For would-be immigrants to Korea, reality often falls short of rhetoric [AGENDA 2024]

Social Affairs

Published: 24 Mar. 2024, 17:14 Updated: 25 Mar. 2024, 10:24

For would-be immigrants to Korea, reality often falls short of rhetoric [AGENDA 2024]

Seoul Southern Immigration Office located in Gangseo District, western Seoul, on Feb. 14 [PARK SANG-MOON]

Korea wants more skilled immigrants to come and boost its labor force, one of the fastest aging and shrinking in the world.

But it's rather picky about who.

"I wasn't able to work in Korea because I didn't fit into any of the categories for the visas," said Christin, a woman in her 30s from Germany, alluding to her most recent attempt to find both a stable job and a visa to let her stay longer than a few months at a time.

At first glance, Christin's resume would fit Korea's search for a highly skilled foreign workforce. She speaks Korean and understands where the country has been historically and geopolitically, having majored in Korean studies in a master's program at a top university in Germany.

With personal goals of settling down in the country and even expanding a family of her own — in which case she would be contributing to one of the world's lowest birthrates in the world — Christin came to Korea for the second time last year to try to find work and visa sponsorship.

After over 20 job applications and numerous train rides between her residential city of Changwon, South Gyeongsang, and Seoul to engage with prospective employers, Christin was finally offered a position by a university in Seoul.

But even before she could pop the champagne, another unforeseen visa requirement crushed her dreams of working in Korea.

"The visa required a certain salary amount, which I was only 3 euros short, but the university refused to raise the offer," she said, speaking from her home near Berlin over a recent call with the Korea JoongAng Daily.

Her story may have been different had she had a science, tech, engineering or mathematics (STEM) background.

"A graduate with a STEM background is almost instantly offered the F-2 visa," said Jang Man-ik, a licensed immigration specialist in Seoul, referring to the five-year residency visa.

To attract more scientists and engineers to boost its high-tech economy, Korea began offering long-term residency visas to graduates of top science and engineering schools in the country last year.

It was a groundbreaking gesture given that the path to long-term and permanent residency in Korea is long unless one marries into a Korean family, is a descendant of overseas Koreans, holds refugee status, or has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars into its economy.

However, the unequal standards of the initiative have some experts questioning its sustainability.

STEM vs. humanities

Starting last year, graduates of top science and tech schools of the country, including Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (Kaist), Unist and Korea National University of Science and Technology (Ust), were granted the F-2-7S residency visa as long as they were able to receive a recommendation from the university's president.

The visa grants up to five years of stay in Korea regardless of one's employment status and can be transferred to an F-5-16S visa later, which grants permanent residency in Korea.

At UST, where about 33 percent of the student body of around 1,400 students are foreigners, 45 graduates of foreign nationalities had received the F-2-7S visa as of last year. While the university does not keep tabs on whether all 45 recipients could find a job, it said at least six did through its program connecting the graduates with employers, including LG Energy Solution and Aekyung Chemical.

The journey becomes notably difficult for applicants of humanities backgrounds.

Paths to long-term residency exist for those who can get a type of E-7 visa, especially those who can get an E-7-1, a skilled worker visa.

But fitting into one of its categories is difficult, even when one has a company willing to hire them.

An American woman in her 30s with several years of journalism experience in New York has a company in Korea willing to hire her long-term.

She and the company have been applying jointly for the E-7-1 visa for nearly a year. They've been rejected twice already.

"Our only option, if we want to hire her for more than a few months at a time, is the E-7-1 visa," said the company's human resources officer recently, speaking on condition of anonymity. "But the role we want to hire her for does not exist in the visa scheme."

The E-7-1 is granted to workers at a manager level or above or skilled in 67 areas designated by the ministry, which include life science, computer hardware and software development, telecommunications, big data, architecture, chemical engineering, robotics, nursing, education, law, public policy, finance, events coordinating, translation, news anchors or designers.

"When we explained our situation to the immigration office, their attitude is basically, 'Why not just hire a Korean who can do the same job?'" said the HR officer.

This a typical response for those with a humanities background, where the immigration office has the ultimate say on what roles companies are allowed to hire.

"Unless you're a highly skilled robotics engineer or a technician of the like, or make two or three times the average income of Koreans, the company sponsorship holds little power in the visa decision," Jang said.

For the American job-seeker, the constant visa rejections and not knowing where she will be a few months from today haven't been as rewarding as she had hoped for when she made a life-changing decision to come to Korea.

"I'm trying to keep my expectations low, but it is still stressful," she said. "It's also been hard to understand why my applications are getting rejected when the people I work with — also not Koreans — have been more successful when we are doing the same type of work."

Part of the problem is also in the arbitrary authority vested in the immigration officers, said Jang.

"One of the key problems of the Korean immigration system is how much an applicant's fate depends on the arbitrary decisions of immigration officers," he said. "Two applicants of similar situations and backgrounds may end up with very different visa results because each immigration office seems to have their own interpretations of the guidelines. It's a constant problem, unfortunately."

Visitors line up at a job fair for international students at the Busan Port International Exhibition and Convention Center on July 20, 2023. The fair was attended by some 300 participants, including organizations based in Busan interested in hiring foreign students and residents. [SONG BONG-GEUN]

Easier doesn't make it permanent

Korea's apparent "pick and choose" approach to skilled immigration is not an anomaly among advanced economies.

"Labor immigration is an area where states are bound by fewer obligations from international law than in other areas, such as asylum and international protection, and have more leeway to design policies in their own fashion," said Martin Hofmann, principal adviser at International Centre for Migration Policy Development, a think tank founded by Austria and Switzerland.

In addition to easing the requirements for long-term visas for STEM graduates, the government also expanded the annual quota for E-7-4 visas — granted to skilled workers in farming, manufacturing and root industries (which make components from raw materials), all of which cannot run without foreign workers anymore — from 2,000 to 35,000 last year.

But with aging populations trending in advanced economies worldwide, the tables may have turned in favor of the workers.

"In times of real global competition over talent, attitudes will have to change," said Hofmann in his written comments to the Korea JoongAng Daily recently. "Migrants will be in a position to choose between countries, so conditions and welcoming treatment will become a factor."

While policies conducive to creating a welcoming environment — higher visa quotas and easier processes — could make Korea an attractive destination for skilled workers, policies alone may not do the trick.

"Korea is putting a lot of effort into change with regards to the inclusion of foreigners, both in terms of government policies and social culture," said Muhammad Zahak Jamal, a mechanical engineer at the Hyundai Motor Company's Robotics Lab.

Jamal says he has high praise for the standard of work in his team and organization and would not have come this far without the support of Korean friends, colleagues and acquaintances who were able to recognize his potential to produce good quality work.

"However, unlike the U.S. or other Western countries where immigrants choose to stay and live the rest of their lives, it is found that many foreigners decide to leave Korea usually because they don't see it as a long-term option," he said.

He cited differences in social and work culture and language barriers as some reasons foreign nationals choose to move on from Korea.

If Korea wants to not only attract but also retain skilled workforce from abroad, aspects related to social life, integration and participation will have to be considered and adjusted, said Hofmann.

Jonathan Chaloff, migration policy expert at OECD, also suggested in a recent interview with a local media outlet in Korea that the country could draw on a pool of potential migrants who have already invested in learning more about the country.

"We've developed a strong emotional connection to Korea and our life here," says an American woman in her 30s, who has been living in Seoul with her husband since 2021.

The couple, who met during their master's studies at a top-ranking university in the United States, have attained intermediate to advanced Korean language capacities, evidenced not only in their official language test scores but also in how they would have no problem taking care of real estate decisions and hospital appointments in the Korean language or making friends with local baristas, a group of Korean heritage dancers, a tattooist and the next-door elderly neighbor.

They have recently decided to return to the United States after moving between various short-term visas that did not lead to more permanent employment.

"If given the opportunity, we would definitely raise children here in Korea and want them to be immersed in Korean language and culture from the offset," she said.

The entrance to residence permits bureau of the Seoul Southern Immigration Office in Gangseo District, western Seoul, on Feb. 14. [PARK SANG-MOON]

Agenda 2024 Immigration Crisis Part 1

Korea faces an existential crisis with the lowest birthrate in the world and a rapidly aging population. As the country braces for the reality of a shrinking workforce — which could deal a sharp blow to its economic growth in the near future — alternative solutions grow more urgent, including embracing more immigration. The question remains: Is Korea ready? The Korea JoongAng Daily will examine the difficulties faced by foreigners wishing to work here as the government, experts, civic groups and the public mull the need for more comprehensive immigration policies so that the country becomes truly multicultural.

BY ESTHER CHUNG [chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]