The approval rating for work permit in the United States among Korean-Americans has soared by 70.5 percent, according to recent data.
There were 8,349 Korean-Americans who submitted their applications for a work permit in 2016 were approved to seek employment in the U.S., according to the Department of Homeland Security.
Such a figure is an increase of 70.5 percent in comparison to last year. The figure for Korean-Americans has been doubling every year since 2014. This year’s 8,349 takes up 7 percent of the total number of work permit applications that were approved. Koreans were just behind Indians and Chinese by ethnicity.
By occupation, computer-related jobs took up 58 percent, followed by architecture, business management, finance and education in order.
About 24 percent of the approved applications were those residing in California, while Texas (13%), New Jersey (8%), New York (7%), Washington (6%) followed.

![“LA’s homelessness policy is broken” Katy Yaroslavsky, a Los Angeles City Council member (center), speaks about addressing homelessness and strengthening public safety at a press conference on January 29. [Kyeongjun Kim, The Korea Daily]](https://www.koreadailyus.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/0130-Yaroslavsky-100x70.jpg)

![Los Angeles unveils time capsule buried 100 years ago Materials from the time capsule are now on display in the lobby of the Los Angeles Central Library. [Sangjin Kim, The Korea Daily]](https://www.koreadailyus.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/0130-timecapsule-1-100x70.jpg)