Changing from E-9 to E-7-4 Computation of Points

Source: ‘외국인 숙련기능인력 점수제 비자’시행
Issued by the Ministry of Justice on July 18, 2017

Call 1345 or the Immigration Office for questions and clarifications.

The Ministry of Justice will establish and implement a “Visa for Foreign Skilled Function Points” from August 1, 2017 in order to secure skilled manpower in industries such as casting, molds, welding, and agriculture, forestry and fisheries.

※ Root Industry: Industry that uses roots technology (six technologies including casting, mold, welding, plastic processing, surface treatment, and heat treatment) based on “Root Industry Promotion and Modernization Act”

❍ In the case of casting, welding, agriculture and fishery, even though it is an important industry to maintain the economy, it is experiencing a serious shortage of manpower and is maintained mainly by unskilled foreign manpower through the employment permit system.

❍ It is also pointed out that, as foreign workers have a certain level of proficiency, they have to return to their home countries due to their visa expiration date, so the visa system should be improved in order to secure skilled manpower in the industrial field.

❍ The Ministry of Justice plans to introduce a Skilled Workforce Scoring System that scored proficiency, age, career, Korean language ability, etc. in order to solve these problems so that excellent foreign workers can continue working in the field without returning home.

□ The main contents are foreigners who have worked normally for 4 years or more with non-professional employment (E-9), Seaman’s employment (E-10) and visiting employment (H-2) visa in Korea (E-7-4) for foreign skilled skill point system.

❍ Foreign worker who has been granted ‘Foreigner Skills Visa Score Visa’ (E-7-4) can extend his / her stay after every 2 years if he/she keeps visa requirements.

❍ Skilled Workforce Score is composed of the required items (industry proficiency, academic background, age, Korean language proficiency, etc.) and optional items (domestic assets, domestic work experience in relevant field, education and training experience related to relevant occupations.)

□ The system improvement will be carried out through consultation with related departments such as the Ministry of Employment and Labor, and the pilot project will be operated with a maximum of 300 people by the end of this year.

❍ The Ministry of Justice is expected to contribute to the development of industry by providing stable skilled manpower to industries that are experiencing difficulties due to lack of skilled workers such as root industries.

□ Applicable subject: Foreigner who has been working normally in Korea for more than 4 years within the last 10 years with non-professional employment (E-9), seaman job (E-10)

□ New Visa: Skilled Workforce Scoring System (E-7-4)

□ Score Requirement: Any of the following 180 points (Could be 1 or 2)
1. A person with a score of “proficiency” of industrial contribution value of 10 or more and a total score of 50 or more (Check computation below)
2. Required items. Those who have a total score of 35 or higher and a total score of 70 or higher

REQUIRED ITEMS:

I. Industrial contribution value

Proficiency: Maximum 20 points

A. Annual Income
26 million and above – 10
30 million and above – 15
33 million and above – 20

B. Possession of Certificate (National Technical Qualifications Act)
기사 – 20
산업기사 – 15
기능사 – 10

C. Skill Verification Pass – 10

Note: Duplicate calculation between items is not possible (only the highest point value can be calculated).
A. Based on the application date, average annual income for the last two years (based on the certificate of income amount issued by the tax office)
B. Only domestic qualifications directly related to the field in which you are working at the date of application, only the technical qualification of “Technology/Function Field” in Table 2 of Enforcement Rule of the National Technical Qualifications Act.
C. This refers to the qualification test conducted by the agency designated by the Ministry of Justice

II. Future Contribution Value

Education: Maximum 20 points

Graduate Studies – 20
Bachelor Degree – 10
High School Graduate – 5

Note: Duplicate calculation between items is not possible (only the highest point value can be calculated).
Acquired area is not limited to domestic or international but only regular courses.

Age: Maximum 20 points
Up to 24 years – 20
Up to 29 years – 10
Up to 34 years – 5
Up to 39 years – 2

Korean Language Proficiency: Maximum 20 points
TOPIK 4, KIIP 4 or higher – 20
TOPIK 3, KIIP 3 – 15
TOPIK 2, KIIP 2 – 10
TOPIK 1, KIIP 1 – 5

Only valid and official scorecards will be accepted for TOPIK or KIIP

OPTIONAL ITEMS: Maximum 100 points

Assets: Maximum 35 points

Domestic installment savings
Over 100 million won – 15
Over 60 million won – 10
Over 30 million won – 5

Domestic assets
Over 100 million won – 20
Over 80 million won – 15
Over 50 million won – 10

Note: Domestic installment savings should be at least 800,000 won a month and must have been accumulated for two years or more. Domestic assets refers to ownership of land, house, building that you have more than one year as of the application date.

Domestic (Korea) working experience within the last 10 years: Maximum 15 points

A. Root industry
6 years and over – 15
4 years and over – 10

B. General manufacturing (일반 제조업) and other industries
6 years and over – 10
4 years and over – 5

Note: Duplicate calculation between items is not possible (only the highest point value can be calculated)

Related job type, domestic education or training experience: Maximum 10 points

A. Domestic education experience
Graduate studies – 10
Bachelor degree – 8

B. Domestic training experience
One year or more – 5
Over 6 months – 3

Note: Duplicate calculation between items is not possible (only the highest point value can be calculated)
A refers to a student who attends a regular course at a domestic university and has acquired a bachelor’s degree or higher.
B refers to only the training related to the relevant occupation at the authorized training institute for private institutes in Korea (D-4-6)

Others: Maximum 40 points

A. University experience in Korea
Masteral or higher – 10
Bachelor and below – 5

B. Government recommendation – 10

C. Career – 10

D. Social contribution
Recognition (award) – 5
Community service – 3

E. Tax Payment
Over 2 million won – 5
Over 1.5 million won – 3
Over 1 million won – 1

Note: Duplicate calculation between items
A. Students who have studied at a domestic university for more than 2 years and have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher can duplicate the “degree possessed” and “academic ability”.
B. Recognition only for the employment recommendation of the central government related to the field of occupation.
C. Only is there is more than 2 years of work experience at workplaces in -Eup and -Myeon (not including metro cities or 광역시 and Gyeonggi provinces).
D. Domestic community service for more than one year.
E. Based on the date of application

TOTAL: Up to 100 points

This is just a guide. It is advisable to get assistance from an immigration lawyer to help you prepare the documents if you think you qualify based on the above. You only need a total of 50 points if you score 10 in the “Industrial Contribution Value”. If you can’t get 10 from the industrial contribution value, then you must get at least 35 points in the required items and a total of 70 points.

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