More than 86 percent of international students in Korea want to work in the country, but visa issues remain a significant hurdle to their employment goals, according to a recent poll released on Tuesday.

The survey, conducted by the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Businesses (KBIZ) and involving 805 international students attending local universities, found that 86.5 percent expressed interest in finding a job in Korea. The rate was even higher among those pursuing associate’s degrees, at 90.8 percent, compared to students pursuing bachelor's degrees or higher, at 85.6 percent.

The primary reasons for wanting to work in Korea included a desire to live in the country at 35.2 percent, the prospect of higher salaries compared to their home countries at 27.7 percent and the opportunity to work in a field of interest at 25.6 percent.

More than 63 percent of respondents also expressed interest in working for over three years: 29 percent wanted to work for three to five years, 15.5 percent for five to 10 years and 22 percent for over 10 years.

However, obtaining a visa remains a major obstacle. A total of 66.7 percent of respondents reported difficulties in obtaining the E-7 visa, with 22.2 percent describing it as "very challenging." The E-7 visa is a primary option for individuals with specialized skills and professional qualifications to work in Korea.

The main barriers to obtaining the visa were a lack of companies offering E-7 visa sponsorship at 40 percent, limited job types available under the visa at 21.4 percent and insufficient information on companies offering the visa at 19.6 percent.

Despite these challenges, 64.3 percent of students said they would remain in Korea even if they couldn't find a job immediately after graduation. Among them, 31.2 percent said they would continue job hunting, 22.5 percent would consider enrolling in graduate school, and the rest were considering starting their own businesses.

If the E-9 visa were made available to international students, 58.8 percent said they would consider working for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), including as production workers.

Those who said they would not pursue an E-9 visa cited reasons such as the inability to use their acquired knowledge at 43.5 percent, low income at 20.7 percent and poor working conditions at 15.8 percent.

An amendment to the Act on the Employment of Foreign Workers, which would allow international students to apply for the E-9 visa, has been pending since its proposal in November 2024.

Lee Myung-ro, head of the Small Business Labor Policy Division at KBIZ, emphasized that the challenges in obtaining the E-7 visa limit job opportunities for international students, which in turn "hinders efforts to ease the manpower shortage in SMEs."

“A thorough review to allow the E-9 visa for foreign students is necessary, as it would have a positive impact,” Lee said. “Foreign students fluent in Korean could be deployed to SMEs, improving productivity and preventing industrial accidents through better communication.”

BY WOO JI-WON [woo.jiwon@joongang.co.kr]