South Korea or Kuwait
Two countries side by side across the same rows as the full comparison. A dash means the value is missing: fields are not filled with guesses. about the data
| South Korea | Kuwait | |
|---|---|---|
| Salary in IT | $ 61 452 | — |
| Citizenship | 5 years | — |
| Partner can work | no | — |
| Parents | difficult | — |
| Pets | difficult | difficult |
| Pet limit | 5 | no limit |
| Quarantine | 10 days | — |
| Residence permit fee | — | — |
| Rent, 2 bedrooms | $ 999 · estimate | $ 1 265 · estimate |
| Basket | $ 40,9 | $ 24,2 |
| Life expectancy | 83.63 | 84.58 |
| Homicides/100k | 0.49 | 0.78 |
| Natural hazards, 0–10 | 6 | 2.7 |
How the two sets of routes differ
Long-stay routes in this reference: South Korea — 91, Kuwait — 30. Types present in both: work, study, family and investment. South Korea adds: startup, talent, repatriation, job seeking and working holiday.
Fees, thresholds and deadlines
South Korea: fees range from 60 to 90 USD. Routes stating an income threshold: 1; the lowest is 1,500,000,000 KRW a month. Kuwait: fees range from 1 to 200 KWD. Routes with no fee: 1. Routes stating an income threshold: 2; the lowest is 450 KWD a month.
Beyond the first permit
Permanent status: South Korea after 5 years; the other country publishes no term. Citizenship: South Korea after 5 years; the other country publishes no term.
South Korea in brief
South Korea combines a developed technology economy and low violent crime with a formal points system for long-term residence (E-7 → F-2-7 → F-5) and substantial restrictions on dual citizenship and on a spouse working. Parents, your own or a partner's, can only get the temporary renewable F-1-15 visa with no right to work. Natural hazards are moderate — seasonal typhoons and monsoon floods, earthquakes rare; the notable problem is air quality, the worst among OECD countries.
Kuwait in brief
Kuwait levies no income tax on wages (gov.uk, «Living in Kuwait») and its residence system is built entirely around a sponsor: a residence permit for work is issued under art. 18 of implementing decision No. 957/2019 (private sector) or art. 17 (public sector), and joining a supporter under art. 22. There is no permanent status under the new law either: the 1959 emiri decree was repealed by decree-law No. 114/2024, which knows only fixed-term permits — up to five years ordinary, up to ten for children of Kuwaiti women and property owners, up to fifteen for investors. The naturalisation rules could not be verified against the primary source: the relevant interior ministry site is protected by an anti-bot mechanism that blocked automated access throughout the research. Importing pets requires a permit from the responsible authority (Public Authority for Agriculture Affairs and Fish Resources), but the details of the procedure could not be confirmed through the official channels available in this pass. Of the measurable: one of the lowest homicide rates in the world (0.78 per 100,000, UNODC 2022), a high life expectancy (84.58 years, World Bank 2024) and some of the highest summer temperatures anywhere — a mean July temperature of 37.7 °C with heavy air pollution from desert dust (PM2.5 62.35 µg/m³, World Bank 2023). The country is effectively a single capital agglomeration: the official «cities» in this reference are governorates (Kuwait City, Hawalli, Al Ahmadi, Al Farwaniyah, Al Jahra), not separate destinations.
Other comparisons
South Korea or… Taiwan · Japan · Thailand · Kazakhstan · Lebanon · Uzbekistan · Malaysia · Azerbaijan
Kuwait or… Philippines · Bangladesh · Iraq · Mongolia · Oman · People's Republic of China · Sri Lanka · Singapore
More on each: South Korea · Kuwait. Build your own comparison — up to four countries
This material is for reference and is not legal, tax or immigration advice. Visa rules, tax thresholds and prices change. Before deciding anything, check the official sources and consult a licensed professional in the relevant country.