Starting the end of this month, the government plans to ease entry restrictions for migrant workers that were sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor said Friday it will normalize entry for workers from 16 countries that send laborers to South Korea under the Employment Permit System(EPS), or E9 visa. The system allows employers who have failed to hire local workforce to legally employ foreign workers. 

The government has also decided to scrap the cap on migrant workers entering the country. Previously, only up to 50 workers were allowed to enter per day and 600 per week. 

For workers from five countries whose quarantine situation is relatively poor, including Myanmar, Pakistan and Uzbekistan, the government will only issue visas after 14 days have passed since receiving COVID-19 vaccines in their home countries.

Additionally, they must have a negative COVID-19 test done at a designated hospital within 72 hours of boarding their flights. 

Workers from the remaining eleven countries only need a negative PCR test to enter the country, but must receive a COVID-19 vaccine after arrival if they aren’t already vaccinated.

Upon arrival, all EPS workers must undergo ten days of isolation at a government-designated facility regardless of whether they’ve been vaccinated.

Due to the entry restrictions, the number of migrant workers entering the country had fallen to six to seven-thousand a year from 50-thousand. It led to a workforce crunch at small and medium-sized companies and farms.