Pilot Project for 'Metropolitan Visa' to Fully Launch in March... Gyeongbuk Province Says "Great Help in Solving Workforce Shortage in SMEs"

Gyeongbuk Province plans to identify the demand for metropolitan-type visas over the next two years (2025-2026) by surveying cities, counties, economic organizations, and companies, then design the metropolitan-type visa accordingly. They will apply for the Ministry of Justice's public contest by the 7th, and if selected, the project will be fully implemented starting at the end of March.

The metropolitan-type visa pilot project was first proposed by Gyeongbuk Province, and the Ministry of Justice announced the pilot project on December 1st last year in connection with the national immigration policy direction.

A briefing session on the pilot project for metropolitan-type visas is being held at the Gyeongbuk Provincial Government Office for small and medium-sized enterprise officials and others.

The project method involves metropolitan local governments designing and submitting visa issuance requirements and models tailored to regional characteristics. The Ministry of Justice's review committee then finalizes the pilot project target areas and visa quotas.

Since 2023, the region-specific visa (F-2-R) project has been promoted in population-decreasing areas, but the seven cities and counties not classified as population-decreasing areas, which have not benefited from this, will be able to employ and settle foreign workers through the metropolitan-type visa pilot project, which is expected to greatly help alleviate labor shortages.

Gyeongbuk Province plans to focus the pilot project's residence status on specific activities E-7 (1, 2, 3). The province will support changing the residence status of international students currently residing in Korea so they can find employment and settle in the region. Overseas, they will operate an overseas talent attraction center in Uzbekistan to directly select talent and support their employment in local companies, pursuing a two-track strategy.

Through the metropolitan-type visa project, foreign nationals attracted will be encouraged to settle in the region by working in mid-sized and small enterprises as skilled professionals and technicians, as caregivers in elderly welfare facilities in preparation for a super-aged society, and as chefs and cooks in the tourism and food service sectors to prepare for the 2025 APEC event and revitalize tourism in Gyeongbuk.

Since this is the first year the Ministry of Justice's metropolitan-type visa pilot project is being implemented, Gyeongbuk Province will conduct visa briefings and demand surveys for cities and counties, as well as demand surveys through nine local chambers of commerce and industry. They will reflect the needs of world-class companies, strong small and medium enterprises, star companies, and pride companies to secure future growth engines through the influx of foreign talent.

To this end, on the 21st of last month, Gyeongbuk Province Talent Development Institute, and on the 22nd at the Gyeongbuk Provincial Office, briefings on the metropolitan-type visa pilot project were held for companies and elderly care facility representatives.

Jung Seong-hyun, Director of the Local Era Policy Bureau of Gyeongbuk Province, stated, “Since this year is the first year of the metropolitan-type visa pilot project, we hope many companies employing foreign workers with E-7 visas and interested companies will apply. We plan to reflect the voices from the field of foreign worker employing companies in promoting the metropolitan-type visa pilot project.”

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