After the startup visa: the routes to permanence, and the two dates that disagree
Special naturalisation for outstanding talent has an official call — 공고 제2026-93호, applications to 2026-10-01 — while the Global Startup Center's own page prints a 2027 close. F-2-7 and F-5 specifics live on commercial guides today, not on any page we could fetch from the issuing body. This post traces what is sourced and flags what is not.
A Korean startup visa is a beginning, not a destination. The destinations — long-term residence, permanent residence, nationality — have their own documents, and the sourcing picture there is thinner than the founder-visa layer. Here is what the fetched pages actually say.
Special naturalisation: the sourced route
The official call exists on K-Startup itself: 중소벤처기업부 공고 제2026-93호, the announcement on recommendations for special naturalisation of outstanding private-sector talent.
Its printed frame: applications from February 11, 2026, 18
, through October 1, 2026, 18; dual nationality granted instead of renunciation (복수국적); the procedure runs requirements review, then presentation evaluation, then the screening committee; and the 주관기관명 is 창업진흥원.The Global Startup Center's page describes the programme the call feeds: the Ministry of Justice grants nationality to people with outstanding abilities across ten categories — among them outstanding employees, new-industry and advanced-technology employees, core-technology holders, and holders of intellectual property rights.
For a startup founder, those categories are the reason this post exists on this site: the D-8-4 route's skills and filings are, in principle, the raw material of categories six through eight.
The two dates that disagree
The GSC page prints applications closing February 11, 2027, rolling from February 11, 2026. The official 공고 prints a close of October 1, 2026, 18
.This post does not reconcile them. The 공고 is the ministry's own document; the GSC page is the programme operator's; and a founder who plans around either date without checking the other is betting a nationality decision on a webpage.
| Source | Printed application window |
|---|---|
| 공고 제2026-93호 (K-Startup) | 2026-02-11 18 → 2026-10-01 18 |
| Global Startup Center page | Rolling from 2026-02-11 → 2027-02-11 |
F-2-7 and F-5: named, not traced
The two residence routes are real and routinely described — F-2-7 as a points-based long-term status, F-5 as permanent residence — and commercial agency guides print detailed point tables, income multiples and year-counts for both.
What they are not printed on, anywhere we could fetch on 2026-09-01, is an issuing-body page. HiKorea's pages sit behind an interactive portal, and the government's easylaw text arrives only as quotations inside third-party guides.
So this post prints none of those numbers. The criteria exist; the fetchable evidence does not; and the difference between those two statements is the entire sourcing discipline of this site.
Frequently asked questions
- What is special naturalisation for outstanding talent?
- Per the Global Startup Center's page: the Ministry of Justice grants Korean nationality to individuals with outstanding abilities in science, the economy, culture, sports and other fields who are recognised as likely to contribute to the national interest — across ten categories, including outstanding employees, new-industry and advanced-technology specialists, core-technology holders and IPR holders.
- Do naturalised founders keep their original nationality?
- Yes, per both sources: instead of requiring renunciation, dual nationality is permitted. The official 공고 prints 대한민국 국적 부여 (외국 국적 포기 대신 복수국적).
- When do applications close?
- The sources disagree, and this post will not pick a side. The official 공고 (제2026-93호) prints 신청기간 2026.02.11 18:00 through 2026.10.01 18:00. The Global Startup Center's page prints applications open February 11, 2026 on a rolling basis and closing February 11, 2027. Confirm against the ministry before acting.
- Who administers the recommendation process?
- The 공고's 주관기관명 is 창업진흥원 (KISED), with the Global Startup Center listed for enquiries. The printed procedure: requirements review (요건검토), presentation evaluation (발표평가), then the screening committee (심사위원회).
- What are F-2-7 and F-5, and can I get their details here?
- F-2-7 is Korea's points-based long-term residence status and F-5 is permanent residence. Their detailed thresholds circulate on commercial agency guides, but no issuing-body page was fetchable on 2026-09-01 — so this post deliberately prints no agency numbers as facts. HiKorea and easylaw are the places the real criteria live.
- Is special naturalisation "OASIS 9"?
- Not per the pages we fetched. The OASIS operator's page prints OASIS-9 as Support Start-Up Items Commercialization, worth 30 points; the Global Startup Center's naturalisation page, fetched in full, never uses the term OASIS 9. An earlier conflict report on this naming could not be reproduced against the live pages — flagged, not resolved.
Sources
- 중소벤처기업부 공고 제2026-93호 (K-Startup) — 민간기업 분야 우수인재 특별귀화 추천 신청 모집 공고; window, dual nationality, procedure, 주관 창업진흥원 — read 2026-09-01
- Global Startup Center, Special Naturalization of Outstanding Private Sector Talent page — 10 categories, MoJ grant, public-institution recommendation, printed dates — read 2026-09-01
- Global Start-up Immigration Center (OASIS operator), D-8-4 page — OASIS-9 as commercialisation support, 30 points — read 2026-09-01
- Hero photograph: passport data page, by dunkaist, Wikimedia Commons, public domain — read 2026-09-01
Everything above is the rule as published. See how it applies to your case.