Non-professional Employment, E-9
The E-9 Non-professional Employment visa, is a visa made for workers coming to work in the manual labour field. Every year, the Korean government announces industries, and size of enterprises allowed to hire foreign workers. Though the countries that can apply for a E-9 visa, is limited to a list of 15. The 15 countries that can apple for the E-9 non-professional employment visa is Philippines, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Cambodia, China, Bangladesh, Nepal, Kazakhstan, Myanmar and East Timor.
The visa was made, as many Koreans and Westerners does not want to be employed in the manual labour field in Korea. So the Korean government made the visa, to allow foreign workers from select countries to take those jobs.
Some of the fields E-9 non-professional employment visa holders can be employed in are, fishing, farming, manufacturing, food processing and other miscellaneous manual labour jobs.
To apply for the visa, you have to go to your local South Korean embassy or consulate. With you, you will need to bring the following
- Valid Passport + one copy
- Visa issuance certificate (Sent from your employer)
- 2 colour photos (3 cm x 4 cm)
- Processing fee (30$ for single entry, 50$ for multiple entry, may vary depending on your country)
- Personal Bank certificate
- Income Tax Return (Copy)
- Application form
- Original & Copy of Valid Visas and Arrival Stamps to OECD member countries for the past 5 years.
- Invitation Letter & Copy of Korean Company Business Permit
After you receive your non-professional employment visa, you are able to travel to Korea. When you arrive in Korea, you should visit your local immigration office. As you will need to apply for an Alien Registration Card, which is your Korean id card. With your ARC you will be able to sign up for a bank account, phone service etc.
When you apply for your ARC, you will need the following:
- 2 colour photos (3x4cm)
- Copy of passport
- Application form
- Processing Fee (30,ooo KRW)
When you’ve applied for the ARC, at your local immigration office. You will have to wait 2 weeks, for it to either be sent to your place of living. Or you can go to the immigration office, to pick it up yourself.