Securing Family Residency Through South Korea's Investment Program

For high-net-worth families, the value of investment immigration is often not limited to the principal applicant obtaining an overseas status. More importantly, it lies in whether the spouse, children, and other family members can also obtain stable long-term residency arrangements.

One of the key features of Korean investment immigration is that a compliant investment made by the principal applicant can cover an eligible spouse and unmarried children. However, it is important to note that “family-wide benefits” do not mean that family members have fully independent status from the beginning. From status dependency at the F-2 stage to independent status at the F-5 stage, there is an important five-year transition period.

I. Who Can Be Covered by One Investment?

There are currently three main pathways under South Korea’s investment immigration program: an investment of KRW 1 billion in tourism and leisure facilities to obtain F-2 status; an investment of KRW 1.5 billion in a public-interest project to obtain F-2 status; and an investment of KRW 3 billion in a public-interest project to directly obtain F-5 status.

Under the first two pathways, the investor, spouse, and unmarried children can obtain F-2 status. After maintaining the investment for more than five years, they can convert to F-5 status. Under the KRW 3 billion high-value investment pathway, the investor and eligible accompanying applicants can obtain F-5 status, but the investment funds must be maintained for five years; otherwise, the F-5 status will be revoked.

Therefore, from a family planning perspective, Korean investment immigration does not require each family member to make a separate investment. Instead, family status coverage is established based on the principal applicant’s investment eligibility.

II. F-2 Stage: The Whole Family Benefits, but Status Remains Tied to the Principal Applicant

During the F-2 residency stage, the spouse and unmarried children obtain status together with the principal applicant. However, the family’s status at this stage has a clear dependent nature. During this period, families should pay particular attention to two matters:

● The “unmarried” requirement for children: Being an “unmarried child” is a prerequisite for benefiting from the family provisions of South Korea’s investment immigration program. If a child gets married during the five-year waiting period before the family converts from F-2 to F-5, the child’s family status will change, which may affect the subsequent F-5 application as a dependent.

● The stability of the spouse’s status: As long as the marital relationship remains valid, the spouse can generally transition to F-5 status together with the principal applicant through a relatively straightforward process.

Therefore, for adult unmarried children, families should consider the five-year status transition period in advance and align it with the child’s personal marriage and family plans when selecting an investment immigration option.

III. F-5 Stage: Family Members Begin to Hold Truly Independent Status

Once eligible family members complete the transition to F-5 status, the underlying status structure changes.

Among the F-5 categories published by the Korean Ministry of Justice are categories covering public-interest investment immigrants and their eligible spouses, unmarried children, and others. This means that once family members complete the relevant F-5 transition, they obtain permanent residency in their own right rather than remaining merely dependents under the principal applicant’s F-2 status.

For general public-interest investment immigration, the Ministry of Justice also clearly states that after the investment has been maintained for five years, the F-5 status already obtained can be maintained even if the investment principal is returned. For the KRW 3 billion investment immigration category, the investment must likewise be maintained for five years before the status of the principal applicant and accompanying applicants can become independently established.

This is also a critical dividing line in family planning for Korean investment immigration: at the F-2 stage, the focus is on maintaining the principal applicant’s investment eligibility; at the F-5 stage, the focus shifts to the permanent residency status that each family member has already obtained independently.

IV. Risk Management: Status Planning in Unexpected Situations and Professional Support from Globevisa

What happens to the family’s immigration status if the principal applicant encounters an unexpected event before completing the transition to F-5, such as passing away? This is a special scenario that high-net-worth families should consider in advance. If the principal applicant passes away before completing the transition to F-5, the legal treatment of immigration status cannot simply be equated with the inheritance of assets:

● Immigration status cannot be automatically inherited: Even if the investment principal is legally inherited by the child, this does not mean that the child automatically assumes the original principal applicant’s F-2 or F-5 application eligibility. If the principal applicant passes away during the process, the accompanying family members’ status can only remain at the F-2 level, after which the investment must be withdrawn. The principal applicant cannot be replaced by a direct family member.

● Compliant alternatives: However, if the child independently meets the requirements for investment immigration, the child may consider using the inherited assets to establish a new investment relationship and submit a new application as the principal applicant. This would constitute a new investment immigration application. The F-2 status and investment period previously accumulated under the original principal applicant cannot be automatically transferred or carried forward.

Therefore, for families where the principal applicant is relatively old, another option may be considered: having an eligible child serve as the principal applicant and arranging long-term residency for the parents. Under South Korea’s current visa system, parents of investors may apply for an F-1-15 visa for visiting and cohabitation or a C-3 visa for family reunification/visits. However, neither of these visa categories can be directly converted to permanent residency together with the principal applicant.

For complex family relationships and non-standard family structures, Globevisa’s South Korea Program Team has extensive experience in preliminary assessment and case handling. Through cross-team coordination between our China-based and South Korea-based teams, we conduct advance planning and compliance reviews of family structures and potential risks at the early stage of the application, helping clients avoid the risk of status interruption caused by unexpected changes in family circumstances.’‘

V. Conclusion

One investment can cover an entire family, but overseas immigration status will never remain permanently tied to family relationships or be automatically and unconditionally inherited simply because of a family relationship. For high-net-worth families, Korean investment immigration requires comprehensive consideration of the principal applicant’s age, the children’s age and marital status, the family’s plans for the next five years, and the allocation of assets.

Globevisa is not only a transaction intermediary. We provide comprehensive project services throughout the immigration process and the five-year long-term service cycle. Since 2013, we have been deeply engaged in the Korean investment immigration program, accumulating successful experience with more than 1,300 families and experience with nearly 100 permanent residency conversion cases.

As part of Globevisa’s comprehensive service system, we focus not only on matching clients with appropriate investment and funding solutions at the initial stage, but also on providing a comprehensive advance assessment covering F-2 maintenance, F-5 conversion, and special family circumstances. Our goal is to help every family achieve long-term stability and flexibility in managing their overseas residency.