Is Subscription to Housing Applications Prohibited for 2 Years When Working Abroad?

Strengthening Primary Residence Requirement to 2 Years in Speculative Overheated Zones in the Seoul Metropolitan Area
Legislative Notice of Housing Supply Amendment... Overseas Study Children Also Subject to False Address Registration

Flood of Comments on Stricter Regulations
"Lived in Seoul for Over 30 Years, Made Victims by Uniform Regulation"
Claims for Exceptions for Dispatched Workers

[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] # Office worker Mr. H was dispatched to an overseas branch and worked there for two years from 2017 to 2018. During this period, housing prices continued to soar. As a non-homeowner, he said, "Watching the skyrocketing housing prices made every day feel like hell." Mr. H, who returned to Korea in January last year, succeeded in regaining the top priority qualification for the relevant area by fulfilling the one-year domestic residence period on the 7th of last month. However, if the law changes this month, he will have to wait another year to obtain the top priority subscription qualification for local residence.

On the 6th, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced a legislative notice on the amendment of the "Housing Supply Regulations," which strengthens the local first-priority residence requirement for housing subscription in speculative overheated districts in the metropolitan area or large-scale housing development districts over 660,000㎡ from one year to two years, and is currently collecting related opinions. More than 500 comments have been posted in the comment section of the legislative notice, which runs until the 9th. Most comments argue for "exceptional application for overseas dispatched workers" and "opposition to retroactive application."

Expatriates who returned after overseas assignments unanimously express dissatisfaction, saying, "We haven't committed any crime..." They argue that it is unreasonable to discriminate in housing subscription just because they lived abroad not as wealthy people but due to unavoidable company business.

Under current law, if the overseas stay period exceeds 90 consecutive days or about half the year (183 days), the person is classified as a "long-term resident." Even if they have resident registration in the relevant domestic area, they must apply as residents of other areas during the subscription process. Previously, the long-term resident criterion was 30 consecutive days, but as cases of disqualification due to simple overseas business trips increased, the regulation was slightly relaxed in November last year. However, considering that most subscriptions in the metropolitan speculative overheated districts and large-scale housing development districts subject to the amendment close with priority supply to the relevant area, winning a subscription in popular areas for overseas branch or field dispatch workers is almost like "catching a star in the sky."

Regulations related to overseas residents do not end there. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has issued guidelines to apply the same local residence requirements to dependents, who account for a high proportion of subscription points. Children studying abroad or elderly parents in nursing facilities are all strictly considered as cases of false address registration.

The situation is the same even after returning to Korea. They must wait another year without applying for subscription to regain the qualification as local residents. However, if the amendment is implemented at the end of this month (expected), they will have to reside for another year. Considering that the sales market has been at a standstill this month and last month due to the recent novel coronavirus infection (Wuhan pneumonia), it is practically difficult to target a "niche market" before the new rules take effect. Office worker Mr. Kim commented, "I have lived in Seoul for over 30 years, but after going to an overseas branch, my residence period disappears. Does that make sense?" He added, "There are many other means to filter out false address registrations, so victims should not be created by blanket regulations."

They are demanding alternatives such as "obtaining local subscription status after one year of residence upon returning from overseas work" and "exemption from the amendment if one has already resided for one year," but the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is reluctant. A ministry official explained, "It is difficult to create exceptions because the same regulations apply to local workers as well as overseas workers." Regarding the controversy over "retroactive application," the ministry's position is, "Since it is not a regulation on subscriptions already applied for but a regulation on 'expected benefits,' it is hard to consider it as retroactive application."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.