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PLANET PEOPLETeach in Korea
Visa guideApplying from overseas · 6 min read

Want to be an ESL teacher in South Korea and wondering where to start?

Getting your documents ready: how to prepare your criminal record check, your degree and the other documents.

These three documents take time to prepare, so start them now.

  1. 1Degree certificate photocopy + notary stamp + apostille certificate
  2. 2National criminal record check + apostille certificateYour own country's check is named in your section below.
  3. 3Current passport that does not expire within a year

You must have a clean criminal record check to work in Korea. You need to check this too — the self health check statement form. If there is anything on it that you would have to answer YES to, Korean immigration may refuse to issue you a visa. Tell us before you go any further.

Korean immigration needs an apostille on two of your documents: the criminal record check issued by your national government, and proof of your degree. This page sets out where each one comes from and which office issues the apostille, country by country.

United States

  • Criminal record check: the FBI Identity History Summary, US$18. It is fingerprint-based, and there are two ways to get it. You can file the request yourself at edo.cjis.gov and have your fingerprints taken electronically at a participating US Post Office, or you can go through an FBI-approved channeler, which is usually faster. Either route is fine for Korea, and so is the electronic copy — an apostille service will take it from there.
  • The FBI summary is apostilled by the US Department of State, Office of Authentications, and only by them. US$20 per document. The Department processes a postal request within five weeks of the day it arrives, or within seven business days if you drop it off in person in Washington and collect it in person. By post you enclose the Department's own request form, payment of the fee, and a prepaid return envelope addressed to yourself. You do not have to post it yourself: apostille services — Monument Visa is one teachers use — collect the FBI result and get the apostille for you. They charge for it, but they are much faster. No state office can apostille a federal document.
  • Your degree: it has to be notarised, then apostilled. Take a photocopy of your degree certificate and have the copy notarised. Any notary public can do it, and some universities will notarise it for you too. The apostille then comes from the Secretary of State of that same state — the notary and the apostille have to be in the same state. Or you can hand the whole thing to an apostille service, which arranges the notary and the apostille together.
  • Watch out for: a state or city police clearance instead of the FBI summary; sending the FBI summary to a state office, or your degree to the Department of State; and having a document notarised in one state and applying in another.

United Kingdom

  • Criminal record check: a Basic DBS check. Apply on gov.uk. It takes three to ten working days, and an advanced check is not needed. An ACRO Police Certificate is accepted as well, but it costs more and takes longer.
  • A solicitor notarises the check, then the FCDO issues the apostille. £45 per document. Services that handle the solicitor and the apostille together take about a week. The cheaper £35 e-Apostille cannot be used on a DBS or an ACRO certificate — it has to be the paper one.
  • Your degree: a photocopy, notarised by a solicitor, then apostilled by the FCDO. Korean immigration does not take original degrees, only notarised photocopies, because documents handed in are not returned.

Canada

  • Criminal record check: an RCMP certified criminal record check. It is the fingerprint-based one — a name-based check from your local police is not accepted. An accredited fingerprinting agency takes your prints and submits them electronically. Check the RCMP's own page for the current fee and how long it is taking.
  • Apostille: Global Affairs Canada, free of charge. It handles the RCMP check. Global Affairs publishes how far behind it is running on its own page, so look before you post.
  • Your degree: a notarised copy, then an apostille from the province your university is in.
  • Canada only joined the apostille convention on 11 January 2024. If you still have paperwork from an earlier attempt carrying the old consular authentication stamp, it is not what Korea asks for now.

Ireland

  • Criminal record check: a Police Certificate from An Garda Síochána, free of charge, about three weeks. You can apply online, but make sure what you end up with is the paper original carrying the Garda station's ink stamp — a PDF that arrived by email cannot be apostilled. This is not Garda Vetting: vetting is something an employer applies for, and it is the wrong document.
  • Apostille: the Department of Foreign Affairs, €40 per document. The Dublin counter does up to five documents while you wait; by post it is about three to seven working days. The walk-in address and the postal address are different, so check which one you are using.
  • Your degree: a notarised copy, then the apostille.

Australia

  • Criminal record check: an AFP National Police Check, AUD$56. The AFP says most are completed and posted within 48 hours. On the form choose the purpose for a visa or employment in a country other than Australia — the purpose you pick decides what the certificate says, so read the options before you submit. A state police check, or a report from a private screening company, is not accepted, and you do not need the fingerprint version.
  • Apostille: DFAT, AUD$105 per document, through the Australian Passport Office in your capital city. You can lodge in person by appointment or by registered post. The stamp is not the slow part — the appointment is, so book it the day you order the police check.
  • Your degree: a notarised copy, then the apostille. The copy has to be notarised by an Australian notary public — a Justice of the Peace is not enough.

New Zealand

  • Criminal record check: from the Ministry of Justice, free of charge. Around nine out of ten come back within a week, and the Ministry aims to answer everything within 20 working days.
  • Apostille: the Department of Internal Affairs, NZD$37 per document, within 15 working days. There is an urgent service of five working days for NZD$120 more.
  • Your degree: a notarised copy, then the apostille. It has to be a New Zealand notary public — a Justice of the Peace or a solicitor is not accepted.

Before you post anything

  • Never send the only original of your degree. An apostilled certified copy is what Korea files, and documents handed in to Korean immigration are not returned.
  • Do not remove the apostille from the document it belongs to. It is fastened on with a staple or a rivet, and it has to stay there.
  • Check the names. If the name on your degree is not the name in your passport — a maiden name, a missing middle name — tell us before you apostille anything. The document that explains the difference, a marriage certificate or a change-of-name certificate, needs an apostille of its own. Send it to Korea along with the other documents.

Once you have ordered your documents and know roughly when they will be in your hands, the next step is to find your school. Tell us when your documents will be ready, and we will start looking for a school with you.

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