The Ministry of Justice announced on the 31st that it will temporarily waive various administrative fees and fines for foreigners residing in the large wildfire-affected areas in the Yeongnam region.
The Ministry of Justice made this decision to minimize the damage to foreigners registered or reported as residents in the areas declared as special disaster zones. The special disaster zones include Sancheong-gun and Hadong-gun in Gyeongnam, Uiseong-gun, Andong-si, Cheongsong-gun, Yeongyang-gun, and Yeongdeok-gun in Gyeongbuk, as well as Ulju-gun in Ulsan.
Foreigners in these areas can be exempted from fees related to extending their stay period, changing their stay status, naturalization, nationality restoration, and nationality acquisition until the 30th of next month.
Additionally, even if they fail to extend their stay period within the designated time or violate various permit and reporting obligations due to wildfire damage, fines or penalties will be waived until the 30th of next month.
Seasonal foreign workers who lost their jobs due to wildfire damage will be allowed to change their workplace to other farms as a priority. According to the Ministry of Justice, as of the end of last month, there are 18,578 foreigners, including seasonal workers, residing in the eight wildfire-affected special disaster zones.
The Ministry of Justice plans to provide the same support to any additional areas declared as special disaster zones during the implementation period. The Ministry stated, "Once the wildfire-affected farms resume agricultural work, we will promptly issue visas to facilitate smooth employment."
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