations at /LSW/eng/engLsInfoR.do?lsiSeq=<N>, keyed to the English version's own lsiSeq rather than the Korean one.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: **It consolidates; the Official Gazette (관보) promulgates.** What this site serves is the state's working consolidated text, and where it differs from the gazette the gazette is the instrument. The site says as much about its own comparison tool: 국가법령정보센터에서 제공하는 신구법 비교는 시스템으로 자동 생성한 것으로 참고용으로만 이용하시기 바라며, 정확한 개정내용의 확인은 제·개정이유(제·개정문) 또는 관보를 확인해 주세요. **Its English translations carry no legal effect and say so**, on the page: "ㅇ This English translation of the legislation has been provided by the relevant government ministry solely for the purpose of facilitating understanding of Korean laws. It does not have any legal authority or official effect and may not reflect the most recent amendments." It cannot be cited for the English. **It is not a substitute for the ministerial notices (고시) that carry most of the numbers.** Korean immigration, health insurance, driving and marriage-visa law delegate thresholds to notices of a Minister or a Commissioner, and those are published elsewhere; a reading of law.go.kr establishes the rule and not the figure. **The body address is undocumented and could move.** If /LSW/lsInfoR.do stops answering, re-derive it from the iframe src inside https://www.law.go.kr/법령/<name>.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«(1) "Person prescribed by Presidential Decree" in the proviso of Article 21 (1) of the Act means an alien holding the status of stay for 14. Professor (E-1) through 20. Foreign National of Special Ability (E-7) in Appendix 1-2, satisfying requirements publicly notified by the Minister of Justice. <Amended on Sep. 18, 2018>»This translation is of Presidential Decree No. 35540 of 27 May 2025; the Korean text of the Decree in force on 2 October 2026 is Presidential Decree No. 36728. The translation renders 특정활동(E-7) as 'Foreign National of Special Ability', where the Korean means specified activity. Reference only and neither official nor legally effective, in the publisher's own words.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The state-funded research institute that produces and hosts the English translations of Korean statutes, at elaw.klri.re.kr under the title Statutes of the Republic of Korea. Its own statistics page counts 3,070 current translations - 1,593 statutes, 1,389 enforcement decrees, 3 enforcement rules and 83 others - against 21,044 former ones. Two addresses matter: /eng_service/lawView.do?hseq=<N>&lang=ENG is the frame, which carries the disclaimer and nothing else, and /eng_service/lawViewContent.do?hseq=<N>&lang=ENG is the text. The hseq identifies a particular translated version of a particular statute, so it behaves like a pinned address. Its own search is broken for an ordinary client: /eng_service/lawTotalSearch.do, /eng_service/lawAllSearch.do and /eng_service/lawTotalSearchList.do?type=abc all answer HTTP 500 with a Java NullPointerException. **The route that works is a POST to /eng_service/lawNameList.do with page=1, searchType1=korean and searchValue=<the Korean statute name>**, which returns the Korean and English titles with their hseq. A session cookie from /eng_service/main.do is required for anything on the site.
Standing: Reports, establishes nothing
Cannot be cited for: **Its translations are not law and it says so on every statute page**: "* Translations provided here are for reference only, and are neither official nor legally effective. * The links provided by an automatic program for the convenience of users may have some errors." It cannot be cited as the text of a Korean statute; the Korean at law.go.kr is. Four divergences were found in a single country's reading and all four change the rule: the English of 소득세법 제1조의2(1)1 attaches 183 days to both the domicile and the residence limb where the Korean attaches it only to the second; the English of 소득세법 시행령 제4조(3)1 says "exceeds 183 days" where the Korean says 183일 이상, 183 or more; the English of 출입국관리법 제18조(1) says a status entitling the holder to "job-seeking activities" where the Korean says 취업활동, employment activity, job-seeking being a different status in the same table; and the English of 재외동포법 제5조(2) makes the military-service bar lapse automatically from 1 January of the year the man turns 41, where the Korean makes it a discretion the Minister of Justice may exercise from that date. **It also lags.** Each translation states the Act it renders: the Immigration Act is translated at Act No. 20677 of 21 January 2025 while the Korean in force on 2 October 2026 is Act No. 21857, and the Enforcement Decree of the Immigration Act is at Presidential Decree No. 35540 of 27 May 2025 against No. 36728 in force. **It does not carry the attached tables** - every Appendix is referred to and none is reproduced - so the status-of-residence lists exist only in Korean. **No translation exists at all for 출입국관리법 시행규칙**, the Enforcement Rules, which carry the stay-period table and the marriage-visa criteria. **Its pages are English with Korean furniture**: the string 법령보기 화면 is printed as a table caption before every article, hundreds of times per document, so a reading from this publisher is a Latin text carrying a non-Latin script in place and `audit:readings` flags every quotation taken near one.
We re-read it every 180 days. More about this source
«제20조(체류자격 외 활동) 대한민국에 체류하는 외국인이 그 체류자격에 해당하는 활동과 함께 다른 체류자격에 해당하는 활동을 하려면 대통령령 으로 정하는 바에 따라 미리 법무부장관의 체류자격 외 활동허가를 받아야 한다.»About this source
The Korean state's legal information centre, run by the Ministry of Government Legislation. It publishes the consolidated current text of every Act, Presidential Decree and Ministerial Decree, each pinned to the date from which that version is in force, and prints the version line at the head of the document - 출입국관리법 [시행 2026. 10. 2.] [법률 제21857호, 2026. 8. 4., 타법개정] - which gives both the commencement date and the Act number that made the version. Three address shapes matter and only the third serves text. https://www.law.go.kr/법령/<name> is a 1.2 KB iframe shell; /LSW/lsInfoP.do?lsiSeq=<N>&chrClsCd=010202&urlMode=lsInfoP&efYd=<YYYYMMDD>&ancYnChk=0 is a second shell with the chrome but no articles; THE BODY IS AT /LSW/lsInfoR.do?lsiSeq=<N>&chrClsCd=010202&efYd=<YYYYMMDD>&ancYnChk=0, which answers an ordinary request and was read for this corpus with `pnpm sources:fetch --direct`. The lsiSeq is version-specific, so an address taken this way is pinned to the consolidation it was read from, which is why every citation of it carries a cut-off. Attached tables (별표) are not in the body: /LSW/lsBylContentsInfoR.do?bylSeq=<B>&lsiSeq=<N> returns hanFlSeq and pdfFlSeq, and https://www.law.go.kr/LSW/flDownload.do?flSeq=<pdfFlSeq> is the table as a PDF with a text layer. The site also carries the government's English translations at /LSW/eng/engLsInfoR.do?lsiSeq=<N>, keyed to the English version's own lsiSeq rather than the Korean one.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: **It consolidates; the Official Gazette (관보) promulgates.** What this site serves is the state's working consolidated text, and where it differs from the gazette the gazette is the instrument. The site says as much about its own comparison tool: 국가법령정보센터에서 제공하는 신구법 비교는 시스템으로 자동 생성한 것으로 참고용으로만 이용하시기 바라며, 정확한 개정내용의 확인은 제·개정이유(제·개정문) 또는 관보를 확인해 주세요. **Its English translations carry no legal effect and say so**, on the page: "ㅇ This English translation of the legislation has been provided by the relevant government ministry solely for the purpose of facilitating understanding of Korean laws. It does not have any legal authority or official effect and may not reflect the most recent amendments." It cannot be cited for the English. **It is not a substitute for the ministerial notices (고시) that carry most of the numbers.** Korean immigration, health insurance, driving and marriage-visa law delegate thresholds to notices of a Minister or a Commissioner, and those are published elsewhere; a reading of law.go.kr establishes the rule and not the figure. **The body address is undocumented and could move.** If /LSW/lsInfoR.do stops answering, re-derive it from the iframe src inside https://www.law.go.kr/법령/<name>.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«특정활동(E-7) 3년»Read from the table as amended on 24 December 2024. The same table reads 비전문취업(E-9) 3년, 구직(D-10) 1년 and 거주(F-2) 5년. It is printed in two pairs of columns, so each line carries two statuses and a quotation is kept to one status and its figure.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Korean state's legal information centre, run by the Ministry of Government Legislation. It publishes the consolidated current text of every Act, Presidential Decree and Ministerial Decree, each pinned to the date from which that version is in force, and prints the version line at the head of the document - 출입국관리법 [시행 2026. 10. 2.] [법률 제21857호, 2026. 8. 4., 타법개정] - which gives both the commencement date and the Act number that made the version. Three address shapes matter and only the third serves text. https://www.law.go.kr/법령/<name> is a 1.2 KB iframe shell; /LSW/lsInfoP.do?lsiSeq=<N>&chrClsCd=010202&urlMode=lsInfoP&efYd=<YYYYMMDD>&ancYnChk=0 is a second shell with the chrome but no articles; THE BODY IS AT /LSW/lsInfoR.do?lsiSeq=<N>&chrClsCd=010202&efYd=<YYYYMMDD>&ancYnChk=0, which answers an ordinary request and was read for this corpus with `pnpm sources:fetch --direct`. The lsiSeq is version-specific, so an address taken this way is pinned to the consolidation it was read from, which is why every citation of it carries a cut-off. Attached tables (별표) are not in the body: /LSW/lsBylContentsInfoR.do?bylSeq=<B>&lsiSeq=<N> returns hanFlSeq and pdfFlSeq, and https://www.law.go.kr/LSW/flDownload.do?flSeq=<pdfFlSeq> is the table as a PDF with a text layer. The site also carries the government's English translations at /LSW/eng/engLsInfoR.do?lsiSeq=<N>, keyed to the English version's own lsiSeq rather than the Korean one.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: **It consolidates; the Official Gazette (관보) promulgates.** What this site serves is the state's working consolidated text, and where it differs from the gazette the gazette is the instrument. The site says as much about its own comparison tool: 국가법령정보센터에서 제공하는 신구법 비교는 시스템으로 자동 생성한 것으로 참고용으로만 이용하시기 바라며, 정확한 개정내용의 확인은 제·개정이유(제·개정문) 또는 관보를 확인해 주세요. **Its English translations carry no legal effect and say so**, on the page: "ㅇ This English translation of the legislation has been provided by the relevant government ministry solely for the purpose of facilitating understanding of Korean laws. It does not have any legal authority or official effect and may not reflect the most recent amendments." It cannot be cited for the English. **It is not a substitute for the ministerial notices (고시) that carry most of the numbers.** Korean immigration, health insurance, driving and marriage-visa law delegate thresholds to notices of a Minister or a Commissioner, and those are published elsewhere; a reading of law.go.kr establishes the rule and not the figure. **The body address is undocumented and could move.** If /LSW/lsInfoR.do stops answering, re-derive it from the iframe src inside https://www.law.go.kr/법령/<name>.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«제19조(외국인을 고용한 자 등의 신고의무) ① 제18조 제1항 에 따라 취업활동을 할 수 있는 체류자격을 가지고 있는 외국인을 고용한 자는 다음 각 호의 어느 하나에 해당하는 사유가 발생하면 대통령령 으로 정하는 바에 따라 15일 이내에 지방출입국ㆍ외국인관서의 장에게 신고하여야 한다. <개정 2014. 3. 18., 2020. 6. 9.> 1. 외국인을 해고하거나 외국인이 퇴직 또는 사망한 경우 2. 고용된 외국인의 소재를 알 수 없게 된 경우 3. 고용계약의 중요한 내용을 변경한 경우»About this source
The Korean state's legal information centre, run by the Ministry of Government Legislation. It publishes the consolidated current text of every Act, Presidential Decree and Ministerial Decree, each pinned to the date from which that version is in force, and prints the version line at the head of the document - 출입국관리법 [시행 2026. 10. 2.] [법률 제21857호, 2026. 8. 4., 타법개정] - which gives both the commencement date and the Act number that made the version. Three address shapes matter and only the third serves text. https://www.law.go.kr/법령/<name> is a 1.2 KB iframe shell; /LSW/lsInfoP.do?lsiSeq=<N>&chrClsCd=010202&urlMode=lsInfoP&efYd=<YYYYMMDD>&ancYnChk=0 is a second shell with the chrome but no articles; THE BODY IS AT /LSW/lsInfoR.do?lsiSeq=<N>&chrClsCd=010202&efYd=<YYYYMMDD>&ancYnChk=0, which answers an ordinary request and was read for this corpus with `pnpm sources:fetch --direct`. The lsiSeq is version-specific, so an address taken this way is pinned to the consolidation it was read from, which is why every citation of it carries a cut-off. Attached tables (별표) are not in the body: /LSW/lsBylContentsInfoR.do?bylSeq=<B>&lsiSeq=<N> returns hanFlSeq and pdfFlSeq, and https://www.law.go.kr/LSW/flDownload.do?flSeq=<pdfFlSeq> is the table as a PDF with a text layer. The site also carries the government's English translations at /LSW/eng/engLsInfoR.do?lsiSeq=<N>, keyed to the English version's own lsiSeq rather than the Korean one.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: **It consolidates; the Official Gazette (관보) promulgates.** What this site serves is the state's working consolidated text, and where it differs from the gazette the gazette is the instrument. The site says as much about its own comparison tool: 국가법령정보센터에서 제공하는 신구법 비교는 시스템으로 자동 생성한 것으로 참고용으로만 이용하시기 바라며, 정확한 개정내용의 확인은 제·개정이유(제·개정문) 또는 관보를 확인해 주세요. **Its English translations carry no legal effect and say so**, on the page: "ㅇ This English translation of the legislation has been provided by the relevant government ministry solely for the purpose of facilitating understanding of Korean laws. It does not have any legal authority or official effect and may not reflect the most recent amendments." It cannot be cited for the English. **It is not a substitute for the ministerial notices (고시) that carry most of the numbers.** Korean immigration, health insurance, driving and marriage-visa law delegate thresholds to notices of a Minister or a Commissioner, and those are published elsewhere; a reading of law.go.kr establishes the rule and not the figure. **The body address is undocumented and could move.** If /LSW/lsInfoR.do stops answering, re-derive it from the iframe src inside https://www.law.go.kr/법령/<name>.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
Practical notes
The Minister of Justice's notice designating the E-7 occupations was not located or read. Nothing here states which jobs qualify, what they pay or what qualifications they require.
The Act on the Employment of Foreign Workers, which sets the conditions for E-9 and the employment permit system, was not read for this record. Attached Table 1-2 defines E-9 by reference to it.
The Minister's notice identifying which E-1 to E-7 holders may report a change of workplace rather than seek permission was not read, so who actually benefits from the proviso to article 21(1) is not established here.
No quota or labour-market test was found in the Act, the Enforcement Decree or the Enforcement Rules. That is a statement about those three instruments and not about Korean practice: the E-7 notice, which was not read, is where such a condition would sit.
Nothing published by the Korea Immigration Service or the Ministry of Employment and Labor was read.
The lighter rule - a report within fifteen days instead of prior permission - reaches only the statuses E-1 to E-7 and only those meeting requirements the Minister publishes by notice. That notice was not read, so who inside those statuses actually qualifies is not stated here.
- consolidates출입국관리법 [시행 2026. 10. 2.] [법률 제21857호, 2026. 8. 4., 타법개정]
국가법령정보센터 (Korean Law Information Center), 법제처 · consolidated to 2026-10-02
About this source
The Korean state's legal information centre, run by the Ministry of Government Legislation. It publishes the consolidated current text of every Act, Presidential Decree and Ministerial Decree, each pinned to the date from which that version is in force, and prints the version line at the head of the document - 출입국관리법 [시행 2026. 10. 2.] [법률 제21857호, 2026. 8. 4., 타법개정] - which gives both the commencement date and the Act number that made the version. Three address shapes matter and only the third serves text. https://www.law.go.kr/법령/<name> is a 1.2 KB iframe shell; /LSW/lsInfoP.do?lsiSeq=<N>&chrClsCd=010202&urlMode=lsInfoP&efYd=<YYYYMMDD>&ancYnChk=0 is a second shell with the chrome but no articles; THE BODY IS AT /LSW/lsInfoR.do?lsiSeq=<N>&chrClsCd=010202&efYd=<YYYYMMDD>&ancYnChk=0, which answers an ordinary request and was read for this corpus with `pnpm sources:fetch --direct`. The lsiSeq is version-specific, so an address taken this way is pinned to the consolidation it was read from, which is why every citation of it carries a cut-off. Attached tables (별표) are not in the body: /LSW/lsBylContentsInfoR.do?bylSeq=<B>&lsiSeq=<N> returns hanFlSeq and pdfFlSeq, and https://www.law.go.kr/LSW/flDownload.do?flSeq=<pdfFlSeq> is the table as a PDF with a text layer. The site also carries the government's English translations at /LSW/eng/engLsInfoR.do?lsiSeq=<N>, keyed to the English version's own lsiSeq rather than the Korean one.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: **It consolidates; the Official Gazette (관보) promulgates.** What this site serves is the state's working consolidated text, and where it differs from the gazette the gazette is the instrument. The site says as much about its own comparison tool: 국가법령정보센터에서 제공하는 신구법 비교는 시스템으로 자동 생성한 것으로 참고용으로만 이용하시기 바라며, 정확한 개정내용의 확인은 제·개정이유(제·개정문) 또는 관보를 확인해 주세요. **Its English translations carry no legal effect and say so**, on the page: "ㅇ This English translation of the legislation has been provided by the relevant government ministry solely for the purpose of facilitating understanding of Korean laws. It does not have any legal authority or official effect and may not reflect the most recent amendments." It cannot be cited for the English. **It is not a substitute for the ministerial notices (고시) that carry most of the numbers.** Korean immigration, health insurance, driving and marriage-visa law delegate thresholds to notices of a Minister or a Commissioner, and those are published elsewhere; a reading of law.go.kr establishes the rule and not the figure. **The body address is undocumented and could move.** If /LSW/lsInfoR.do stops answering, re-derive it from the iframe src inside https://www.law.go.kr/법령/<name>.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
- consolidates출입국관리법 시행령 [별표 1의2] 장기체류자격(제12조 관련)
국가법령정보센터 (Korean Law Information Center), 법제처
About this source
The Korean state's legal information centre, run by the Ministry of Government Legislation. It publishes the consolidated current text of every Act, Presidential Decree and Ministerial Decree, each pinned to the date from which that version is in force, and prints the version line at the head of the document - 출입국관리법 [시행 2026. 10. 2.] [법률 제21857호, 2026. 8. 4., 타법개정] - which gives both the commencement date and the Act number that made the version. Three address shapes matter and only the third serves text. https://www.law.go.kr/법령/<name> is a 1.2 KB iframe shell; /LSW/lsInfoP.do?lsiSeq=<N>&chrClsCd=010202&urlMode=lsInfoP&efYd=<YYYYMMDD>&ancYnChk=0 is a second shell with the chrome but no articles; THE BODY IS AT /LSW/lsInfoR.do?lsiSeq=<N>&chrClsCd=010202&efYd=<YYYYMMDD>&ancYnChk=0, which answers an ordinary request and was read for this corpus with `pnpm sources:fetch --direct`. The lsiSeq is version-specific, so an address taken this way is pinned to the consolidation it was read from, which is why every citation of it carries a cut-off. Attached tables (별표) are not in the body: /LSW/lsBylContentsInfoR.do?bylSeq=<B>&lsiSeq=<N> returns hanFlSeq and pdfFlSeq, and https://www.law.go.kr/LSW/flDownload.do?flSeq=<pdfFlSeq> is the table as a PDF with a text layer. The site also carries the government's English translations at /LSW/eng/engLsInfoR.do?lsiSeq=<N>, keyed to the English version's own lsiSeq rather than the Korean one.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: **It consolidates; the Official Gazette (관보) promulgates.** What this site serves is the state's working consolidated text, and where it differs from the gazette the gazette is the instrument. The site says as much about its own comparison tool: 국가법령정보센터에서 제공하는 신구법 비교는 시스템으로 자동 생성한 것으로 참고용으로만 이용하시기 바라며, 정확한 개정내용의 확인은 제·개정이유(제·개정문) 또는 관보를 확인해 주세요. **Its English translations carry no legal effect and say so**, on the page: "ㅇ This English translation of the legislation has been provided by the relevant government ministry solely for the purpose of facilitating understanding of Korean laws. It does not have any legal authority or official effect and may not reflect the most recent amendments." It cannot be cited for the English. **It is not a substitute for the ministerial notices (고시) that carry most of the numbers.** Korean immigration, health insurance, driving and marriage-visa law delegate thresholds to notices of a Minister or a Commissioner, and those are published elsewhere; a reading of law.go.kr establishes the rule and not the figure. **The body address is undocumented and could move.** If /LSW/lsInfoR.do stops answering, re-derive it from the iframe src inside https://www.law.go.kr/법령/<name>.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
- consolidates출입국관리법 시행규칙 [별표 1] 체류자격별 체류기간의 상한(제18조의3 관련)
국가법령정보센터 (Korean Law Information Center), 법제처
About this source
The Korean state's legal information centre, run by the Ministry of Government Legislation. It publishes the consolidated current text of every Act, Presidential Decree and Ministerial Decree, each pinned to the date from which that version is in force, and prints the version line at the head of the document - 출입국관리법 [시행 2026. 10. 2.] [법률 제21857호, 2026. 8. 4., 타법개정] - which gives both the commencement date and the Act number that made the version. Three address shapes matter and only the third serves text. https://www.law.go.kr/법령/<name> is a 1.2 KB iframe shell; /LSW/lsInfoP.do?lsiSeq=<N>&chrClsCd=010202&urlMode=lsInfoP&efYd=<YYYYMMDD>&ancYnChk=0 is a second shell with the chrome but no articles; THE BODY IS AT /LSW/lsInfoR.do?lsiSeq=<N>&chrClsCd=010202&efYd=<YYYYMMDD>&ancYnChk=0, which answers an ordinary request and was read for this corpus with `pnpm sources:fetch --direct`. The lsiSeq is version-specific, so an address taken this way is pinned to the consolidation it was read from, which is why every citation of it carries a cut-off. Attached tables (별표) are not in the body: /LSW/lsBylContentsInfoR.do?bylSeq=<B>&lsiSeq=<N> returns hanFlSeq and pdfFlSeq, and https://www.law.go.kr/LSW/flDownload.do?flSeq=<pdfFlSeq> is the table as a PDF with a text layer. The site also carries the government's English translations at /LSW/eng/engLsInfoR.do?lsiSeq=<N>, keyed to the English version's own lsiSeq rather than the Korean one.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: **It consolidates; the Official Gazette (관보) promulgates.** What this site serves is the state's working consolidated text, and where it differs from the gazette the gazette is the instrument. The site says as much about its own comparison tool: 국가법령정보센터에서 제공하는 신구법 비교는 시스템으로 자동 생성한 것으로 참고용으로만 이용하시기 바라며, 정확한 개정내용의 확인은 제·개정이유(제·개정문) 또는 관보를 확인해 주세요. **Its English translations carry no legal effect and say so**, on the page: "ㅇ This English translation of the legislation has been provided by the relevant government ministry solely for the purpose of facilitating understanding of Korean laws. It does not have any legal authority or official effect and may not reflect the most recent amendments." It cannot be cited for the English. **It is not a substitute for the ministerial notices (고시) that carry most of the numbers.** Korean immigration, health insurance, driving and marriage-visa law delegate thresholds to notices of a Minister or a Commissioner, and those are published elsewhere; a reading of law.go.kr establishes the rule and not the figure. **The body address is undocumented and could move.** If /LSW/lsInfoR.do stops answering, re-derive it from the iframe src inside https://www.law.go.kr/법령/<name>.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
- reportsENFORCEMENT DECREE OF THE IMMIGRATION ACT - Statutes of the Republic of Korea
Korea Legislation Research Institute
About this source
The state-funded research institute that produces and hosts the English translations of Korean statutes, at elaw.klri.re.kr under the title Statutes of the Republic of Korea. Its own statistics page counts 3,070 current translations - 1,593 statutes, 1,389 enforcement decrees, 3 enforcement rules and 83 others - against 21,044 former ones. Two addresses matter: /eng_service/lawView.do?hseq=<N>&lang=ENG is the frame, which carries the disclaimer and nothing else, and /eng_service/lawViewContent.do?hseq=<N>&lang=ENG is the text. The hseq identifies a particular translated version of a particular statute, so it behaves like a pinned address. Its own search is broken for an ordinary client: /eng_service/lawTotalSearch.do, /eng_service/lawAllSearch.do and /eng_service/lawTotalSearchList.do?type=abc all answer HTTP 500 with a Java NullPointerException. **The route that works is a POST to /eng_service/lawNameList.do with page=1, searchType1=korean and searchValue=<the Korean statute name>**, which returns the Korean and English titles with their hseq. A session cookie from /eng_service/main.do is required for anything on the site.
Standing: Reports, establishes nothing
Cannot be cited for: **Its translations are not law and it says so on every statute page**: "* Translations provided here are for reference only, and are neither official nor legally effective. * The links provided by an automatic program for the convenience of users may have some errors." It cannot be cited as the text of a Korean statute; the Korean at law.go.kr is. Four divergences were found in a single country's reading and all four change the rule: the English of 소득세법 제1조의2(1)1 attaches 183 days to both the domicile and the residence limb where the Korean attaches it only to the second; the English of 소득세법 시행령 제4조(3)1 says "exceeds 183 days" where the Korean says 183일 이상, 183 or more; the English of 출입국관리법 제18조(1) says a status entitling the holder to "job-seeking activities" where the Korean says 취업활동, employment activity, job-seeking being a different status in the same table; and the English of 재외동포법 제5조(2) makes the military-service bar lapse automatically from 1 January of the year the man turns 41, where the Korean makes it a discretion the Minister of Justice may exercise from that date. **It also lags.** Each translation states the Act it renders: the Immigration Act is translated at Act No. 20677 of 21 January 2025 while the Korean in force on 2 October 2026 is Act No. 21857, and the Enforcement Decree of the Immigration Act is at Presidential Decree No. 35540 of 27 May 2025 against No. 36728 in force. **It does not carry the attached tables** - every Appendix is referred to and none is reproduced - so the status-of-residence lists exist only in Korean. **No translation exists at all for 출입국관리법 시행규칙**, the Enforcement Rules, which carry the stay-period table and the marriage-visa criteria. **Its pages are English with Korean furniture**: the string 법령보기 화면 is printed as a table caption before every article, hundreds of times per document, so a reading from this publisher is a Latin text carrying a non-Latin script in place and `audit:readings` flags every quotation taken near one.
We re-read it every 180 days. More about this source
- reportsIMMIGRATION ACT - Statutes of the Republic of Korea
Korea Legislation Research Institute
About this source
The state-funded research institute that produces and hosts the English translations of Korean statutes, at elaw.klri.re.kr under the title Statutes of the Republic of Korea. Its own statistics page counts 3,070 current translations - 1,593 statutes, 1,389 enforcement decrees, 3 enforcement rules and 83 others - against 21,044 former ones. Two addresses matter: /eng_service/lawView.do?hseq=<N>&lang=ENG is the frame, which carries the disclaimer and nothing else, and /eng_service/lawViewContent.do?hseq=<N>&lang=ENG is the text. The hseq identifies a particular translated version of a particular statute, so it behaves like a pinned address. Its own search is broken for an ordinary client: /eng_service/lawTotalSearch.do, /eng_service/lawAllSearch.do and /eng_service/lawTotalSearchList.do?type=abc all answer HTTP 500 with a Java NullPointerException. **The route that works is a POST to /eng_service/lawNameList.do with page=1, searchType1=korean and searchValue=<the Korean statute name>**, which returns the Korean and English titles with their hseq. A session cookie from /eng_service/main.do is required for anything on the site.
Standing: Reports, establishes nothing
Cannot be cited for: **Its translations are not law and it says so on every statute page**: "* Translations provided here are for reference only, and are neither official nor legally effective. * The links provided by an automatic program for the convenience of users may have some errors." It cannot be cited as the text of a Korean statute; the Korean at law.go.kr is. Four divergences were found in a single country's reading and all four change the rule: the English of 소득세법 제1조의2(1)1 attaches 183 days to both the domicile and the residence limb where the Korean attaches it only to the second; the English of 소득세법 시행령 제4조(3)1 says "exceeds 183 days" where the Korean says 183일 이상, 183 or more; the English of 출입국관리법 제18조(1) says a status entitling the holder to "job-seeking activities" where the Korean says 취업활동, employment activity, job-seeking being a different status in the same table; and the English of 재외동포법 제5조(2) makes the military-service bar lapse automatically from 1 January of the year the man turns 41, where the Korean makes it a discretion the Minister of Justice may exercise from that date. **It also lags.** Each translation states the Act it renders: the Immigration Act is translated at Act No. 20677 of 21 January 2025 while the Korean in force on 2 October 2026 is Act No. 21857, and the Enforcement Decree of the Immigration Act is at Presidential Decree No. 35540 of 27 May 2025 against No. 36728 in force. **It does not carry the attached tables** - every Appendix is referred to and none is reproduced - so the status-of-residence lists exist only in Korean. **No translation exists at all for 출입국관리법 시행규칙**, the Enforcement Rules, which carry the stay-period table and the marriage-visa criteria. **Its pages are English with Korean furniture**: the string 법령보기 화면 is printed as a table caption before every article, hundreds of times per document, so a reading from this publisher is a Latin text carrying a non-Latin script in place and `audit:readings` flags every quotation taken near one.
We re-read it every 180 days. More about this source