E-7-4 skilled technical status: annual issuance quota
The only route by which a non-professional worker reaches a long-stay status with family accompaniment, and it is rationed. A quota means the qualifying criteria are a threshold rather than an entitlement, and the number is set annually — so whether the route is realistically open in a given year is a fact about policy, not about the applicant. Worth watching in both directions: it has been expanded before.
- Applies to
- E-9, E-10 and H-2 holders applying to convert to E-7-4 skilled technical status
- Review cadence
- Checked once a year
What we have recorded
- 2026-01-0133,000
For 2026, with the scope of eligible employment widened in some sectors including agriculture and fisheries. Base eligibility is a registered foreign national with four or more years of stay on E-9, E-10 or H-2 within the last ten years, subject to points criteria covering income, Korean language ability, age, work history and employer recommendation.
Ministry of Justice — 2026 E-7-4 operating plan
One reading so far. This becomes a history the first time the figure moves while we are watching — which is the part that cannot be reconstructed later.
Guides that depend on this figure
When this figure moves, every guide above needs the same edit. That is why it is tracked here rather than copied into each one.