Ministry of Justice Establishes Visa Conversion System for Regionally Specialized Skilled Workers

On February 20, the Ministry of Justice announced the '2025 Regional Specialized Visa Operation Plan' and announced the establishment of a visa conversion system for foreign skilled workers residing in areas with declining population or areas of concern for population decline.

Under this system, existing E-7-4R visa holders who remain in a given region for three years or more can transition to the "Regional Specialized Talent (F-2R)" visa. This will also allow accompanying family members to pursue employment in low-income, low-skilled labor positions in regions experiencing population decline.

Additionally, foreigners with non-professional employment (E-9) and seafarer employment (E-10) visas who were previously excluded from the regional specialized visa target can now transition to regional specialized skilled workers if they stay for more than two years and meet the existing E-7-4 points system requirements, which is expected to result in more excellent foreign talent settling in the region.

The Ministry of Justice explained that to improve the system, it will increase the points awarded to metropolitan governments and expand the designated areas of concern for population decline from the existing 89 to 18, bringing the total number of designated areas to 107. Furthermore, it has introduced several improvement measures, including raising the Korean language proficiency standard to Level 4, allowing all businesses in areas experiencing population decline to freely hire foreigners, and increasing the maximum number of foreign employees to 50.

Acting Minister of Justice Kim Seok-woo said, “We expect this regionally specialized visa program to bring about population inflows and revitalize local economies in areas experiencing population declines,” and added, “We plan to support local governments in establishing policies to attract foreigners that are tailored to the characteristics of each region.”.

The establishment of this new transition system is part of the government's efforts to revitalize local economies and strengthen regional competitiveness, and is expected to have a positive impact on alleviating population decline and regional stagnation.