South Korea

The thresholds were raised sharply in 2023, and the figures now in circulation vary widely. Treat everything here as indicative until you verify it directly with the Korea Immigration Service. The public-fund route is reported at KRW 1.5bn (roughly USD 1.1–1.2m) for F-2 residence, up from KRW 500m before the 2023 tightening, with F-5 permanent residency available after five years. A high-value fast track is reported at KRW 3bn for immediate F-5, and a tourism-zone real estate route at KRW 1bn. Our confidence in these numbers is deliberately low, since none of them could be confirmed against a Korea Immigration Service primary publication.

For the public-fund route, effectively yes. It is principal-guaranteed but pays zero interest, so the real cost is the opportunity cost of having USD 1m or more locked up for five years. Combined with Korean inheritance tax of up to 50% and worldwide taxation after five years of domicile, this structure rarely survives contact with a UHNW family's tax adviser. Korea tripled its investor threshold in 2023, and the market has largely moved on.

Korea taxes residents on worldwide income, but there is a transition window first. Foreign residents who have had a domicile in Korea for five years or less in the preceding ten are taxed on foreign-source income only if it is paid in Korea or remitted there. Once you exceed five years of domicile in any ten-year period, your worldwide income enters the Korean tax base. The top marginal rate is around 49.5% including the local surtax, though foreign workers may elect a 19% flat rate on employment income for up to 20 years.

Among the highest in the world. Inheritance tax reaches up to 50%, and controlling shareholdings can face up to 60% under the largest-shareholder premium. That is a major issue for family businesses. Becoming Korean-domiciled with a family company is therefore a serious estate risk. There is no separate wealth tax, but the Comprehensive Real Estate Holding Tax works as a property wealth tax on high-value holdings. Korea also runs CFC rules and an exit tax.

Generally no. Korea does not broadly permit dual citizenship for adults who naturalise. There are only narrow exceptions, and naturalisation generally requires about five years of residence plus Korean-language and social-integration testing. For most globally mobile families, the citizenship route is not the attraction here.

The D-8 Corporate Investment Visa needs at least KRW 100m (roughly USD 70–75k) of registered foreign direct investment under the Foreign Investment Promotion Act. That makes it by far the cheapest way into Korea. But the statutory minimum is a floor, not a practical bar. This is a genuine operating-business visa, and immigration routinely refuses or short-validates thinly capitalised shells with no office and no employees. The investment must be registered as FDI. An ordinary capital injection does not automatically qualify.

Not quickly. D-8 is for an executive or essential specialist sent to run a real Korean entity, with family joining on F-3 dependent status. F-5 permanent residency is available on various grounds, but the investment tracks carry much higher thresholds. The F-5-5 track is reported to require USD 500,000+ and the employment of five or more Korean nationals. Naturalisation generally needs five years of residence, and dual citizenship is generally not permitted.

Treat it with caution. The tourism and leisure real estate route is confined to designated zones such as Jeju, and those developments have had a chequered commercial history. The F-2-8 programme was reported as extended only to 30 April 2026, and its status after that date is unconfirmed. The reported threshold is KRW 1bn, following a 2023 doubling from KRW 500m. Verify directly before committing any funds.