Today I want to walk you through the steps of how I got an E2 teaching visa in Korea. I'll discuss the visa process, how I found a job, and what mistakes to avoid along the way. Keep in mind this is just my experience and that you should always look for the updated visa requirements through your embassy. All of the paperwork and legalities can be confusing, so always double check that you have everything that you need.
What is an E2 visa? In Korea, an E2 visa is a long-term teaching visa specifically for teaching English as a foreign language. There are two main requirements for this visa: you have to hold a bachelor's degree and be from a recognized native English-speaking country. Your bachelor's degree can be in any field, meaning that you don't have to have a teaching degree or teaching experience to teach English in Korea. However, you must be from one of the seven countries recognized by Korea as native English-speaking. These countries are the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa. Even in you are fluent in English, you cannot obtain the E2 visa unless you are from one of these countries.
To get an E2 visa, you have to be sponsored by a private school or by the public school program. Your visa is directly tied to your school, meaning that quitting/losing your job means losing your visa. You also cannot freely switch schools mid-contract. If you decide your current school isn't right for you, you have to get their permission in order to get a new teaching job. This permission is in the form of a Letter of Release. Basically, the Letter of Release releases you from your current contract so that you can accept a new contract. If your current company refuses, then you have no choice but to stay at the job or leave the country. Based on word of mouth, it is very difficult to get a Letter of Release, and some people have bargained for them. However, most school contracts are only a year, so if you make it through to the end of your contract you can either renew or find a new school without having to leave the country.
When my first school closed suddenly, I had two weeks from my last day to find a new job and sign a contract before my visa would expire. At the same time, I had to prepare to move since my apartment was also tied to my school. I managed to find a new job in time, but it was an incredibly stressful experience. I'll talk more about it in a future article about being laid off in Korea.
When looking at teaching jobs, first you have to decide between private school (hagwons) or public school (EPIK). I'll discuss both in more detail in a future article. EPIK is the Korean government public school program for English teachers. If you choose this program, you apply through EPIK to start in either August or February with the Korean school year. You don't get a choice in location, so you could be sent to teach anywhere in the country. Hagwons are private schools that could be run by anyone, so you would get hired directly through the school. One of the cons of hagwons is that your job can vary drastically and that your job isn't as secure (like in my example where my school closed down), but there are some massive pros. You can choose where you live and where you teach, you have the opportunity to make a lot more money than the EPIK program, and you can find a school with hours that work for you.
I think either can be a good choice, but I ultimately chose to look for a hagwon. I knew there were risks, so I did a lot of research and did my best to avoid schools that have been flagged as poor places to work. I used resources such as the Hagwon Blacklist on Reddit
to make sure I wasn't putting myself into a bad situation. I used Dave's ESL Cafe and WorkNPlay to search through job listings. I started with a recruiter but ultimately found my job on my own. The recruiter was really helpful with beginning the visa process but kept pushing schools with bad reputations. I talk about the school I chose in my article, "My Experience Teaching English in Ulsan, Korea."
The first step that I chose in the process was getting my TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) Certificate through International TEFL and TESOL. It was the cheapest certificate I could find at about $250. While a TEFL certificate isn't necessary for hagwons, it does look good on your resume. I personally wanted some guidance on how to teach before jumping in halfway across the world. I chose a certificate without an in-person component, which in hindsight would have been really helpful and is required by some schools. However, I was going to Korea on a budget, and I just didn't have $1500 - $3000 to dish out.
Once I got my certificate, I start simultaneously looking for schools and starting the paperwork process. When I started, I was looking at EPIK and hagwons, so I gathered the necessary documents for both.
Required Documents:
Two Original National Background Checks Apostilled
I used Accurate Biometrics to get fingerprinted and get my FBI background check.
Copy of Bachelor's Degree Notarized and Apostilled
I got an official copy of my degree through my school.
Several Passport Photos
EPIK requires a ton of passport photos, so I got a dozen from my local Walgreens or CVS. I ended up needing them for a few steps in the process, including the health check once I got to Korea.
Two Physical Sealed College Transcripts
I also ordered these through my school. The official requirements say that you need a school seal or stamp on the envelope, but mine came with nothing. I tried to get my school to stamp it, but they refused since they do transcripts through a third-party company. Luckily, the lack of seal was not an issue. The important part was that they were unopened.
Two Physical Letters of Recommendation (EPIK)
The letters of recommendation are required to be on official letterhead or accompanied with a business card.
Copy of passport
You need a photocopy of the picture page of your passport. Keep in mind that your passport has to be valid for at least six more months.
Copy of ESL Resume
An ESL resume should have a photo of you and highlight your education and teaching-related skills/jobs.
Health Check Statement
The health check statement is a form where you say you are physically and mentally fit to work in Korea.
Signed Copy of Teaching Contract
Once you get a contract, you can print and sign it to add to your visa application.
Confirmation of Visa Issuance Number
Once all documents are submitted, you will receive a Visa Issuance Number that shows your visa has been approved.
To get my documents apostilled I used Monument Visa. This service helps to speed up the process so that you get your documents back as soon as possible. There are fees for the visa, apostille, passport photos, and sometimes the degree/transcript and notaries, so be prepared to pay a potentially a few hundred dollars to go through the whole process.
The biggest mistake I made was not making sure my full legal name was on all of my documents. Everything needs to have your full government first, middle, and last name. I got my first background check without my middle name on it and had to pay to get another one. I also got a copy of my diploma without my middle name. While middle names are sometimes unimportant within the U.S., your entire name must be on all visa documents. Side note: if you have a super long name, prepare for more difficulties once you get to Korea. I'll talk about that more in the future.
Once I was hired and my documents were prepared, I mailed them to my hiring manager in Korea who then applied for my visa. Once I got the approval, he sent me back the documents, and I mailed them to the Korean consulate (mine is the Consulate of Atlanta). Only when they approved my visa could I book my flight.
I decided to move to Korea in April 2021 and was there by September 2021, so this entire process took me less than six months from just an idea to a reality. There is a lot of waiting for documents to be approved, so at the fastest it would probably still take several weeks. As long as you have everything together and have a little patience, you can get your visa fairly quickly.
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