Immigrants with vocational licenses soar

The number of immigrants with vocational licenses certified by the Korean government increased nearly threefold to 2,144 last year from 788 in 2010, the Ministry of Employment and Labor said Monday.

The ministry said it expects a record-high number this year as 26,308 foreigners have already applied to take the license test as of June, a rise from 15,661 applicants in 2011.

The data showed that 2,922 license holders between 2010 and 2011 account for about half of the 5,699 foreigners who have acquired government-certified vocational licenses, which have been available since 1967.

The ministry said the majority of them are ethnic Koreans. License holders are eligible to apply for an F-4 visa due to a new government measure put in place in late 2010.

The visa is exclusively issued to overseas Korean descendants and allows them to stay and get a job in the country with few restrictions.

“According to our survey, 74.9 percent of the immigrants who earned a vocational qualification license between 2010 and 2011 were Chinese, followed by Japanese at 8.7 percent and Americans at 7.8 percent,” an official of the Human Resources Development Service of Korea under the ministry said. “Those three countries have a high Korean population and most of the successful applicants in 2010 and 2011 were ethnic Koreans seeking an F-4 visa.”

The licenses vary depending on the level of skills required depending on the profession, including beauticians, cleaners, cooks, drivers, miners, heavy machine operators, and clerks.

Of the 5,699 immigrants holding vocational licenses, 92 percent of them had acquired job certification for low-skilled professions, such as masseur, nail artist, Korean-food cook and baker.

“A little more than three out 10 license holders simply said they earned the license for employment purposes,” the ministry official said.

She added that more immigrants, especially ethnic Koreans, are expected to pursue a vocational license in the future. “We have 26,308 foreigners who have already applied for the license test as of June, and such a rate suggests it will continue to rise.” <The Korea Times/Yi Whan-woo>

news@theasian.asia