Korea to grant start-up visas to foreigners

According to the revised enforcement decree in the Immigration Control Act, foreigners with a bachelor's degree and intellectual property rights who have set up a business in a related industry will be awarded a D-8 visa, also known as a start-up or corporate investor visa.

Once they contributed to local job creation by attracting investment of more than KRW300 million ($262,000) and are hiring more than two Koreans, entrepreneurs will be eligible for an F-5, or permanent resident, visa.

According to AVCJ Research, last year saw $32 million of seed stage and start-up invesement across 29 deals in Korea compared to $35 million the previous year. Data from the Koren Venture Capital Association (KVCA) put the number of start-ups in Korea at 28,763 as of the end of February this year - nearly double the 15,401 in 2008.

The Korean government is a major sponsor of the country's venture capital industry, making investments through its state-backed funds such as the Korea Venture Investment Corp. (K-VIC).

South Korean President Park Geun-hye has been particularly vocal in her support of VC and last month met with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to publicise her "creative economy" policy initiative aimed at nurturing start-ups.

The government recently pledged $2.9 billion in funding for venture companies in the technology sector through state-based funding and subsidized loans to start-ups.

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• Topics
• North Asia
• Venture
• Regulation
• South Korea
• Venture
• regulation