Guide · as of 2026-08-08
E-9 via EPS: how the process actually runs
E-9 (non-professional employment) is issued only through the government-to-government Employment Permit System (EPS/고용허가제) from one of 17 sending countries. The 2026 intake quota is 80,000 workers: 70,000 allocated by industry (manufacturing 50,000; agriculture/livestock 10,000; fisheries 7,000; construction 2,000; services 1,000) plus 10,000 held as a flexible reserve, set by the Foreign Workforce Policy Committee (외국인력정책위원회) on 2025-12-22. There is no private-broker channel: selection runs exclusively through each country’s designated public sending agency and Korea’s HRD Korea (한국산업인력공단).
The 17 sending countries
Philippines, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Cambodia, China, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar, Kyrgyzstan, East Timor, Laos, and (since the October 2024 MOU) Tajikistan, whose first EPS workers entered Korea on 2025-10-22 (Ministry of Employment and Labor press release).
Step by step
- EPS-TOPIK (Korean language test). Administered by HRD Korea in the sending country; announcements are published by the local public sending agency. Passing is a precondition for the roster.
- Skills test / points-based selection (선발포인트제). A second-round evaluation (physical capability, work experience, training) that feeds a points score used for selection.
- Roster registration (구직자 명부). Successful candidates are placed on the roster transmitted to Korea. Roster placement does not guarantee selection.
- Employer selection and Standard Labor Contract (표준근로계약서). A Korean employer with an employment permit picks from the roster; the contract terms are fixed on the standard form.
- Certificate of Confirmation of Visa Issuance (사증발급인정서, CCVI). Applied for in Korea by the employer.
- E-9 visa application at the Korean mission in the sending country with the CCVI.
- Pre-departure training and health check in the sending country.
- Entry and employment training (취업교육) in Korea, then start of work at the contracted workplace.
Employment terms
- Basic employment period: 3 years, extendable by 1 year 10 months on employer re-employment request, up to 4 years 10 months total (외국인고용법 §18, §18-2).
- Returning workers meeting conditions can re-enter under the committed-worker schemes (성실근로자 재입국 등).
- E-9 workers are covered by the Labor Standards Act and minimum wage on the same basis as Korean workers.
- Sectors include manufacturing, agriculture/livestock, fisheries, construction, and designated services; hotel/condominium businesses (cleaning, kitchen assistance) were added on a pilot basis in Seoul, Busan, Gangwon and Jeju by the 2023-12-29 committee decision.
Quota context
| Year | E-9 intake quota |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 165,000 |
| 2025 | 130,000 |
| 2026 | 80,000 (70,000 sectoral + 10,000 flexible) |
(unverified: 2024/2025 figures against the respective committee announcements) The 2026 reduction reflects stabilized demand after the post-COVID surge (2026 plan, 2025-12-22).
The no-broker rule
EPS has no agents. Costs are limited to published official items (test fee, medical exam, pre-departure training, airfare) collected by the public sending agency. Nobody, whether recruiter, broker, or “visa company”, can lawfully sell roster placement, employer matching, or “guaranteed selection.” Payments to private intermediaries confer no advantage and are grounds for exclusion; the only valid channels are the sending country’s public agency and eps.go.kr.
Related data
- /visa/e-9: E-9 holders by nationality, arrival trends
- /countries: sending-country profiles
- /fees: official visa fees
- /tools/entry-check: entry requirement checker