Foreign migrant workers plant seeds at a farm in Mungyeong, North Gyeongsang Province, April 14, 2024. Korea Times file
Financial hurdles were lowered for foreign laborers working in the country's agricultural and fisheries sectors, Wednesday, as the government decided to exempt short-term seasonal workers from a mandatory elder care insurance tax they were unlikely to ever use.
The Cabinet approved an amendment to the Long-Term Care Insurance Act, allowing holders of the E-8 seasonal worker visa to opt out of the insurance program upon request. The decision addresses a long-standing grievance among rural employers and migrant workers who argued that the mandatory payments were an unnecessary economic burden.
Under the previous law, all workers enrolled in the national health system were automatically charged for long-term care insurance, which provides domestic and physical assistance to those over 65 or suffering from geriatric diseases. However, government data highlighted a stark disconnect: the E-8 visa is restricted to workers aged 19 to 55 who remain in the country for a maximum of eight months. As of December 2025, while 914 seasonal workers had paid nearly 400 million won ($274,911) in premiums, not a single one had ever utilized the services.
The exemption brings the E-8 visa in line with other categories of migrant labor, such as nonprofessional employment and technical training visas, which have been allowed to opt out of the program since 2009. For employers, the change reduces the rising costs of hiring foreign labor. For the workers, it preserves more of their earnings.
"We have rationally adjusted the enrollment criteria to ease the economic pressure on both employers in labor-shortage sectors and low-wage foreign workers," said Im Eul-gi, director general of elderly policy at the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
The new rules take effect on May 13. To claim the exemption, workers must submit an application at any National Health Insurance Service office.
This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.
Source: Korea Times News
