Korea to Allow Visas for Foreign Restaurant Workers: Korean E-9 Visa Updates
The major Korean and English-language vernaculars announced that non-skilled (e.g. not chefs) foreign workers wishing to work in restaurants shall be allowed to be sponsored for E-9 visas by restaurant employers. Restaurants in Korea with less than five workers shall be allowed one visa and restaurants with five or more workers shall be allowed a maximum of two E-9 visas. Additionally, Korea extended, also, the E-9 visa to those working in the Korean forestry and the Korean mining industries.
The amendment to the application of Korea’s Immigration Law is a reaction to the lack of workers in the F & B industry and other industries and wage pressure in Korea. The Korean Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Korean Office for Government Policy Coordination noted that the present plan is, only, a trial plan and may be amended at will.
The Korean Government increased the number of allowed E-9 visas to 165,000. This increase is a 37.5 percent increase from the prior quota. Please note this quota is temporary and can change at the whim of the government, thus, it is best to act quickly. The quota and new rules come into effect in 2024.
We shall update the reader when more is known. We have a number of clients that shall take advantage of this change in Korean Immigration Law.
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