Foreigners look at brochures at a job fair for foreign residents at COEX, Seoul, in this September photo. / Yonhap



By Lee Suh-yoon



Visa issuance requirements will be eased for foreigners with specialized skills in specific fields, and academic professionals planning to teach here, while companies failing to pay the appropriate taxes will not be allowed to invite foreign workers until they do so, according to the government, Monday.



The justice ministry announced these as part of a set of measures to streamline the visa application procedure for academic and industry professionals.



According to the changes, which took effect Monday, foreigners holding specialized skills in the fields of industrial materials, parts and equipment will be able to apply for and receive their working visa online, an option that was previously only open to university professors, researchers, and professionals and workers in designated "high-tech" sectors.



The change eliminates the need to visit a South Korean embassy and shortens the application period from an average of one month to a week.



Foreign workers in the newly designated sectors of "industrial materials, parts and equipment" can take advantage of the changes through the E-7 visa channel. The E-7 visa, previously reserved for professionals in highly specific fields, was issued to 21,884 foreign nationals last year.



The move follows the country's recent trade dispute with Japan over court rulings that ordered Japanese firms to pay reparations to surviving South Korean victims of wartime forced labor. Japan, claiming wartime reparations were settled under a 1965 treaty, reacted by restricting exports of key materials needed in the manufacture of semiconductors and display panels to South Korean firms.



"Starting Monday, the justice ministry will ease visa rules regarding foreign professionals to aid industry sectors struggling from Japan's export controls ― industrial materials, parts and equipment ― as a part of efforts to strengthen the nation's competitiveness in these sectors," the ministry said in a press statement.



In a related measure, the ministry also cut the number of required visa application documents needed by foreign academic professionals who are invited to teach at a university here ― now they need to submit only one document: a written confirmation of the teaching post offered by the university.



The ministry also changed the minimum wage for non-tenure-track instructors or lecturers invited by local universities from around 2.5 million won ($2,100) a month to around 60,000 won an hour ― the average hourly fee announced by the education ministry ― to facilitate invitations.



Local firms that fail to pay overdue taxes, however, will be barred from inviting foreign workers or extending the visas of those they already employ.

