By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter

From Thursday, migrant workers with E-9 visas and ethnic Koreans with H-2 working-visitor visas will be able to stay here for up to five years without a mandatory departure from the country to extend their residence, the Ministry of Labor said Wednesday.

The government also said workplace changes for E-9 visa holders that are inevitable as a result of either permanent or temporary closure of their latest office would not be counted in the maximum number of job changes, set at three, during the entire period of their residence here.

It said a law including the changes will go into effect starting today. The National Assembly approved the law in September.

The amendment was made in response to requests from owners of small- and medium-sized workplaces, which say renewing the visas is a waste of time and money, and counting a workplace change driven by factors beyond their control was irrational.

"This will help not only foreign employees but also Korean employers,"said Kim Yoon-hye, a labor ministry official.

"Korean employers can work with skilled migrant workers longer than before, which will help them save costs that would have been needed to train newcomers, while migrant workers can save time and money by not having to leave the country to extend their stay."

Previously foreign employees invited by Korean companies on E-9 visas could stay here for up to three years. After three years, they had to go overseas for at least one month to get their visas renewed to continue working for their Korean employers for two more years.

Ethnic Koreans with H-2 visas have had no opportunity to extend their stay, once their three-year residence expired, meaning they have had no choice but to leave the country three years after their arrival on the visa.

"The Ministry of Justice strictly controls the number of the visas issued so as to prevent an undue influx of ethnic Koreans, mostly from China and Russia, into the domestic labor market," she said.

Many workers and Korean employers supported the revision, saying it will help reduce the cumbersome tasks involved in both extending and renewing visas.

Pro-migrant worker activists claim more opportunities to change workplaces should be given, saying setting a maximum number is problematic.

``To attract more talented foreigners, Korean employers tend to exaggerate the working environment," an activist said.

pss@koreatimes.co.kr