South Korea Extends Visas To 60,000 Foreigners In Light Of COVID-19 - Justice Ministry

Muhammad Irfan Published April 09, 2020 | 01:56 PM

South Korea has extended for another three months the visas of approximately 60,000 foreigners whose term of residence in the country should expire soon to ensure they do not visit immigration services during the coronavirus pandemic, the country's Ministry of Justice said on Thursday

SEOUL (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 09th April, 2020) South Korea has extended for another three months the visas of approximately 60,000 foreigners whose term of residence in the country should expire soon to ensure they do not visit immigration services during the coronavirus pandemic, the country's Ministry of Justice said on Thursday.

On February 24, the government automatically extended visas of over 130,000 registered foreigners until May 30.

"The Ministry of Justice decided to extend for three months visas for approximately 60,000 registered foreigners (including ethnic Koreans), whose period of residence is expected to expire soon, in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in local communities," the statement said.

According to the ministry, this figure includes foreigners whose visas expire before May 31.

The automatic extension does not include the E-9 type of visa granted to non-professional employees and E-10 given to vessel crews. These types of visas can be extended online.

The Ministry of Justice expects to reduce the number of visitors in immigration offices, which typically receives over 2,500 visa extension applications each day.

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Korea has reached 10,423, with nearly 7,000 recoveries and 204 fatalities.