When Your Stay Period Ends During Industrial Accident Treatment: Staying on G-1 and Returning After You Recover

If you are receiving treatment for a work injury, you can continue your stay with Other (G-1) status. When treatment ends, you can return to E-9 within your remaining work period.

✓ Last verified 2026-10-09📎 Sources 6

Quick summary

If your stay period ends while you are being treated for a work injury (this treatment is called "요양", medical care), you can change to Other (G-1) status and continue treatment. The Ministry of Justice rules include "people under medical care after approval" and "people requesting a review of an industrial accident compensation decision."
The key document is the medical care approval notice from 근로복지공단 (Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service). You must apply for industrial accident compensation (산재) first.
When treatment ends, you can return to E-9 within your remaining work period. You ask 출입국·외국인관서 (Immigration Office) for "E-9 recovery."
The time when you cannot look for a job because of a work injury is not counted in the 1-month and 3-month workplace change periods. The count starts again from the day you recover.
Dismissal (firing) is not allowed during the medical care period and for 30 days after it.

How to apply for industrial accident compensation is explained in How to apply for industrial accident compensation when you are injured at work. This page only covers cases where long treatment affects your visa.

When does this apply to you?

Your hospital stay or outpatient treatment takes a long time, and the stay period on your 외국인등록증 (Alien Registration Card) ends first.
You left your company after the injury, and your 3-month job search period is passing, but you are not well enough to work.
Your 4 years and 10 months are almost over, but you still have industrial accident treatment or a disability assessment left.
The Service did not accept your case as an industrial accident, and you are requesting a review or re-review.
Your company says, "You are injured, so we will file an employment change report and send you out of Korea."

Steps

Apply for medical care benefits. Attach a doctor's opinion to the medical care benefit application form and submit it to 근로복지공단. The hospital can submit it for you. If the injury clearly happened at work, you will be told within 7 days whether it is approved. You do not need your employer's stamp.
Get and keep the medical care approval notice. It shows the expected treatment period. If treatment takes longer, the hospital sends a medical care extension (treatment plan) to the Service. Get and keep that decision letter too.
Before your stay period ends, make a visit booking on 하이코리아 (HiKorea, immigration website) and apply at your local 출입국·외국인관서 for permission to change status of stay (Other G-1). The fee is 10만 원. If you still have a lot of time left on your stay period, you may not need to change. Check with 1345 first.
If treatment does not end within your G-1 period, apply for permission to extend your period of stay (6만 원) before it ends. Submit the latest medical care decision from the Service and a medical certificate.
When treatment ends (end of medical care), check three things: ① If you still have a disability, claim disability benefits. ② If you have work period left, ask for E-9 recovery. ③ If you cannot go back to your original company, apply for a workplace change.
The deadline for a workplace change is counted from the day you recover. Time when a work injury stopped you from applying or looking for a job is not counted in the 1-month and 3-month periods (Act Article 25(3)). Submit a document showing the date your medical care ended to 고용센터 (Employment Center).

What to prepare

Passport, 외국인등록증, application form for change (or extension) of status of stay, photo
근로복지공단 medical care approval notice, medical care extension decision letter
Hospital medical certificate (showing the expected treatment period)
If you are requesting a review: review request receipt
근로계약서 (employment contract), 급여명세서 (pay slip) (to calculate sick leave benefits and to confirm your identity)
Proof of address; if family members stay with you, proof of family relationship

Be careful

Do not work on G-1. If you do light work during treatment, it goes against your claim that you are under medical care. It is also work without permission, and you can be punished. For living costs, you receive sick leave benefits (temporary disability benefits) from the Service.
Your company may file an employment change report saying "You are injured and cannot work." The Enforcement Decree lists "an injury makes it unsuitable to keep working" as a reason for this report. This report is a record, not a punishment. If you have documents showing you are under industrial accident medical care, this is a valid reason for a workplace change, and the workplace change deadline also stops. Do not stop your treatment because you are afraid of this report.
You cannot be dismissed during the medical care period and for 30 days after it. If you get a dismissal notice, write down the date and get advice from 고용노동부 (Ministry of Employment and Labor) (1350).
E-9 recovery is only possible within your work period. If your 4 years and 10 months all pass during treatment, there is no time left to return to E-9. In this case, finish treatment and leave Korea, but check with the Service whether you can keep receiving insurance benefits.
If you get a notice that your case is not accepted as an industrial accident, request a review within 90 days. The fact that you are requesting a review is a reason for G-1.
If your employer says, "I will give you settlement money, so cancel your industrial accident claim and leave Korea," do not sign. Medical costs, sick leave benefits, and disability benefits are often more than the settlement money.

Frequently asked questions

Q. I only go to the hospital for outpatient treatment. Can I still get G-1? A. If you have medical care approval from the Service and your treatment is still going on, you qualify even if you are not in hospital. Ask for a medical certificate that shows the expected treatment period.

Q. My treatment has ended, but I still have a disability in my finger. What happens to my visa? A. Claim disability benefits. If you have work period left, go ahead with E-9 recovery and a workplace change. If your disability is serious and you cannot work, check with the Service whether you can receive disability benefits even after you finish treatment and leave Korea. People who receive it as a pension (monthly payments) must report when they leave and enter Korea.

Q. I was injured during my job search period. Does the 3 months keep running? A. No. Time when you cannot look for a job because of a work injury or work-related illness is not counted. But the Service must decide whether an injury "during the job search period" is a work injury. If it is a normal illness, apply for a delay with a medical certificate. How to read your job seeker registration certificate

Q. Can my family come to take care of me? A. The Ministry of Justice rules include the family (spouse and direct family members) of a person under industrial accident treatment as eligible for G-1. Check the requirements and documents for inviting family with 1345 or your local 출입국·외국인관서.

Where to get help

Organization	Phone	What they help with
근로복지공단	1588-0075	Medical care approval and extension, sick leave benefits, disability benefits, review requests
외국인종합안내센터 (Immigration Contact Center)	1345	G-1 change and extension, E-9 recovery, 20 languages
고용노동부 고객상담센터 (Ministry of Employment and Labor Call Center)	1350	Dismissal during medical care, workplace change
외국인력상담센터 (Foreign Workforce Counseling Center)	1577-0071	3-way phone call with an interpreter
하이코리아	hikorea.go.kr	Visit booking, online applications

More contacts: List of places to get help

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Legal basis

출입국관리법 제24조(체류자격 변경허가)·제25조(체류기간 연장허가) (Immigration Act Article 24 (Permission to change status of stay) and Article 25 (Permission to extend period of stay))
법무부 외국인체류 안내매뉴얼 – 기타(G-1): 산재보상 심사·재심 청구 중, 산재 입원치료 중, 요양승인 후 요양 중, 후유증상 치료 중인 사람과 그 가족 (Ministry of Justice Foreigner Stay Guide Manual – Other (G-1): people who are requesting a review or re-review of an industrial accident compensation decision, people in hospital for an industrial accident, people under medical care after approval, people being treated for after-effects, and their families)
법무부 외국인체류 안내매뉴얼 – 비전문취업(E-9): 산재 치료 등으로 G-1으로 변경한 사람은 취업활동기간 상한 내에서 E-9 회복 요청 가능 (Ministry of Justice Foreigner Stay Guide Manual – Non-professional Employment (E-9): a person who changed to G-1 for industrial accident treatment or a similar reason can ask to return to E-9 within the maximum work period)
외국인근로자의 고용 등에 관한 법률 제25조제3항 — 업무상 재해·질병 등으로 변경 신청·구직을 못 하면 그 사유가 없어진 날부터 1개월·3개월을 계산 (Act on the Employment of Foreign Workers Article 25(3): if a work injury or work-related illness stops you from applying for a workplace change or looking for a job, the 1-month and 3-month periods are counted from the day that reason ends)
외국인근로자의 고용 등에 관한 법률 시행령 제23조제1항제2호·제30조 — 부상으로 계속 근무가 부적합한 경우의 고용변동 신고·사업장 변경 (Enforcement Decree of the Act on the Employment of Foreign Workers Article 23(1)2 and Article 30: employment change report and workplace change when an injury makes it unsuitable to keep working)
근로기준법 제23조제2항 — 업무상 부상·질병 요양 기간과 그 후 30일 동안 해고 금지 (Labor Standards Act Article 23(2): dismissal is not allowed during the medical care period for a work injury or illness and for 30 days after it)
산업재해보상보험법 제103조 — 공단 결정에 대한 심사 청구는 결정을 안 날부터 90일 이내 (Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act Article 103: a request for review of a decision by the Service must be made within 90 days from the day you learned of the decision)

Sources

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