How do I use the E-9 Diligent Worker Re-entry system?

You can use the E-9 Diligent Worker Re-entry system only if your employer applies first. Before you leave Korea at the end of your extended employment period, your employer must apply for "employment permit after re-entry." Then you can come back 1 month after you leave and work at the same workplace. You can use this system only once.

You must meet these conditions

• You did not change workplaces, or you changed only for reasons set by law (for reasons that are not your fault, such as business suspension or closure, the contract period condition is checked separately)
• You work in an industry or workplace that the government has designated as having difficulty finding Korean workers
• You sign an employment contract with your employer for at least 1 year from the day you start work after re-entry
• Your employer meets the requirements for issuing an employment permit, such as the employment quota (the effort to recruit Korean workers is not required)

The allowed industries are agriculture and livestock, fishing, services, and manufacturing with fewer than 300 employees (including root industries).

Steps

1. Before your employment period extended by re-employment ends, your employer applies for employment permit after re-entry at the Employment Center (고용센터).
2. When you leave Korea, return your Alien Registration Card (외국인등록증). After your full departure is confirmed, a Certificate of Visa Issuance Confirmation (사증발급인정서) is issued.
3. After 1 month has passed since the day you left, you enter Korea again and work at your previous workplace.

💡 Good to know

• After you return, you are exempt from the Korean language test (한국어능력시험) and from the pre-arrival and post-arrival employment training.
• A regular re-entrant must wait 6 months, but this system requires only 1 month.
• After you re-enter, the employment period limit and the workplace change rules apply again.

Talk to your employer first and agree on when to apply before you leave. Check once more whether you qualify and whether your industry is allowed at the Employment Center or the Foreign Resident Support Center (외국인종합안내센터, 1345).