Recently, when changing from a student visa (D-2) to a job-seeking visa (D-10)at Immigration, the proof of expenses of stay is strictly applied.

As I posted before, some of D-2 visa holders have been submitted their bank transaction details to Immigration Office to check whether they had worked without permission.

Also, nowadays, Immigration may request for memorandum for D-10 visa for D-2 visa holders when they try to change D-2 to D-10 visa. 

Some of wording for memorandum are as below:

1. D-10 visa holders are required to meet 'Newly Adopted Point Evaluation Criteria' for their extension of stay (actually for D-2 visa holders), need 60 points or higher);

2. In general, D-10 visa is granted to those who are willing to do job seeking activities or get trained at a training institution in order to find employment in which E-1(Professor) to E-7(Specially designated activities) visas can be permitted. Thus, D-10 visa holders shall make sure that their activities belong to the scope of job seeking boundaries regulated in the Immigration Law.

It means that D-10 visa holders ONLY can work at the field of E-1 visa to E-7 visa fields (professional job fields) and are NOT allowed to work as a part timer at simple job fields. 

3. The act of frequent deposit and withdrawal of a considerable amount of cost in the short period will severely damage the reliability and validity of your bank statement used for proving financial stability at the point of application. Immigration Office informs that once this kind of fact is confirmed through the applicant's financial documents, he/she will be regarded as financially disqualified. 

4. Immigration Office informs that you can be put to disposition of disapproval if i) you do not meet the Point Criteria, ii) you turn out to be not engaged in the job seeking activities D-10 visa is normally allowed for, or iii) your bank statement is proved to be unreliable in the above-mentioned manner at the next application.

**Main points are as below:

First, you need to prove your monthly expenses (700,000 won per person*6 month=4.2 million won per person actually);

Secondly, if you borrow some money from your friends, it will not be accepted to prove your expenses.

**You MUST check your bank statement in details and if you need more money to support your expenses in Korea, you may ask for sending money from your parents or relatives from overseas, NOT in Korea.

**When you hold D-2 visa, you MUST report your part time job even during your vacation period to Immigration Office (your university's foreign students person in charge may assist you). D-2 visa holders allow to work as a part timer after working permission from Immigration Office, and you may save your expenses through a regular and legal way to prove your expenses when you change to D-10 visa.

**Also, you need to know that you have to prove your academic fees transferred from overseas, CAN NOT USE your earned money in Korea through a part time job.

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If you have any other opinions on this system to be carried out, please leave a comment. Also, kindly share your hands to edit my poor English as below.

**Policy Proposal Title: Proposal on the use of international students (D-2) as non-professional employment (E-9) qualifications**

Regarding the transition of international students (D-2) to non-professional employment (E-9) qualifications proposed by ‘The 2nd and 3rd Population Policy TF’, related ministries recently prepared specific utilization plans through a meeting and decision of ‘The 32nd Foreign Power Policy Committee’.

I think it is an effective way to solve the manpower shortage of small and medium-sized enterprises and the employment problem of international students (D-2) after graduation, and I would like to suggest issues that can be reviewed before the system is implemented.

1. Clarify the academic background of domestic university graduates:

 In the target items that can be converted to the General Employment Permit System (D-9), it is specified as a junior college or general university graduate among domestic universities. However, the detailed classification codes of international students (D-2) are divided into associate degree (D-2-1), bachelor's degree (D-2-2-2, master's degree (D-2-3), and doctoral degree (D-2-4) courses. It is unclear whether the scope of graduates from general universities in Korea specified in the presentation includes foreign students who graduated from bachelor's degree to doctoral degree or not. Therefore, I suggest that you clarify as a person who studied abroad in Korea on a D-2-1 to D-2-4 visa and received a degree.

2. Clarification of the definition of international students (D-2) who were unable to get a job even though they were looking for jobs as professionals (E-1 to E-7):

 It is necessary to clarify this as “international students (D-2) who have D-2-1 to D-2-4 visa and have not been granted permission to change their status after changing their status to D-10-1” and include “international students (D-2) who are looking for a job after graduating from one of Korean universities”. 

3. Clarify whether international students (D-2) benefit for their spouses and underage children (F-3):

 International students (D-2) invited their spouse and minor children to live in Korea on a dependent visa (F-3), or their spouse and minor children (F-3) live in Korea on a job-seeking activity (D-10-1) visa. However, according to the current ‘Act on Employment of Foreign Workers’ and ‘Immigration Control Act’, if international students (D-2) or international students who are looking for a job (D-10-1) after graduation want to convert their visa to a non-professional employment (E -9), international student cannot stay with their spouses and minor children. In this case, spouses and minor children residing in Korea will have to leave the country. 

 The most important thing is to have spouses and underage children of international students (D-2), who switch to E-9 visa, stay dependent visa (F-3). In this regard, it is also necessary to consider the possibility of equity issues with foreign workers on E-9 visa who have entered the country under the current employment permit system(EPS).

 4. Whether to convert E-9 visa to international students (D-2) other than 16 countries in the sending countries:

 In accordance with the ‘Act on Foreign Workers Employment, Etc.’, E-9 visa is granted to foreign workers in 16 countries that have signed MOUs. However, equity issues may arise for international students (D-2) who are studying in Korea from countries other than those included in the 16 countries. Regarding this system, which is scheduled to be implemented in the second half of 2022, it seems necessary to give international students from other countries an opportunity to work in non-professional job fields (E-9).

5. In addition to TOPIK (Test of Proficiency in Korean) Level 3 for Korean proficiency, the requirements of the Korea Immigration and Integration Program (KIIP) shall be expanded:

 Among the selection requirements for this system, it is stated that a level 3 or higher of TOPIK is required. However, I think it would be good for accepting KIIP stage 3 as equivalent to level 3 of TOPIK. Therefore, it is necessary to come up with a way to accept KIIP stage 3 in addition to TOPIK level 3. 

 It is a groundbreaking system that allows international students (D-2) who have difficulty finding employment to recruit manpower in industries that require manpower.

 I hope that more international students (D-2) will be given the opportunity to find a job through their own choices by reviewing the above five ways to ensure that this system is in line with equity.

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Mr Jang Haeng

#expats #foreigner #eps #employment_permit_system #d2visa #f3visa #e9visa #visainkorea #장행닷컴 #유학생취업

The Use of Foreign Worker(E-9 VISA) by International Students(D-2 VISA)

외국인 유학생(D-2)의 외국인근로자(E-9) 활용 정책 발표

Meanwhile, in accordance with the decision of the Foreign Workforce Policy Committee in December 2020, this Committee will promote the use of foreign students (D-2) as foreign workers (E-9) under the general Employment Permit System(EPS: 고용허가제).

1. Eligibility:

(1) Foreign residents from countries that send out workers through Employment Permit System(EPS) who entered the Republic of Korea as a status of stay(D-2 VISA) and graduated from a domestic university (associate or general university in the Republic of Korea); and

(2) D-2 VISA holders who hope to work as a foreign worker(E-9 VISA) because they cannot get a job even though they have been looking for a job as a professional field(E-1 VISA to E-7 VISA);

2. Requirements (D-2 VISA Holder):

(1) Age: 18~less than 39 years old;

(2) Criminal Background: No criminal history with imprisonment, No history of leaving Korea after being ordered to fact that he/she left Korea after receiving an order of deportation; 

(3) No history of illegal employment while in university;

(4) Completion of degree with average C;

(5) TOPIK Level 3 or higher; and

(6) Having a job seeking activity for professional field(E-1~E-7 VISA) for at least 3 months.

3. Number of Selection:

- Among international students(D-2), the number of foreign workers(E-9) selected is limited to 10% (5,000~6,000) of the total number of foreign workers(E-9)(normally 50,000~60,000) in the first year of implementation.

- Thereafter, the selection scale will be adjusted based on the performance of this system.

4. Implementation of EPS(E-9) System for D-2 VISA Holders:

This new system will be implemented after relevant measures such as amendment of related laws such as 'Act on the Employment of Foreign Workers(외국인근로자의 고용 등에 관한 법률)' and reflection of the MOU of the *sending countries.

Based on my understanding and news information, this new system will be started from 3rd or 4th quarter of 2022.(Will inform you once actual implementation date is released.)

5. Benefits:

(1) E-7-4 VISA Change after 5 years from E-9 VISA using points based skilled workers' system;

(2) F-2-7 VISA Change allowed (normal E-7-4 VISA holders cannot apply for F-2-7 VISA but if D-2 VISA holders change to E-9 VISA then convert to E-7-4 VISA, Immigration Office allows them to change their E-7-4 VISA to **F-2-7 VISA.

*Based on current 'Act on the Employment of Foreign Workers', there are 16 countries sending E-9 VISA Foreign workers such as Philippines, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Cosmic Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Cambodia, China, Bangladesh, Nepal, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, East Timor, Laos.

**F-2-7 VISA is a residency visa which allows most of all professional working activities under Article 23 of Presidential Decree of Immigration Act. It needs 80 points to get this. For further information, kindly visit to VISA in KOREA Youtube Channel.

(Youtube Channel: visainkorea1)

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#expats #foreigner #foreign_workers #visainkorea #e74visa #숙련기능인력점수제비자 #EPS #employment_permit_system #d2visa #internationalstudent #유학생취업 #비전문취업비자 #e9visa #eps #고용허가제

내년 1월 1일부터 4월 12일까지 만료되는 E-9비자 외국인근로자에 대한 직권연장 시행에 관한 강의입니다.

It is about a automatic extension for E-9 visa holders.

본 강의는 영어와 한국어로 진행됩니다.

This lecture is made in Korean and English together.

VISA in KOREA

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1. Application for Re-entry Permit:

Persons Subject to the Measure :Registered foreign residents seeking re-entry into the Republic of Korea after departure from the country as of June 1, 2020.

Yet, those falling under item ⓐ, ⓑ, or ⓒ are allowed to re-enter the Republic of Korea after departure, without obtaining a Re-Entry Permit;

ⓐ Those with Diplomats (A-1), Government Officials (A-2), International Agreement (A-3) or Overseas Korean (F-4) status;

ⓑ Long-term stay foreigners who departed from the Republic of Korea prior to May 31, 2020 (Applicable only to those entering the Republic of Korea within Re-entry permit exemption period after their departure);

ⓒ Those recognized as refugees who hold a valid refugee travel document.

2. How to Apply : e-Application services on HiKorea at www.hikorea.go.kr.

3. Required Documents

- Persons fully vaccinated against COVID-19: Passport, Foreign Resident Registration Card, Notes for Re-entry and Consent for Confirmation, Certificate of Vaccination, No Fees.

- Persons NOT fully vaccinated against COVID-19: Passport, Foreign Resident Registration Card, Notes for Re-entry and Consent for Confirmation, Letter of Explanation for Re-entry Permit, Application Fees of KRW 30,000 won.

* Note : Foreign Resident/Alien Registration (Status and Period of Stay) shall be cancelled when leaving the Republic of Korea without receiving a Re-entry Permit.

4. Obligation to Carry and Present PCR Test Certificate for Persons Seeking Re-entry (Re-entry NOT allowed for those without the PCR certificate).

- All foreigners entering the Republic of Korea are required to submit a negative COVID-19 test certificate issued within 72 hours prior to the departure date as of January 8, 2021.

- Yet, children aged less than 6 in full years as of entry date are allowed to enter the country without submitting the COVID-19 test certificate.

5. Notes Regarding Vaccination.

Boarding may be restricted even for those granted a Re-entry Permit as a holder of COVID-19 vaccination certificate, depending on each country’s quarantine policies (Booster shot mandate after expiration of vaccination certificate and others).

- Please visit HiKorea website (www.hikorea.go.kr) for more information.

6. New Re-Entry system starts from Dec. 28, 2021. 

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