The E-2 (Foreign Language Instructor) visa is the visa almost every native English teacher in Korea holds. Immigration rules changed significantly in September 2010 and have been tightened since, so read this list carefully before you spend money on couriers or notaries.
Documents to prepare
- University diploma photocopy with an apostille
- Photocopy of your passport information page
- The school employment contract, signed by you
- 7 passport-sized photos
- Your resume
- Self medical check form (E-2 Applicant’s Health Statement)
- Application for certificate of visa eligibility (VIN application form)
- Nationwide criminal record check with an apostille
1. Diploma with apostille
Korean immigration no longer accepts the original diploma from an E-2 applicant. You must have your diploma apostilled. If your state or province will not apostille a diploma directly, the usual route is: have a notary public stamp a photocopy of your diploma, then send that notarised photocopy to the apostille office so they authenticate the notary. Canadians go through Korean Consulate notarisation instead of an apostille.
2–5. Passport, contract, photos, resume
- Passport: a clean photocopy of the information page.
- Contract: after you accept an offer, print the school's contract and sign it — the signature must match your passport signature.
- Photos: Seven recent passport-size colour photos — six go to Korea, keep one for the consulate stage (South African nationals require 8 photos in total: 6 to Korea, 2 for the consulate stage).
- Resume: must include your permanent home address, home-country phone number, university name and major.
7. Self medical form
You fill this in yourself at application stage. If there is anything to say YES, PLEASE LET US KNOW IN ADVANCE. After you arrive in Korea, you take a standard employment medical check (including blood test, urine test, and chest X-ray) at a designated hospital before your Alien Registration Card is issued.
8. Criminal record check
- Must be a nationwide check issued by a central or federal government body — state or provincial checks are not accepted.
- It must then be apostilled by your country's apostille office.
- The record must be clean. Even a minor criminal record usually causes the local immigration office to refuse the visa application.
- Criminal record checks are valid for 6 months from the date of issuance/stamp (e.g., a check stamped on May 5th must be submitted to Korean Immigration by November 4th).