47 forbidden jobs with F-4 visa in Korea 2025| Can one work as a waiter with an F-4 visa?

Our people in Korea, when talking about the F-4 visa, often call it the "golden visa," associating it with the color of the foreigner ID card and the convenient terms of stay. Or they say that F-4 holders have almost the same rights as Koreans, except that they cannot vote in Korean elections.
But if you delve a little deeper into the information, you can understand that there are still significant restrictions with this visa.

In addition to the 3-year period of stay, there are also restrictions on employment. Foreigners with an F-4 visa (재외동포) who have registered their place of residence in Korea can work freely in the country, except in the following cases:

performing unskilled physical labor (단순노무행위);

participating in activities that contradict public morals or public order;

cases where the Minister of Justice of Korea deems it necessary to restrict employment for the public good or to maintain labor order in the country.

In the infographic, you can find 47 types of jobs where it is better not to work with an F-4 visa.
While I was preparing this publication, I almost uploaded old data (from 2022) indicated on the HiKorea website.
Among the new positive changes: did you know that previously with an F-4 visa, you could not work as a waiter in restaurants and cafes, help in the kitchen, or work in hotels, etc.?
Now you can, and where you cannot – check the infographic again.