E-9 visa holders allowed to work as restaurant servers, parcel sorters

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E-9 visa holders in Korea are now permitted to serve customers at restaurants and sort parcels at fulfillment centers, as the government relaxes restrictions on the types of work they can do — roles that were previously reserved mostly for citizens.

The Foreign Workforce Policy Committee, which is responsible for shaping major policies for foreign workers, decided on Thursday to allow holders of E-9 or non-professional employment visas to work as restaurant servers and parcel sorters at logistics firms, to address rising labor shortages.

This means more than 300,000 foreign workers who have come here under the Employment Permit System on E-9 visas can now help fill that labor shortage.

Previously, restaurant owners were only allowed to hire E-9 visa holders as kitchen assistants. At logistics companies, foreign workers could load and unload parcels, but were not permitted to sort them. These restrictions remained in place due to concerns among many Koreans about losing jobs to foreign labor.

“But in reality, employees serve food and do kitchen work whenever necessary, especially in small restaurants. There is no clear boundary between those roles,” an official told reporters. “Also at logistics companies, in many cases, teams of parcel loaders and parcel sorters take turns, and limiting E-9 visa holders to parcel-loading roles disrupts this type of operation.”

Many employers in those business sectors complained about the problems, which prompted the government to change related rules, according to the official.

In another significant change, the committee decided to lift a restriction that effectively prevented hospitality business owners from hiring E-9 visa holders as housekeepers. Previously, they were required to employ these workers either directly or through subcontractors based on one-on-one exclusive contracts.

In reality, most cleaning service providers work with multiple business owners rather than exclusively with one. Because of this, hospitality owners were unable to hire E-9 visa workers under the previous rule requiring exclusive contracts for cleaning services.

Holders of certain visas, such as the H-2 working visit visa and the F-4 long-term multiple-entry visa — specifically designed for individuals of Korean heritage who have acquired foreign citizenship — are allowed to hold jobs not permitted to E-9 visa holders, including as restaurant servers and parcel sorters.

However, many industry representatives say the number of workers eligible under these types of visas is insufficient, as many young Koreans tend to avoid physically demanding jobs.

“In recent years, service business operators, especially small businesses, have identified staffing shortages as their biggest challenge,” said Bang Ki-sun, chairman of the committee and minister of the Office for Government Policy Coordination. “We will continue to monitor the impact of these rule changes and gather feedback to balance addressing staffing needs with protecting opportunities for domestic job-seekers.”

Exacerbated by Korea’s chronically low birthrate, the labor shortage is expected to worsen, driving increased demand for foreign workers.

According to the state-funded Korea Employment Information Service, the size of the country’s economically active population is projected to peak in 2029 and decline steadily in the years that follow.

According to data released in March by the state-run Statistics Korea, the number of E-9 visa holders in the country surpassed 300,000 for the first time last year, with nearly all — 99.7 percent — employed. By industry, manufacturing and services made up 80.5 percent, followed by agriculture and fisheries at 14.4 percent and construction at 3.0 percent.