Chungnam Province Completes Recruitment of Foreigners for 'Regional Specialized Visa Program' Participation

Chungnam Province completed the recruitment of foreigners to participate in the region-specific visa pilot project last month.

According to Chungnam Province on the 13th, the pilot project allows foreigners who meet certain requirements such as residence, employment/startup, income, and education to change their residence status to a residence (F-2) visa upon recommendation from the head of a local government in a population-declining area.

In Chungnam, Boryeong and Yesan were selected for the public contest project in October last year, and 75 people were allocated per city/county, totaling 150 people.

However, due to additional local government requirements set beyond the Ministry of Justice's basic conditions (such as obtaining or expecting to obtain an associate degree or higher from a local institution), the number of applicants was only 59 by the end of June.

Accordingly, from July, Chungnam Province changed the requirements by adding income conditions and expanding universities located in the Chungcheong region to recruit applicants, successfully filling all allocated spots.

By nationality of applicants, Vietnam was the highest with 62 people (41.3% of the total), followed by Nepal with 39 people (26.0%), and Myanmar with 12 people (8.0%).

Among them, 72 foreign students have obtained or are expected to obtain an associate degree or higher in the region, and 78 foreign workers (E-7, E-9, etc.) are currently employed at companies.

Notably, it was found that 56 of the total 150 recruits moved from other regions such as Gyeonggi and Gyeongbuk to Chungnam and settled there, adding significance to the project.

The pilot project is scheduled to be fully implemented from next year after analyzing this year’s results. Chungnam Province expects that if the project is activated, it will help to some extent in solving the population decline problem in the region.

Kim Beom-su, Director of the Women and Family Policy Division of Chungnam Province, said, “The region-specific visa project is a direct means to support foreign residents currently staying in Korea to move to and settle in the region. Chungnam Province will continue to actively attract excellent foreign talents through collaboration with local universities and companies, while supporting their stable settlement.”

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