Before you start

A passport valid well beyond your intended stay
A long-stay visa matching your actual purpose, generally issued at a consulate abroad
A documented Ulsan address — lease, company housing assignment or an employer confirmation letter
Category evidence: employment contract and sponsor filing for work visas; foreign employment, income and private medical cover for F-1-D

Step-by-step

1
Settle the category before you travel
E-7 has occupation-code and salary thresholds and is the usual skilled-worker route into Ulsan's industry; E-9 runs through the Employment Permit System with a very different set of rules; E-2 requires a degree and an apostilled criminal record check obtained at home. Most are issued by a consulate in your country of residence and cannot be converted into from a visa-free entry. Getting it wrong means leaving Korea and restarting.
Via employerWho: You with your employer, university or a Korean consulate2–8 weeksConsular issuance fee, typically KRW 60,000–130,000
2
Establish exactly who your sponsor is, on paper
This matters more in Ulsan than almost anywhere in Korea, because a large share of on-site work at the yard and the plants is done through subcontractors rather than the household-name company on the gate. Your visa is tied to the entity that filed for it. Confirm in writing which legal entity employs you, what its business registration number is, and what happens to your status if the contract it holds ends — before you accept.
Via employerWho: You with your employer's HRBefore signing
3
Book the HiKorea appointment in your first week
Registration appointments are booked at hikorea.go.kr; walk-ins are not accepted. The Ulsan office moved to a new facility from 26 June 2023, so confirm the current address on HiKorea rather than trusting an older map pin. The ninety-day legal deadline runs from entry regardless of slot availability. The multilingual contact centre on 1345 can help.
OnlineWho: YouBook on arrivalFree to reserve
4
Register and apply for the ARC
Attend in person with your passport, application form, a 3.5 × 4.5 cm photo, proof of your Ulsan address and category documents. If you are in company housing, the employer's assignment letter is the proof of address. Biometrics are taken at the counter. The fee is KRW 30,000, plus a small charge for postal delivery. Overrunning ninety days attracts a fine that follows you into later applications.
In personWho: YouOne appointment, 30–60 minutesKRW 30,000 plus postage
5
Take the mobile residence card while the plastic is in the post
The physical card takes roughly three to six weeks. The mobile residence card in the government ID app has been issued since January 2025 and carries the same legal weight as the plastic, and banks have progressively accepted it for account opening since March 2025 — which matters in the gap when everything else is waiting on the card.
Mobile appWho: You3–6 weeksNo further fee
6
Report changes, and treat a shipbuilding downturn as an immigration event
Address changes, employer changes and passport renewals are reported to immigration, generally within fourteen days. In a cyclical industrial economy a sponsor can disappear with the order book, and a work visa without a sponsor is on a clock. Know your category's grace period and job-change rules before you need them, rather than after — and note that no Ulsan district is a designated population-decline area, so the F-2-R regional route is not an available fallback here.
In personWho: YouOngoing

Documents you’ll need

Passport, original plus a copy of the photo page
Completed integrated application form
One colour photo, 3.5 × 4.5 cm, taken within six months
Proof of your Ulsan address — lease, company housing assignment or a signed confirmation letter
Category evidence: employment contract, sponsor's business registration, enrolment certificate, or foreign employment and insurance proof for F-1-D
Tuberculosis screening result, required for some nationalities and categories

Things most newcomers don’t know

In Ulsan, knowing which legal entity sponsors you is not paperwork pedantry.

A great deal of work inside the shipyard and the industrial complexes is performed by subcontractors, and it is the subcontractor — not the famous name on the gate — that holds your visa sponsorship. When a contract ends or a subcontractor folds, the person whose badge says one company and whose visa says another discovers the difference at the worst possible moment. Get the sponsoring entity, its registration number and the consequences of contract termination in writing before you accept an offer.

Source: community-reported; Korea Immigration Service sponsor rules

Ulsan salaries are an immigration asset, and most people never use them that way.

The F-2-7 points visa scores income and Korean-language ability alongside education and age, and the region has the highest output and among the highest wages in the country. An engineer three years into an Ulsan industrial contract is often closer to the points threshold than they realise, while assuming residence is only available to people in Seoul. Score yourself against the current table rather than guessing — it costs an evening and it changes what your options are.

Source: Korea Immigration Service — points system

No Ulsan district is a designated population-decline area, so there is no regional shortcut here.

Busan and Daegu each have districts on the Ministry of the Interior's designated list, which is what opens the F-2-R regional-specialised visa at thresholds below the ordinary points route. Ulsan has none, and neither does Ulju-gun. If you are choosing between southern Korean industrial cities partly on residence prospects, that is a real difference, and the designations are re-evaluated periodically so it is worth re-checking rather than assuming permanence.

Source: Ministry of the Interior and Safety — population-decline designations

The immigration office moved, and stale addresses are still circulating.

The Ulsan office began operating from a new facility on 26 June 2023 and older guides, maps and forum posts still point at the previous building. Turning up at the wrong address costs you an appointment slot that may be weeks away. Take the address from HiKorea on the day you book, not from a search result.

Source: Korea Immigration Service — Ulsan Immigration Office relocation notice

Common mistakes to avoid

Treating ninety days visa-free as permission to work or job-hunt.
Not knowing which legal entity actually sponsors your visa on a subcontracted industrial site.
Assuming a lost sponsor is an employment problem rather than an immigration deadline.
Using an old address for the Ulsan immigration office, which relocated in June 2023.
Expecting a regional-visa fallback — no Ulsan district is a designated population-decline area.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.