Korean Real Estate Investment Visa Case – Songdo International City

We have completed a real estate investment visa for a lifestyle accommodation in Songdo International City on behalf of a Russian woman. Her husband is currently doing business overseas on a D8 visa and is applying for a permanent residence in the long term.

First, you’ve chosen a property you like through a real estate agent, and then you’ve checked with the immigration office to see if the property qualifies for an investment visa.

As with all foreign investors, but in the case of real estate investment immigration, you want to make sure that you’re on the right track for visa approval because the end goal is not the real estate investment itself, but in some ways, the acquisition of permanent residency.

Need an accurate sales contract

In this case, the real estate agent brought in the contract for the property and showed it to me, and I noticed a big problem.

In general, for properties designated for a real estate investment visa, it is rare to find properties that cost more than 1 billion won, so we acquired two properties worth about 500 million won, and the total investment amount must be more than 1 billion won for a real estate investment visa. However, in this case, the amount including VAT was barely over 1 billion won, and the contract was under the status of a pre-sale contract, so the contract relationship was complicated, and it was possible that the visa would be denied due to insufficient investment amount, and we would have to purchase another property to meet the 1 billion won.

In this case, the visa was granted because the real estate agent was responsible and contacted a visa specialist, and the real estate agent was able to change the contract to a suitable purchase and sale agreement. If the real estate agent had proceeded with the visa application without authorization due to financial greed, the visa would have been denied and the agent would have had to pay huge damages.

I get a lot of calls from real estate agents, brokers, and other people asking about real estate investment visas, but in the case of real estate investment visas, if the visa is denied, it will cause irreparable damage to the investor, so be sure to consult with an expert.

Proof of funding source

Another problem with the real estate investment visa is that it requires proof of the source of funds. In this case, the funds came from a gift from her husband, and it was time-consuming to prepare the supporting documentation and apostille for the gift.

We prepared and submitted the documents thoroughly because we are familiar with the correct supporting documents through our numerous investment visa experiences, and even Incheon Immigration, the jurisdictional immigration office, asked for our business card and sent it to us, saying that it was the first time they had ever seen such perfect documentation.