Cheorwon-gun brings immigration registration to foreign seasonal workers

Cheorwon-gun in Gangwon Province announced Sunday that it has launched a mobile immigration registration service that brings officials directly to foreign seasonal workers, sparing them the burden of traveling to a distant immigration office.

The service, believed to be the first of its kind among local governments in Gangwon Province, began Thursday at the Cheorwon Agricultural Technology Center in partnership with the Yangju Immigration and Foreigners Office. Foreign seasonal workers are required to complete alien registration within 90 days of entering the country.

Cheorwon-gun had previously helped farms by handling advance reservations, preparing required documents, and providing on-site guidance and interpretation. But physically transporting workers to the immigration office — a round trip of roughly three hours — remained a persistent burden for farming households during the busy growing season. The mobile service, developed jointly with the Yangju office, was designed to eliminate that obstacle.

To streamline the process, registration documents are collected and reviewed in advance, so on-site visits focus solely on fingerprint enrollment, allowing the entire registration procedure to move quickly.

One farmer who took part said the old process of traveling from Cheorwon all the way to Yangju consumed a great deal of time and was a serious strain during the peak farming period. "Having the immigration office come directly to us was extremely convenient, and I'm grateful to everyone involved," the farmer said.

Choi Sun-beom, head of the agricultural retail division at Cheorwon-gun, said the county would continue working with relevant agencies to reflect the needs of seasonal workers and farming households. "We will do our best to actively support farms so their agricultural schedules are not disrupted and to provide practical help to farmers," he said.

Cheorwon-gun plans to operate the mobile immigration registration service two more times, on June 18 and June 24.

The county said it intends to proactively address issues affecting foreign seasonal workers, who play a key role in easing labor shortages in rural areas.