Gyeonggi-do Launches 'Metropolitan Visa Pilot Project' to Attract 630 Foreigners

Gyeonggi Province to Implement Its Own Metropolitan Visa
Aims to Attract Outstanding Foreign Talent in 12 Key Industries, Including IT and Semiconductors

Gyeonggi Province announced on the 3rd that it was finally selected for the Ministry of Justice's ‘Metropolitan-type Visa Pilot Project’ on the 2nd and will officially implement the ‘Gyeonggi Province-type Metropolitan Visa’ from this month until next year to attract outstanding foreign talent.

Gyeonggi Provincial Government Building. Provided by Gyeonggi Province

The ‘Metropolitan-type Visa Pilot Project’ refers to a region-customized residence visa jointly designed by the Ministry of Justice and metropolitan local governments to ensure the stable settlement of foreigners and revitalize the regional economy.

The Gyeonggi Province-type Metropolitan Visa targets the Specific Activity (E-7) visa category and includes 12 occupations such as engineers in the field of engineering, data and network experts. The province secured a total quota of 630 metropolitan visas, accounting for 52% of the nationwide E-7 series quota (1,210 people).

Through this, the province directly designed the foreign talent needed in industrial sites according to regional circumstances and implemented a new visa policy that configures visa types.

The visa target occupations are centered on major industries that will lead Gyeonggi Province's future growth engines. These include computer hardware engineers, telecommunications engineers, computer system designers and analysts, system software developers, application software developers, web developers, data experts, network system developers, information security experts, electronic engineering engineers, robotics experts, and caregivers, totaling 12 fields.

The Gyeonggi Province-type Metropolitan Visa is characterized by expanding employment opportunities for talents with Korean language proficiency. Foreign residents who have completed level 4 or higher of the ‘Social Integration Program’ (holders of TOPIK level 4 or above) can be employed by companies in the province if they have more than one year of experience, even if their bachelor's degree major from a foreign university does not match the employment occupation.

Additionally, the robotics expert occupation, which previously only allowed visa acquisition for those with a master's degree or higher, has been expanded to include bachelor's degree holders (with one year of experience after graduating from a foreign university). Furthermore, for the caregiver occupation, the domestic employment ratio requirement has been relaxed from the previous 20% to 30%, which is expected to increase employment opportunities for foreigners.

Through the introduction of this metropolitan visa, the province plans to focus on attracting ‘outstanding talent’ rather than simply ‘quantitative introduction’ of foreign labor. Moreover, the residence management policy will shift from the existing ‘crackdown and sanctions’ focus to a ‘preferential and voluntary management’ system to support stable workforce settlement.

Kim Won-gyu, Director of the Immigration and Social Affairs Bureau of Gyeonggi Province, said, “The Gyeonggi Province-type Metropolitan Visa will be an important stepping stone to attract global talent, revitalize the regional economy, and promote the development of advanced industries,” adding, “We will continue to prepare various support measures so that outstanding talents can settle and work stably in Gyeonggi Province.”

In the future, Gyeonggi Province plans to closely cooperate with the economic and industrial sectors to develop practical measures that help companies and to specify operational plans to ensure the successful settlement of the metropolitan visa.

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