Foreign nationals on marriage visas eligible for indefinite contracts as labor ministry reviews exemption policy

The Ministry of Employment and Labor has begun reviewing its longstanding administrative interpretation that exempted foreign workers with fixed-term residency permits from the two-year employment limit under the Act on the Protection of Fixed-term and Part-time Workers. The review was prompted by a recent court ruling that the law applies to foreign nationals holding residence and marriage immigration visas.

According to the ministry Saturday, the review follows a Seoul High Court ruling that the Fixed-term Employment Act must apply to foreign workers without permanent residency status.

The law generally limits the use of fixed-term workers to two years. If an employer retains a fixed-term worker beyond that period, the worker is deemed to hold an open-ended, indefinite contract.

The ministry had previously interpreted foreign workers as falling under an exemption in Article 4 of the law — which excludes cases where another statute sets the employment period — on the grounds that their stay in Korea is already limited by the Immigration Act and other regulations.

The Seoul High Court recently rejected that interpretation. The case involved one worker holding a residence (F-2) visa and another holding a marriage immigration (F-6) visa. On April 24, the court ruled that a residency period restriction alone is not sufficient to exclude foreign workers from the Fixed-term Employment Act's protections. The ruling became final after the employer chose not to appeal.

"Given the high court ruling, we are reviewing our existing administrative interpretation," a ministry official said. "However, this case concerned holders of F-2 and F-6 status, and a separate review is needed to determine whether the same conclusion applies to other visa categories."

The ministry does not believe the ruling automatically extends to all foreign workers. F-2 and F-6 visas are not granted primarily for employment purposes, the ministry noted, whereas the Employment Permit System (E-9) and skilled worker (E-7) visas are specifically designed around employment.

"We had previously interpreted the residency period itself as grounds for exemption from the two-year limit under the Fixed-term Employment Act, but the court reached a different conclusion," the official said. "Whether that reasoning can be uniformly applied to foreign workers on work visas requires careful review."

Experts say some revision to the administrative interpretation is now unavoidable given the court's decision, though the scope of any expansion is expected to be determined through the ministry's ongoing review and the accumulation of further case law.

Particularly if workers under the Employment Permit System (E-9) are included among those eligible for conversion to indefinite contracts, experts note that additional legal review will be needed to address potential conflicts with residency and employment period provisions under the Act on Foreign Workers' Employment.

"We are currently at the stage where one high court ruling has been finalized," the ministry said. "We plan to comprehensively review the impact on the labor market and the characteristics of each visa category before determining our position."