South Korea | Q & A

Answers: Work

@euphoricfilms @dwjikook

1. How long and rigorous was your preparation before moving to South Korea? How do you apply/what's the process to teach there?

My experience is based on being Canadian and applying to be a Hagwon teacher, so it may differ from other nationalities and public school teachers. The first time I did this, I admit it was stressful. Only because there's a lot of little steps and things you may have never dealt with before.

The basic outline for an E2 Teaching visa is:

- Get your degree notarized or apostilled (it's a way of making sure the document is legitimate)
- Get a criminal record check done with fingerprints
- Send both documents to the nearest Korean consulate for final notarization
- Get a handful of 3.5 x 4.5 cm passport photos taken
- Prepare your resume, signed work contract, and fill out a visa issuance form from online
- Either mail this to Korea or (like my current employer did) send virtual documents to your employer so they can apply online.
- You'll get a visa issuance number that you use to fill out a visa application form. You bring the form, passport, passport photo, signed contract, and perhaps more to your nearest Korean Consulate.

Once they give you your visa you're good to book a plane ticket!

The first year I did this I prepared my documents well before I actually had a job offer. Once I had the job offer, sending the documents and getting my visa took about a month. This year is a similar experience except with COVID I have an extra step of going to the doctor to get a note saying I don't have COVID.

I suggest going through a recruitment agency like Korvia if you are planning to get a teaching job in Korea. They helped me out a lot my first time. To be honest, the hardest and most time consuming part was finding the right job for me.