(SOUTH KOREA) — South Korea’s Ministry of Justice moved more than 36,000 overseas Koreans into an integrated F-4 visa in the three months after the new system took effect on February 12, 2026, marking a fast shift away from the country’s previous dual-track approach for ethnic Koreans from abroad.

The change combined the former H-2 and F-4 categories into a single F-4 visa for overseas Koreans and ended new issuance of the H-2 visa, according to the policy framework and a May 27, 2026 report on the early results.

More than 36,000 applicants changed status to the integrated F-4 within roughly three months. That pace points to immediate demand from people already in the country who qualified to move into the revised category once the rules changed.

The integration took effect on February 12, 2026. From that date, the Ministry of Justice began operating the unified system instead of the former split between the H-2 and F-4 tracks.

Applicants can file change-of-status requests through HiKorea, the government’s immigration service platform. One guide says application fees are waived until December 31, 2027, cutting the immediate cost of conversion for those seeking to move into the integrated status.

The Ministry of Justice also expanded eligibility and removed job limits as part of the February 12 implementation. Those two changes sit at the center of the policy shift and help explain why the integrated F-4 drew tens of thousands of conversions in a short period.

Before the change, overseas Koreans used separate visa categories. After the revision, the government folded those routes into one framework under the F-4 label and closed off new H-2 issuance.

That structure gives the policy both an administrative and practical effect. Administratively, it reduces the number of visa categories used for overseas Koreans. Practically, it channels new and changing cases into a single status while removing job limits that had existed under the earlier approach.

The uptake figure, more than 36,000 in about three months, offers the first measure of how quickly residents responded once the integrated F-4 became available. The change appears to have drawn applicants already positioned to convert rather than producing a gradual transition over a longer period.

HiKorea now serves as the filing route for status changes under the new framework. Applicants seeking to convert can use that system while the fee waiver remains in place through December 31, 2027.

The end of new H-2 issuance is one of the clearest breaks with the earlier system. People entering or changing status under the revised rules now move through the F-4 structure rather than through a newly issued H-2 visa.

Eligibility also widened under the integrated model, though the government summary released with the change focused on the expansion itself and the removal of job limits. That combination broadens the reach of the F-4 framework beyond the narrower lines that separated the earlier categories.

The policy matters most for overseas Koreans already living in South Korea or seeking to regularize their status under the revised rules. A unified category, no application fee until December 31, 2027, and filing through HiKorea create a simpler route than the one that existed before February 12, 2026.

By May 27, 2026, the Ministry of Justice had already logged a large early response. More than 36,000 overseas Koreans had shifted into the integrated F-4 visa since the change began, a rapid adoption rate for a policy that replaced two long-standing visa categories with one.