First coronavirus, now this: South Korea expats face new visa restrictions
- The country is changing the points system for its F2-7 long-term residency visa to favour higher-paid workers
- English teachers, already viewed with suspicion by some after a Covid-19 outbreak in the nightlife district of Itaewon, could be among the hardest hit
Noman Ashraf has been working at his electrical engineering job in the city of Gunpo, south of Seoul, for just seven months but his future in the country has already run into uncertainty.
The 26-year-old from Pakistan completed his engineering master’s degree in South Korea as part of a plan to jump-start his career in a technologically advanced nation. “I wanted to live in this country where there are great opportunities, but that seems to be getting more difficult as the days go by,” he said.
A ministry spokesman said the revisions were proposed to “give more advantages to expats in the superior talent pool while decreasing the number of expats who are not in this pool”.
The proposed revisions are not final; the ministry is reviewing opinions sent via email until May 29.