In Korea, the consent of the Migration Agency is no longer required to change jobs

Consent of the Migration Agency is no longer required to change jobs in Korea

The Migration Agency has revised and significantly eased certain clauses of the tripartite agreement concluded with citizens traveling to the Republic of Korea for temporary labor activity under the E-9 visa.

As is known, according to the previously effective agreement, a citizen was required to obtain the consent of the representative office of the Migration Agency in the Republic of Korea before changing their place of work. Failure to comply with this requirement provided for financial penalties on citizens. The Agency recalled that these requirements had been introduced to strictly prevent Uzbek citizens from falling into illegal status in Korea, to maintain constant contact with them, and to provide social, legal, and material assistance when necessary.

However, in practice, these clauses caused administrative difficulties and excessive objections during the process of citizens' free movement and changing of workplaces.

These issues were studied in depth based on negotiations conducted with employers and prestigious non-governmental non-profit organizations in the Republic of Korea, as well as an analysis of numerous appeals received from citizens.

As a result, the following two important restrictions were removed from the tripartite agreement:

- The requirement to obtain prior consent from the agency's representative office to change jobs was abolished;

- Penalty sanctions applied in case of non-compliance with this requirement were removed.

Now, E-9 visa holders are not required to obtain separate permission or consent from the Migration Agency during the process of changing their place of work. They can terminate their employment contract with their current employer in a timely manner within the framework of Korea's current procedures and legislation, and enter into a new employment relationship with a new employer on a legal basis.

The Migration Agency strictly emphasized that these changes do not ease the requirements of the general state legislation of the Republic of Korea established for the E-9 visa. In particular, the application of fines for remaining in Korea in an illegal status under the agreement remained in force.

Accordingly, after terminating the contract with the employer, a citizen working with an E-9 visa must unconditionally comply with the following deadlines:

- Must officially register as a job seeker within 1 month from the date of contract termination;

- Must find and formalize a new job within the specified 90 days (exceptions such as illness, occupational injury, pregnancy, and childbirth are also provided for).

According to the terms of the agreement, if a citizen fails to fulfill or improperly fulfills the established requirements, they will be deported to Uzbekistan by the competent authorities of the Republic of Korea, and the obligation to cover the costs associated with their return will be imposed on the citizen or their guarantor. In addition, a fine of 2,000 USD is set for each month of delay in fulfilling the relevant clauses of the agreement.

Despite the simplification of the service agreement in favor of citizens, the Agency asked each of our compatriots to approach the strict procedures and deadlines established by the legislation of the Republic of Korea with utmost responsibility during the process of changing jobs.

Article 25 of the Act on the Employment of Foreign Workers of the Republic of Korea defines the circumstances under which a foreign employee of the E-9 category may apply to transfer to another enterprise or workplace.

In particular, an employee may request a change of workplace if: the employer intends to terminate the employment contract prematurely for a justified reason or refuses to extend it upon expiration; the enterprise's operations are temporarily suspended or completely closed; the employer's permission to employ foreigners is canceled or restricted; labor conditions are violated; the worker is treated unfairly; the legal requirements regarding dormitories are violated; it is objectively impossible to continue working at this enterprise due to other specified reasons not attributable to the employee's fault.

An application to change the workplace is submitted to the competent employment authority of Korea. Article 25 of the law does not specify obtaining permission from the Migration Agency of Uzbekistan or its representative office in Korea as a condition for changing the workplace.

In Korea's official EPS system, it is also possible to directly submit an application to change the workplace for E-9 workers.

According to the law, during the main period of labor activity, changing the workplace, as a rule, should not exceed three times. During the extended period of work, changes are allowed up to two more times. If the workplace is changed due to reasons provided by law that are not attributable to the employee's fault, such cases are not included in this limit.