Gov't to extend foreign workers' stay amid shortage of workers

Incheon airport quarantine staff guide foreign nationals arriving at Incheon airport, Dec. 9. Yonhap

By Lee Hae-rin

Foreign workers will be given a one-year extension of their stay here as part of the government's efforts to deal with a labor shortage triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Labor and Employment said Saturday.

The ministry said discussions were held Friday on extending the stays of foreign workers and the plan will be finally confirmed, Dec. 28.

According to the plan, foreign workers with E-9 and H-2 visas whose stay ends between Jan. 1 and April 12, 2022, will be given a one-year extension from the day of their visa expiration.

If the plan is confirmed, the government will authorize the extension for foreign nationals with the E-9 visas. Ethnic Koreans with foreign passports will need to have their certificates of employment under the Employment Permit System (EPS) reissued and report on the commencement of work, in order to have their H-2 visas extended.

Around 40,000 foreign nationals will be allowed to participate in the stay extension plan, the labor ministry said.

The annual average number of foreign workers entering Korea dropped dramatically from 50,000 to just 6,000 due to the spread of the coronavirus, causing a severe labor shortage for small businesses, and the farming and fishing sectors.

"Despite normalizing foreign workers' entry to the country in November, further entries are expected to face difficulty due to the spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant and halt in return to normalcy," Park Hwa-jin, the vice labor minister, said in a statement.

"The ministry hopes the plan will help foreign workers with their departure issues and alleviate manpower shortages at businesses," Park said.

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