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Petition for special Korean work visa underway

May 13, 2014
Rep. Peter Roskam. (AP)

Rep. Peter Roskam. (AP)

A petition in support of the Partner with Korea Act, which would create a new visa category for Korean workers, has been launched by Los Angeles’ Korean American Civic Empowerment.

H.R. 1812, introduced by Rep. Peter Roskam on April 26, calls for 15,000 new allotments for skilled Korean workers with the issuance of a E-4 professional visa.

According to the KACE, the U.S. has previously given special employment visas to nations with which it has ratified trade agreements, among them Chile, Singapore and Australia.

Ahn Ho-young, ambassador of the Republic of Korea, said economic cooperation between the U.S. and Korea would strengthen if more skilled Korean workers could work in the U.S.

KACE said Friday that it had sent 2,063 letters to representatives in New York, Illinois and Texas encouraging them to support the legislation.

“We need to get rid of the wall of professional visas,” Ahn said in support of H.R. 1812 during a discussion held by the Korea Economic Institute on Monday.

The online petition can be found at action.kace.org.