Immigration officer probed over received ‘drinks and karaoke’ for Uzbek student visas

Amid investigations into the forced departure of Hanshin University's Uzbekistan students, police are looking into whether an immigration officer helped issue visas for ineligible students in exchange for meals, drinks and karaoke sessions.

Hanshin University's international student lounge [JOONGANG ILBO]

Amid investigations into the forced departure of Hanshin University's Uzbekistan students, police are looking into whether an immigration officer helped issue visas for ineligible students in exchange for meals, drinks and karaoke sessions from university staff.

A 60-year-old immigration officer under the Justice Ministry is being investigated at the Osan Police Station for allegedly violating the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act, according to the JoongAng Ilbo on Thursday.

The immigration officer was allegedly treated to meals, drinks and karaoke around 10 times by Hanshin University staff since May last year when the university was preparing to admit language studies students for the 2023 fall semester.

The officer worked at an immigration office branch under the Suwon Immigration Office until last year and is currently working at another branch under the Busan Immigration Office.

The police investigation follows Hanshin University forcing 23 Uzbek students at its Korean Language Institute to leave the country in November last year. The university stated that the students had to leave because they failed to meet the minimum savings account requirements to maintain their student visas or faced dismissal due to academic penalties or criminal charges. One student stayed in Korea due to health issues, with the remaining 22 students leaving the country.

Police are also investigating the officer for abusing authority by issuing a certificate for the confirmation of visa issuance even when Hanshin University's Uzbekistan students weren't eligible to get student visas.

Uzbekistan nationals applying for universities in greater Seoul need to have 10 million won ($7,260) in their bank account for at least three months to be eligible for a student visa. However, Hanshin University informed students that the bank balance has to be maintained for only one day, with a certificate for the confirmation of visa issuance given to students even though they didn't keep the money for the required three months.

The officer denied the allegations during the police investigation.

Hanshin University's special committee, created to prevent similar measures from happening again, conducted an internal investigation in March and said it found similar testimonies.

One of the university staff who gave testimony to the committee said the accused officer "offered to ease visa requirements to [Hanshin University's] Office of International Affairs staff."

The 60-year-old officer, who was planning on retiring soon, also asked if it was possible to get a position at the university. According to the testimony, the university staff didn't give any specific answers regarding the request.

The Justice Ministry declined to give an official response regarding the immigration officer.

"We impose stricter regulations for certain countries like Uzbekistan, where we have a lot of illegal immigrants," said a spokesperson for the Justice Ministry. "It is difficult for us to give an official response as the investigation is currently ongoing."

The police also booked three Hanshin University staff for forcing Uzbekistan students to leave Korea and are currently investigating them for abduction, wrongful confinement and forcing the actions of students.

"We had the students leave Korea so they will not be illegal immigrants, which caused issues," said a spokesperson for Hanshin University. "Among the students that left, three of them re-enrolled, and we will do our best to recover damages even if it may not be enough to satisfy everyone completely."

Whether the three university staff will be referred to the prosecution or the case will be closed will be determined after investigations about the 60-year-old are finished.

With almost six months having passed since Hanshin University's Uzbekistan students had to leave Korea, some are calling for quicker police investigations.

"I thought we could stay in Korea together as my wife got the language training visa, but we had to be apart from each other for more than three months because she was forced to leave," said Erkinjon Shokirov, husband of one of the Hanshin University students that had to leave and a student currently in a master's program in Korea.

"I brought her back to Korea on a short-term visa, but I do feel uneasy because it's taking a long time for the results of the police investigation to come out."

BY SOHN SUNG-BAE, LEE TAE-HEE [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]