This year, the crackdown on illegal employment has intensified.
Lately, the most common inquiries we receive are from international students who have been caught engaging in illegal employment, asking what they should do. Especially this year, the immigration office can check an applicant's income status through information linkage with the National Tax Service without requiring a submission of the income amount certificate.
You can check the detailed information through the notice below ↓
The client was an Uzbek male student who has held a D10 visa and had requested me for visa changes/extensions since his D2 student visa days.
This time, when he went to the immigration office with a company representative for an E7 visa change application, it was discovered that he had worked without obtaining part-time employment permission during his D2 student visa period years ago, and his application was rejected, leading him to call me.
※ If illegal employment is detected while applying for a visa change/extension, it's mostly because the employer reported taxes on the wages of the foreign student during the time they worked without part-time employment permission under D2/D10 visa status.
First, we checked the income amount certificate during the time the applicant was engaged in illegal employment and verified exactly when to when the employment lasted.
You can check the detailed fines for illegal employment/illegal hiring through the link below
Next are the standards for stay permission restrictions for those who have been fined for violating the Immigration Control Act
Standards for denial of stay due to notification of fines (penalty fines)
- First offenders are denied stay if the fine is over 5 million KRW, and repeat offenders if the combined amount within the last 3 years is over 7 million KRW
- If fined three or more times within the last three years, stay will be denied regardless of the amount
※ These are the general standards, but F4, F6 visa holders may be granted stay for humanitarian reasons
※ Additionally, if the amount of penalty fine for illegal employment detected while on a D2 visa exceeds 2 million KRW, it can be significantly difficult to change to a D10 visa within Korea
In the applicant's case, he engaged in illegal employment for 11 months and 25 days.
The penalty fine for illegal employment for 6 months to 1 year is 7 million KRW, and for 1 year to 2 years is 10 million KRW.
I informed the applicant that it is impossible to change from a D10 visa to an E7 visa under the current circumstances where illegal employment has already been detected
1.If the D10 visa expires, will he continue to live as an illegal resident?
2.Or, although there is almost no chance of approval, the only way to apply for an E7 visa is through an application for visa issuance recognition, i.e., through an invitation from the hiring company, after paying the fine and then leave the country?
I advised him to choose the second option if he still intends to live in Korea in the future, considering his future.
Because, even if permission is not granted immediately, there is a possibility of approval if he applies again after some time has passed. Furthermore, if he is caught for illegal residency beyond illegal employment, it would be very difficult to come back to Korea unless he marries a Korean citizen and applies for an F6 visa.
The applicant, though hesitant and struggling, agreed with my advice, arranged his affairs during the remaining period, and left the country after paying the fine.
And on the day the applicant departed, I also applied for an E7 visa issuance recognition at the immigration office responsible for the applicant's hiring company, but as expected, it was denied, and we were told to reapply after some time.
The applicant graduated from a 4-year university in Uzbekistan (major in automotive-related fields) and holds a master's degree from a domestic university (Automotive and Ship Technology) and was expected to be employed as a production manager at the hiring company.
Finally, let's look at the category of product production-related managers among the 87 types of occupations eligible for the E7 visa.
E7 Visa Product Production Related Managers
❍ (Job Description)
- Planning, directing, and coordinating the operations and repair of businesses and departments related to food, textiles and clothing, chemicals, metals, machinery, electrical and electronic products, etc
❍ (Examples of Eligible Occupations)
- Food factory manager, food production process manager, food production planning manager, textile/clothing factory manager, textile/clothing production process manager, textile/clothing production planning manager, chemical products factory manager, chemical products production process manager, chemical products production planning manager, metal products factory manager, metal products production process manager, metal products production planning manager, machinery products factory manager, machinery products production process manager, machinery products production planning manager, production manager of a company returning to Korea
❍ (Employment Recommendation Issuance)
- Minister of Small and Venture Business (Small and Venture Business Promotion Agency)
- Food sector: Minister of Health and Welfare (Health Industry Policy Division)
- Production manager of a company returning to Korea (mandatory): Minister of Trade, Industry, and Energy (KOTRA)
❍ (Qualification Requirements, Visa Issuance, and Stay Management)
- General standards apply (however, separate requirements apply for production managers of companies returning to Korea)
❍ (Special Case for Companies Returning to Korea)
- (Qualification Requirements) Companies selected by the Minister of Trade, Industry, and Energy as support targets for companies returning to Korea (companies that have received a selection confirmation certificate for support targets for companies returning to Korea)
- (Qualification Requirements for Production Managers) Must have been employed at a foreign branch of a company returning to Korea for over 5 years, and if without a degree, must possess a technical qualification certificate for the relevant job category or prove expertise in the field through awards, related media coverage, or a career verification certificate received from KOTRA's local KBC staff
※ However, in consulates where KOTRA's local KBC staff is not present, a career verification certificate verified by the consul must be submitted
- (Standards for the Allowed Number of Foreign Employees per Company) Calculated within the range of 30% of the number of domestic insured persons enrolled in employment insurance (average over 3 months)