The Ministry of Justice's expansion of the eligibility for the D-2-5 (research study) and E-3 (research) visas seeks to attract outstanding personnel from abroad in science and technology. Shown are foreign students in November last year at the event Ajou International Week with AUT (Ajou University in Tashkent, Uzbekistan) at Ajou University in Suwon, Gyeonggi-do Province. (Ajou University)

By Park Hye Ri

The expanded scope of those eligible for the D-2-5 (research student) and E-3 (researcher) visas will seek to attract outstanding personnel from abroad in science and technology.

The Ministry of Justice on July 1 said domestic universities ranked among the top in the global rankings can invite undergraduates from abroad majoring in science and engineering as research students (D-2-5).

The visa used to be exclusively for holders of a master's or doctoral degree or undergraduates invited to attend select research institutes such as the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, and University of Science & Technology.

The E-3 was for those with a master's or doctorate but saw limited usefulness in attracting foreign researchers, as it required at least three years of work experience for a holder of a master's from abroad.

The ministry plans to swiftly grant this visa for holders of a master's from abroad even if they fail to meet the work experience requirement if they graduated from globally prestigious universities or were listed as authors of outstanding academic papers. 

"To attract outstanding global human resources in science and technology, we will gradually expand the scope of those eligible for visas related to research," the ministry said. "We will seek improvements to create a balanced visa system by collecting opinions from relevant ministries and the science and technology community."

hrhr@korea.kr