Home > Procedure of Emplyment > Foreign Worker > Foreign Workers Employment Procedure
Deciding important policies concerning size of inflow of foreign workers and sending country
The Foreign Workforce Policy Committee (FWPC; Chairman: the Minister of the Office for Government Policy Coordination) is formed in the Office of the Prime Minister to decide the relevant industries and size of inflow of foreign workers at an adequate level and select sending country, etc. every year, taking into account the trends in the supply and demand
※ The Foreign Workforce Employment Commission (FWEC; Chairman: the Deputy Minister of Labor; consists of members from labor, management, political and public areas) is formed in MOL to deliberate in advance the issues to be brought up to FWPC.
Signing MOU on sending workforce (the Korean Government ⇔ governments of sending countries)
Under this MOU executed between the states, selection requirements, methods, responsible institutions and rights and duties of each party are set forth. (Not allowing private agencies to intervene in the process of receiving foreign workers.)
※ Countries with which Korea has executed the MOU: Mongolia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Uzbekistan.
Preparing the foreign job-seeker list (governments of sending countries ⇔ the Korean Government)
- Government or public institutions of sending countries select workers to be sent and prepare the list of foreign job-seekers based on objective standards such as the scores on Korean language test and experience.
※ Requirement of the foreign job-seeker
- Be 18-years old or older
- Be holder of valid passport
- Be free from reasons for disqualification concerning personal identity (those who are not allowed to enter under the provisions of Article 11 of the Immigration Control Act)
- Pass Korean language test (since August 2005)
- Implement Korean language test in order to prevent corruption related to sending foreign workers and to ensure objectivity in terms of selection of the workers (since August 2005)
- In case of any cheating or fraudulent statement, the job-seeker in question is to be excluded from the list permanently and the sending country concerned shall be disadvantaged in future sending country selection process.
Application for employment permission (Employer ⇔ The Ministry of Labor (MOL))
Application Requirements
- Industries allowed to receive, and business or workplace allowed to hire foreign workers
※ Industries allowed to receive foreign workers:
- Manufacturing, Agriculture and Stockbreeding, Construction, Fishery (Farming and Inshore Fisheries), and Services (Collecting and Selling Reproducible Materials and Refrigerated Warehousing)
- In case the employer failed to hire domestic workers in whole or in part despite his/her efforts for 7 days to do that
- In case the employer did not have domestic worker leave his/her job by employment control for the period from 2 months prior to application for recruitment of domestic workers to the date of application for employment permission
- In case the employer did not delay in paying the salary for the period from 5 months prior to application for recruitment of domestic workers to the date of application for employment permission
- Workplace that carries employment insurance and industrial accident insurance (except for those workplaces that are not subject to this)
Application Procedure
- Application for employment permission
. Applicant: The employer who wants to hire foreign workers
. Documents to be filed: Application for Foreign Worker Employment Permission (Form No. 4 attached hereto), other documents showing evidence of qualifications for issuance
※ Industries allowed to receive foreign workers:
- Manufacturing, Agriculture and Stockbreeding, Construction, Fishery (Farming and Inshore Fisheries), and Services (Collecting and Selling Reproducible Materials and Refrigerated Warehousing)
. Application Deadline: Within 3 months after 7 days period for attempting to hire domestic worker.
. How to Apply: Filing Application with the competent ESC
. Details of Application: Such recruitment conditions as type of occupation, nationality, gender, age, place of employment, wage, benefits (whether or not lodging and meals are provided), educational background, Korean competency, work experience, etc. regarding the foreign workforce employment
Selecting the foreign workers and issuing employment permission (Employer ⇔ MOL)
Recommending and Selecting Foreign Job-Seekers
- To the employer who has applied for the foreign worker employment permission, the candidates in the list of foreign job-seekers who satisfy the employer’s recruitment requirements will be recommended, and be finally selected within 3 months from the date of application for employment permission
- When the foreign workers are recommended, such personal information as name and address shall not be disclosed
Issuance of Employment Permission
- To the employer who has selected the recommended worker, the Foreign Worker Employment Permission that includes the selected foreign worker’s name and the like will be issued.
. The employer to whom the employment permission is issued is to make a labor contract with the foreign worker identified in the employment permission within 3 months from the date of issuance.
. If the employer to whom the employment permission is issued fails to make a labor contract with the foreign worker due to such unavoidable causes like death of the foreign worker and wants to hire another foreign worker, the application for reissuing the employment permission is to be made within 7 days from the occurrence of causes for such reissuing.
- Documents to be filed upon the application
. Application for Reissuing the Employment Permission (Rule Attachment No. 7)
. Original copy of the Foreign Worker Employment Permission
. Documents to prove the industries allowed to receive, and business or workplace allowed to hire foreign workers, all of which are decided by FWPC (only if the type and size of business or workplace are different from those at the time of application for employment permission)
※ Cases when employment permission is not issued
- No foreign job-seeker meets the recruitment requirements
- The employer did not select the recommended candidate
- The issuance requirements are not satisfied
- The size of inflow of foreign workforce decided by FWPC is exceeded
※ Any persons other than employment security institutions shall not engage in selecting and introducing foreign workers or any other employment-related activities, the violation of which renders the person subject to imprisonment not exceeding 1 year or to a fine not exceeding 10 million won.
Returning the Employment Permission
- If any of the following events occur, the foreign worker employment permission shall be returned within 10 days
. Employment permission for the foreign worker is revoked
※ Reasons for revocation of employment permission
- The employer breaches labor conditions including wages that have been agreed upon before entrance into Korea
- It is acknowledged that the labor contract cannot be maintained due to delayed payment of wages by the employer and other violations of labor laws.
- The employment permission was obtained by means of misrepresentation and/or other misconducts.
. The foreign worker transfers to another business or workplae
. The foreign worker dies
. The foreign worker is absent from his/her work for more than 5 days without due cause like obtaining the employer’s approval or his/her whereabouts is unknown
. The foreign worker left Korea for expiration of the stay period, provided that this does not apply to temporary departure
Signing labor contract (Employer ⇔ Foreign Workers)
- The employer to whom the employment permission is issued is to sign the labor contract within 3 months from the date of issuance.
. Employer may entrust this contract execution work to agent institution
- The institution that executes the labor contract on behalf of employer: HRD Korea
- Non-profit corporations or organizations to be chosen and announced by the Minister of Labor, taking into account the capabilities of performances in terms of manpower and resources.
- Regarding the labor contract, the standard labor contract (Form No. 6 attached hereto) shall be executed in duplicate, one of which shall be delivered to the foreign worker.
- Term of the labor contract may not exceed 1 year, the contract may be renewed to the extent not exceeding 3 years from the date of entrance, and the employer who renewed the labor contract is to apply for an extension of employment permission period using the Application for Extension of Employment Permission Period (Form No. 7 attached hereto)
- Effect of labor contract: the contract becomes effective from the date the foreign worker enters Korea
Issuing the visa issuance certificate (Employer ⇔ MOJ)
Application for issuing the visa issuance certificate
- The employer who has signed the labor contact with foreign worker, in order to have the foreign worker enter Korea, shall apply to the competent office of the Immigration Bureau to issue the visa issuance certificate and send the certificate to the worker so that the worker can take proceedings for entrance into Korea at the Korean embassies.
- The employer may entrust this immigration-related work for the foreign worker to supporting institution.
※ Institutions that carry out immigration-related work on behalf of employer
- HRD Korea
- Non-profit corporations or organizations to be chosen and announced by the Minister of Labor, taking into account the capabilities of performances in terms of manpower and resources.
Receiving foreign workers (Employer ⇔ Foreign Workers)
- Sending institution takes steps to have the foreign worker enter Korea according to the schedule determined in conjunction with the supporting institution
- Entrance guide and interpreter sent to the airport confirm and take over the worker.
- Foreign worker who entered Korea completes employment training course within 15 days
※ Employment Training Institutions
HRD Korea (Koreans with foreign nationality), Korea International Labor Foundation (Vietnam, Mongolia, Thailand, China), Korea Federation of Small Business (Sri Lanka, Philippine, Indonesia, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Cambodia, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Kyrgyz, East Timor)
Managing employment of foreign workers (Employer ⇔MOL) / Managing stays of foreign workers
     (Employer⇔MOJ)
- Although the foreign worker is prohibited from transferring to other workplaces in principle, the foreign workers are allowed to move to other workplaces in case of unavoidable causes like suspending or closing business and legitimate termination of labor contract by the employer.
- Setting up legal and institutional safeguards for the foreign worker employment and implementing continuing and strong regulation against illegal workers.
- Allowing foreign workers to move to other workplaces in case of unavoidable causes like suspending or closing business and overdue wage occurrence. MOL operates the foreigner employment management computer system and set up the foreign workforce management system through the periodical supervision and investigation of businesses that hire foreign workers.
- To prevent the foreign workers from settling down, the employment period is determined to be 3 years and renewable every year. `