Coming back on the E-9 re-entry special scheme

An E-9 worker who reaches the end of the full 4 years and 10 months can return to the same employer after one month abroad instead of the usual six, and start a fresh employment period. The scheme only works if the employer files the application before the worker leaves. This guide covers who qualifies, what each side files, and the ways people lose the chance.

I have been through this several times. Workers from Myanmar and Cambodia who worked for us through their full term and extension went home and came back to us under this scheme, and all four of the foreign workers with us now returned the same way. In practice it starts with the worker: they tell you they want to come back. Nothing moves until the employer agrees, because the application is the employer's to make.

The one-month minimum is not the same as the actual gap. One of our Myanmar workers left in 2021, the year of the military coup there. Flights stopped, and nobody could say when they would restart. We kept in touch on KakaoTalk every day, mostly to check he was safe. He came back about nine months after leaving, on a connecting route rather than a direct flight. Most returns are far quicker than that, but plan for the date to move.

Who this applies to

The scheme is called the re-entry employment special scheme (재입국 취업 특례 · jaeipguk chwieop teungnye). You will still hear its old name, the sincere foreign worker re-entry scheme (성실외국인근로자 재입국 · seongsil oegugin geulloja jaeipguk). It applies to E-9 (비전문취업 · bijeonmun chwieop) workers who were re-employed and are reaching the end of the extended employment period.

Whether a worker qualifies depends mostly on their workplace-change history:

Two further conditions apply to everyone. The workplace must be one the Foreign Workforce Policy Committee (외국인력정책위원회 · oegugin ryeok jeongchaek wiwonhoe) treats as hard to staff with Korean workers, judged by sector and size. And the worker must already have signed a labour contract of at least one year with that employer, taking effect from the first day of work after re-entry.

What you need to bring

Employer, at the Job Center

• Application for issuance or reissuance of a foreign worker employment permit (외국인근로자 고용허가서 (발급·재발급) 신청서 · oegugin geulloja goyong heogaseo (balgeup·jaebalgeup) sincheongseo).
• A copy of your business registration certificate (사업자등록증 · saeopja deungnokjeung).
• Proof that you tried to recruit Korean workers first (내국인 구인노력 입증 서류 · naegugin guin noryeok ipjeung seoryu). This catches employers out: it is a returning worker you already know, but the requirement still applies.
• The labour contract for the re-entry period, at least one year, starting from the first day of work after re-entry.
• If the worker changed workplace before joining you, proof of the reason, so the Job Center can check it against the table above.

Worker, before departure

• Your passport and alien registration card (외국인등록증 · oegugin deungnokjeung), for the departure itself.
• Claims for departure insurance and the national pension lump sum. Both are covered in separate guides on this site.

Where to go

Step by step

1. Check the worker's history early. Ask the Job Center to confirm the workplace-change record, if any, and the reason recorded for it. The reason on file is what counts, not what anyone remembers.
2. Agree the re-entry contract. At least one year, effective from the first working day after the worker returns.
3. File the application before the worker leaves. The law requires the employer to apply before the extended employment period ends and the worker departs. Applications are accepted from three months before the extended period ends. When the conditions and the visa issuance standards are met, the employment permit is issued within 7 days of the application being received.
4. Worker leaves Korea. The departure date starts the one-month count.
5. Worker returns. Once one month has passed since departure, the worker can work in Korea again. Pre-employment training (외국인 취업교육 · oegugin chwieop gyoyuk) is waived, so there is no stop at a training centre. In our case that meant the employer went to Incheon Airport on the arrival date and collected the worker in person, so agree the flight date with the worker and keep that day free.
6. Register again and restart. After arrival our workers went back to Daejeon Immigration Office, the office covering where they live, to register and collect a new alien registration card. From there it is a new employment period, with the same limits and workplace-change rules as the first, and the worker can stay for a long time again.

Costs and timing

Where people get sent home

• Applying after the flight. The most expensive mistake on this page. The employer assumes the paperwork can be done while the worker is at home; it cannot.
• Leaving a few weeks early. A worker who goes home before the extended period ends, for a family event or a cheaper ticket, falls outside the scheme. Book the flight for the end date, not before.
• An old workplace change nobody mentioned. A change years ago, recorded as the worker's own choice, disqualifies them even if they have been loyal to the current employer ever since.
• A short contract with the last employer. After an employer-caused change, the contract with the employer applying must cover at least one year to the end of the period. A worker who moved in the final eight months does not meet this without the council's approval.
• A re-entry contract under one year. Six-month or seasonal contracts do not meet the condition.

FAQ