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| Undocumented foreigners stand in line to make voluntary reports on their status at Incheon International Airport in this March 2020 photo. Yonhap |
By Lee Hyo-jin
The estimated number of foreign nationals who have overstayed their visas in Korea has reached an all-time high amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to data from the Ministry of Justice.
Earlier this week, the Korea Immigration Service (KIS) released its statistics for 2020 that included the estimated number of such people overstaying their visas.
The rate among the total number of foreign nationals marked a record high of 19.3 percent, up 3.8 percentage points from 15.5 percent in 2019.
The total number of undocumented foreigners also reached a record high of 392,196, up from 392,081 in 2019. The figure has been steadily rising since 2016.
Among them, around 281,000, or 70 percent, were short-term visitors, who had initially entered the country without a visa for a 90-day stay.
Another 108,000 were long-term stayers, according to the report.
The KIS added that there has been an increase in the number of foreign workers overstaying after their visas expire.
More specifically, among those who entered the country for non-professional employment (E-9 type visa), 7,875 people were found to be staying here illegally in 2020, a sevenfold increase from 2019.
To address these issues, a coalition of foreign workers' rights groups have been demanding new, practical measures, as the number of unregistered foreigners "has already exceeded the number that can be controlled" by existing means.
"Due to flight restrictions amid the coronavirus pandemic, more foreign workers are overstaying their visas as they cannot leave the country. The government should come up with practical measures to bring them within legal boundaries," they said in a statement earlier this month.
