Sri Lankan working in Korea granted permanent residency for his efforts to rescue old woman from a burning building

A 38-year-old Sri Lankan man who risked his life to save a 90-year-old Korean woman from a burning house was granted permanent residence in Korea, the Ministry of Justice announced Sunday. 

The ministry said it decided to grant Katabilla Ketiye Ge-dara Nimal Siri Vandara, an illegal migrant worker, an F-5 permanent residency visa for his efforts to save the woman last February in Gunwi County, North Gyeongsang.

Further the  LG Foundation awarded Vandara a civilian hero title and 30 million won ($26,500) in March. He is the first foreigner to win that title from the foundation. The Ministry of Health and Welfare in June named him a civilian hero, the first illegal immigrant to be awarded that title.

Vandara came to Korea in September 2013 with an E-9 work visa. His visa expired in September 2016, but he continued to work illegally.

“I love the Republic of Korea very much,” Vandara told the JoongAng Ilbo Sunday. “I want to give my thanks to all Korean people.” 

Vandara would have been deported from Korea by the end of the year as he was illegally working and the fact that it was revealed during the rescue process. 

Vandara currently lives alone in Gyeongsan, a city in North Gyeongsang. Vandara’s family - a 71-year-old father, 63-year-old mother, 33-year-old wife, 12-year-old daughter and a seven-year-old son - lives in Sri Lanka.

His father suffers from a lung condition and his mother underwent surgery for liver cancer three months ago. Vandara has been sending most of his earnings home to pay for his parents’ hospital fees. 

Now that he has permanent residency, Vandara wants to take a trip home. 

“I’m going to visit my father in Sri Lanka,” he said. “His lungs are in bad shape, so he has trouble breathing. He misses me, so seeing my father is most urgent.” He hasn’t seen his family in 15 months.