Foreign Language Instructor

From the MOJ manual · as of 2026-07-31Who qualifies & how

Eligibility. Foreign-language conversation instruction by a national of a country where the language is the mother tongue, holding a bachelor's degree or higher from that country (or a domestic bachelor's after home-country high school/junior college). Special routes: EPIK/CPIK/TaLK government program hires; official-language-country nationals for languages other than English/Chinese/Japanese (teaching certificate or related degree plus pay of at least 80% of prior-year GNI); TESOL holders with a bachelor's who are spouses of E-1~E-7 professionals (except E-6-2) or of STEM graduate students.

Work rights. Conversation instruction only, at permitted workplace types: registered foreign-language hagwons (including remote-teaching hagwons), schools (elementary and above) and their language institutes, broadcasters' and companies' language training centers, and qualifying lifelong-education/vocational facilities. Teaching specific subjects, literature or translation technique is not covered; workplace change or addition requires permission.

Duration. Up to 2 years per grant; visas issued for the contract period plus 1 month within the 2-year ceiling (E-2-1 general, E-2-2 education-office assistant teachers, E-2-91 FTA assistant teachers).

Extension. Extendable at immigration offices while qualifying employment continues, within the 2-year per-grant ceiling. A criminal-record certificate re-submission is required after re-entry if more than 3 months were spent abroad.

Pathways. Counts toward F-2-7 (professional category, 3 years on eligible E statuses, waived with annual income of KRW 40 million or more) and toward general F-5 permanent residence (5 years on D-7~E-7/F-2 statuses).

ChecklistRequired documents

• Visa (or Confirmation of Visa Issuance) application form, passport, 1 standard photo, fee
• Degree certificate with apostille or Korean-consulate legalization (domestic degrees: plain copy accepted)
• National criminal-record certificate covering the whole country, apostilled/legalized, issued within 6 months
• Apostilled third-country criminal-record certificate where applicable
• Self-completed health statement (자기건강확인서)
• Employment contract (pay at least the year's minimum wage) and institute/organization establishment documents
• EPIK/CPIK/TaLK route: program pass certificate or invitation plus contract with the education office

Fees: change of status ₩100,000. The full table with legal citations is on /fees.

C-4-5 covers English-camp instruction of 90 days or less with equivalent document checks.

Official taxonomySubtypes (3)

Who holds itE-2 holders by nationality

TrendMonthly arrivals on the E-2

In 2026-06, 556 people entered Korea on an E-2 visa, down 31.7% from a year earlier.