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| Incheon Airport immigration office. Korea Times file |
Vietnamese students now subject to stronger financial screening
By Lee Suh-yoon
The government is tightening visa rules for foreign students accepted into Korean language programs at universities here, starting Monday, the Ministry of Justice said Sunday.
The move comes amid immigration brokers' increasing abuse of the language exchange visa system for international students. The number of foreigners staying illegally after entering the country via a language exchange visa increased three-fold from 4,294 in 2015 to 12,526 in 2018, according to immigration authorities.
"Up till now, we gave universities maximum autonomy over the selection process of foreign exchange students," the ministry said in a press statement. "But their failure to screen prospective students' finances and academic ability properly resulted in an increase in the number of illegal migrants."
Vietnamese students, in particular, will be subject to stricter financial screening because about 70 percent of the illegal aliens who entered the country via D-4 language training program visas are from Vietnam, according to the ministry's 2018 data.
Instead of simply submitting proof of a bank account holding $9,000 in tuition fees, the ministry will require prospective Vietnamese students to put $10,000 in a restricted account that allows a withdrawal of 5 million won ($4,400) every six months, thus blocking one-time withdrawal of the total sum to be returned to immigration brokers as soon as a D-4 visa is issued.
Additionally, students from Guinea, Mali, Uganda, Ethiopia, and Cameroon ― who have shown high percentages of dropping out of the program midway before disappearing into the undocumented labor force ― will need at least a level 3 TOPIK certificate or get 530 points in a TOEFL test to be admitted to a Korean language program at a "lower-tier" university, as ranked by the education ministry based on factors like the drop-out and illegal residency rate of former students.
The ministry will also limit the number of foreign students these "lower-tier" universities can accept into their Korean language programs, and the number of students per language instructor to 30. Using the same standards, 50 "top-tier" universities will now be able to issue electronic visas to its language exchange students.
Part-time employment regulations of international students, however, will be slightly eased due to criticism that banning them from part-time work in the manufacturing sector increases illegal employment, especially at provincial universities where part-time job choices are limited.
The new rule allows foreign students with a TOPIK level 4 certificate or higher to work legally part-time in the manufacturing sector.
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