Jeju Special Self-Governing Province will be accepting employment permit applications for foreign workers (E-9) from August 5th to 16th, 2024, at employment centers.

Starting with this third round, employers in the forestry and mining industries can also apply for employment permits. Furthermore, the scope of businesses eligible for the pilot restaurant industry program will be expanded. The province will collaborate with related departments and associations in the restaurant industry to strengthen foreign worker employment management, including occupational accident prevention.

Forestry employers can apply for simple forestry worker positions in forest project implementing corporations and seedling production corporations. Mining employers can apply for simple mining worker positions required for the extraction, transport, and processing of minerals in metal and non-metal mining.

In the restaurant industry, employment permits will be extended to include foreign cuisine restaurants, such as Chinese and Japanese restaurants, in addition to Korean restaurants. The requirement for business eligibility has been unified to a minimum of 5 years of operation, regardless of size, and the allowed regions have been expanded nationwide.

Employers wishing to hire foreign labor can apply by visiting the Jeju Employment Center (710-4408~10) or through the Foreign Workforce Employment Management System website (www.eps.go.kr).

Before submitting an employment permit application, employers must first make efforts to recruit domestic workers through WorkNet for at least seven days.

The businesses selected to receive employment permits will be announced on September 2nd. Selected businesses will be notified via SMS, and the results will also be available on the Foreign Workforce Employment Management System website.

Employment permit issuance will take place from September 3rd to 6th for the manufacturing and mining industries, and from September 9th to 13th for the agriculture, livestock, fisheries, forestry, construction, and service industries.

In the previous second round, it was found that almost all businesses that applied for foreign workers received employment permits, with an issuance rate of 99.7%.

Kim In-young, Director of Economic Vitality at Jeju Province, stated, “We hope that the employment permit system for foreign workers will help alleviate the labor shortages faced by local farms and small businesses. We ask employers to meticulously prepare for the foreign worker employment permit application process, including efforts to recruit domestic workers in advance.”