Most Korean-Americans here did not cross the Pacific to flip burgers, but they might be surprised to learn that it isn’t even an option, based on the Justice Ministry’s latest list of banned jobs for F-4 visa holders.
Other jobs on the list include sommelier, postman and gym locker room attendant.
The restrictions were introduced to protect local manual laborers from competition from foreign workers, after the visa was opened up to ethnic Koreans from China and other developing countries in 2012.
But the frequent changing of the list ― the latest version came into effect in February ― loopholes in oversight and the complexities in rules and exceptions cast doubt on whether the restrictions are realistic or sensible.
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| The requirement for some F-4 visa applicants to have professional certification has led to the rise of hagwon specifically catering to Chinese-Koreans seeking qualifications that will allow them to get the visa. |
Before the 2012 change, F-4 visas had only been available to ethnic Koreans from developed countries. Since then, the vast majority of applicants have been Chinese, and 72 percent of the 293,000 F-4 visa holders in Korea had Chinese nationality as of January.
Qualification for the F-4 visa for Chinese and other previously restricted nationalities requires proof that the applicant is not likely to work in manual jobs, such as a college degree, a high-ranking company position or professional certification.
However, there are gaps in the system. Those over 60 years of age do not require such certification, according to the Justice Ministry. In addition, holders of the H-2 visa for Chinese-Korean migrant workers can change to an F-4 visa without changing jobs, as long as they have worked for a certain period of time. This is an advantage, because workers can stay on an H-2 visa for a maximum of four years and 10 months, while an F-4 visa can be renewed indefinitely.
But H-2 visas are not issued for professional work.
Lee So-hoon, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Sydney, says that the bar against ethnic Koreans from China and former Soviet states was ruled unconstitutional in 2008.
“It is only in 2012 ― five years after implementation of the working visit visa (H-2) and when the first wave of H-2 visa holders were to have their visa expired ― that transition to F-4 visa from H-2 was made possible, in fear of having a large wave of Joseonjok (ethnic Korean) population overstaying their visas, which the Ministry of Justice projected prior to (the creation of) the H-2 visa,” she said.
“The question of course is that H-2 is exclusively designed for manual labor and F-4 claims to exclude manual labor workers.”
This also means that E-9 and H-2 visas are being issued to foreign nationals to do the work that F-4 visa holders are banned from doing.
Even H-2 visa holders without the option of continuing in their jobs can still seek F-4 status. An industry has sprung up in which hagwon offer training to H-2 visas to get professional certification that would allow them to apply.
This can have distorting effects on certain professions. Applications for the certification for metal window framing rose from 500 per year on average to 8,000 in 2012, a year before the Justice Ministry stopped accepting the license as an F-4 qualification, according to one media report.
Other reports say that many applicants do not know they cannot work in certain jobs on an F-4 visa, and that many vocational hagwon do not point this out.
There is also inconsistency between ministries on what constitutes manual labor. Care work and domestic work are not classified as manual work by the Labor Ministry, which oversees the employment of H-2 visa holders, but both are on the Justice Ministry’s list of jobs that F-4 visas may not do.
Differences can also be obscure. Hand-washing laundry work is banned, but machine washing laundry work is not.
Workplaces may not be aware of the rules. Of six noraebang contacted by The Korea Herald, four were not aware that F-4 visa holders could not work there.
Added to that, the rules change frequently. For example, Lee said domestic workers had different rules for acquiring F-4 status in 2012, 2013 and 2014.
And while employers are supposed to register foreign workers on employment visas with the Labor Ministry, such a system doesn’t apply to the F-4 residence visa.
The Justice Ministry said that the punishment for violating the restrictions carried a maximum penalty of three years in prison or a fine of 20 million won ($19,000), but could not give examples of punishments being given and said it had no statistics on their enforcement.
By Paul Kerry (paulkerry@heraldcorp.com)
Kim Yu-ah contributed to this story. ― Ed.
