Expansion of Foreign Workers’ Stay in Korea to a Maximum of 10 Years

The South Korean government will implement more flexible employment policies for foreign nationals. The government has decided to allow foreign workers to stay for up to 10 years and expand the fields in which they can work. It is a measure to alleviate the labor shortage in the market as well as improve support to the foreign workforce.

This reorganization plan focuses on adapting the employment permit system, which was introduced in 2004, to changes in the industry and celebrates its 20^th year anniversary since its introduction.

Under the current law, foreign workers with an E-9 visa must leave the country after 4 years and 10 months, and only one re-entry is allowed. This has not only prompted foreign workers to seek illegal stays but also caused disruptions and shortages in labor for small and medium-sized businesses. The new long-term employment special case is a plan that allows foreign workers who have worked for more than 24 months at one workplace or 30 months or more at the new workplace to stay in Korea for up to 10 years without leaving or re-entering the country.

The number of jobs that foreign workers with E-9 visas can take will also increase. Previously, service jobs that E-9 workers could work in were strictly limited to five industries, including refrigeration and frozen warehouses. Previously, service jobs that E-9 foreign workers could work in were strictly limited to five industries, including refrigeration warehouses.

However, in addition to the existing areas, E-9 foreign workers will be allowed to be hired for loading and unloading jobs in some service industries with severe labor shortages. The plan will allow the workers with H-2 visas to work in all sectors of the industry except for a few exceptions unlike before when they were granted only a few allowed sectors to work.

Measures were also prepared to respond to the need for temporary jobs, such as for processing agricultural and marine products that require labor at a specific time. The relevant institutions will review various methods of labor supply, such as dispatching unmet workforce to meet temporary labor demand in fields like the above. A service certification agency accredited in accordance with the Act on the Employment Improvement of Domestic Workers will also consider hiring foreign workers, whose Korean proficiency has been verified, for the housework and care service industry. Furthermore, foreign students who wish to work in Korea will be converted to a non-professional employment (E-9) visa.

The limit on the issuance of new employment permits per business site per year will be lifted from this year, and the total number of permitted employment per business site will be temporarily increased by 20% for small manufacturing businesses with less than 50 employees at all times until the end of this year. The plan also seeks to improve the living conditions of foreign workers through expanding public dormitories at the local government level or preferentially assigning foreign workers throughout the residential environment improvement projects.

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