Foreign Language Instructor (Conversation Instruction)
회화지도 — Employment / work visa (sponsored by a specific institution). Long-term status requiring Alien Registration after arrival.
At a glance
A foreign national who is a citizen of a country where the language being taught is the native language, holds at least a bachelor’s degree earned at a…
Up to 2 years per grant; in practice the contract period plus about 1 month, within the 2-year maximum per stay period.
Work is tied to the sponsoring institution and the approved place of employment; E-2 is a designated-workplace status.
No Korean-language proficiency requirement. The core requirement is native-level ability in the language being taught.
Fee: Visa issuance at a consulate is commonly around USD 45-90 depending on single/multiple entry and consulate (e.g. Consulate General in New York lists USD 45, cash or money order). Domestic MOJ fees when in Korea: Alien Registration 30,000 KRW; extension of stay 60,000 KRW; change of status 130,000 KRW; Certificate of Visa Issuance itself has no separate issuance fee. (KRW consular-visa figures vary by post; verify current amounts.) · Time: About 14 days at the consulate stage (per Consulate General New York); Certificate of…
Who can apply
- ✓A foreign national who is a citizen of a country where the language being taught is the native language, holds at least a bachelor’s degree earned at a college/university in that native-language country (or equivalent), and has no disqualifying issues (criminal record, drug use, or infectious disease).
- ✓For English conversation instruction, the recognized native-English-speaking countries are the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa (7 countries).
- ✓For E-2-2 assistant-teacher programs run by education offices (e.g.
- ✓EPIK/TaLK), and E-2-91 under the Korea-India CEPA, Indian nationals with a bachelor’s degree in English or a relevant teaching license may also qualify.
- ✓Applicants must pass a criminal background check and a post-arrival health/drug examination.
Documents you'll need
- Passport
- visa application form with photo (color, taken within 6 months)
- employment contract with the sponsoring institution (or, for EPIK/TaLK, the notice of appointment/invitation from the National Institute for International Education or the provincial office of education)
- apostilled (or consular-legalized) copy of the bachelor’s degree/diploma
- criminal background check (national-level police certificate) with apostille, generally issued within the last 6 months
- resume/CV
- for Alien Registration after entry, a pre-employment medical examination report (채용신체검사서) including the drug (narcotics) test at a hospital designated by the Minister of Justice. Exact documents vary by sub-code and by the issuing consulate
- EPIK/TaLK applicants whose credentials and criminal record are already vetted by the education authority may be exempt from re-submitting some documents.
How to apply
Overseas embassy visa (사증) or domestic change-of-status; commonly a Certificate of Visa Issuance (사증발급인정서) filed in Korea by the employing hagwon/school or education office (NIIED for public programs). Two typical routes:
- the sponsoring institution applies for a Certificate of Visa Issuance (사증발급인정서) at a Korean immigration office, then the applicant collects the visa at a Korean embassy/consulate; or
- the applicant applies directly at a Korean consulate.
EPIK/TaLK candidates are recruited and screened by the National Institute for International Education (NIIED) / provincial education offices before the visa step.
Stay & extension
Up to 2 years per grant; in practice the contract period plus about 1 month, within the 2-year maximum per stay period.
Extension of stay must be applied for at the immigration office before the permitted stay expires, based on a continuing/renewed employment contract with a qualifying institution. Standard MOJ extension application fee is 60,000 KRW (verify current fee).
(Some specific extension conditions unverified.)
Working on this visa
Work is tied to the sponsoring institution and the approved place of employment; E-2 is a designated-workplace status. Changing or adding a workplace generally requires prior permission from / report to the Minister of Justice.
Teaching or paid activity outside the approved scope/institution requires separate permission for activities outside the status (체류자격 외 활동).
Requirements in detail
No Korean-language proficiency requirement. The core requirement is native-level ability in the language being taught.
No fixed statutory salary floor; wage set by employment contract (hagwon/university) or public-program pay scale (EPIK/TaLK/CPIK). GNI-linked floor not standard for E-2 (unverified).
No ministry endorsement for issuance; E-2-2 assistant teachers are employed through the Ministry of Education and the metropolitan/provincial offices of education (교육부/시도교육청). Criminal-record check and drug-test health screening are mandatory (a related notice under the Enforcement Rules of the Immigration Act attached table, 출입국관리법 시행규칙 별표 관련 고시).
Bachelor’s degree or higher required; for English, applicant must be a national of a designated English-native country. No separate career requirement beyond degree plus verification (criminal record + health).
Sub-types
E-2-1foreign-language conversation instruction (회화지도) — general track: language instructors at private academies, universities, companies, etc. (일반: 학원·대학·기업 등 어학강사)E-2-2conversation instruction — school native-speaking assistant teachers: EPIK/TaLK/CPIK, employed by the Ministry of Education and metropolitan/provincial education offices (학교 원어민보조교사: EPIK/TaLK/CPIK, 교육부·시도교육청 고용)E-2-91conversation instruction — FTA English (FTA 영어).Spouse and unmarried minor children accompany on F-3 (동반).
Applies. Since 2025-01-10 registered foreigners aged 14+ with their own smartphone can issue a mobile ARC (모바일 외국인등록증; same legal effect); E-2 holders eligible after alien registration.
2025–2026 policy updates
- Online reporting of foreign employment information (외국인 취업정보 온라인 신고) is being expanded: announced 2025-12-16, effective from 2026-01-02.
- E-2 (회화지도) is among the covered statuses.
- From Jan-Jun 2026 it is a pilot period allowing both online (via HiKorea) and paper reporting; from the second half of 2026 only online reporting will be accepted.
- This lets covered foreign workers report employment information without visiting an immigration office.
- Source: Korea Immigration Service press release, immigration.go.kr.
- (No confirmed change to eligible nationalities or the core criminal-background-check rule found in official sources for 2025-2026; news reports of tightened background-check/drug-test enforcement should be re-verified against the current HiKorea E-2 manual before relying on them.)
Common mistakes
Assuming any English speaker qualifies (citizenship of one of the 7 recognized native-English countries is required for English E-2); submitting a local/state-level police certificate instead of a national-level one; letting the criminal record check or its apostille go stale (generally must be recent, within ~6 months); missing the apostille/consular legalization on the degree and the background check; working at an institution or location not covered by the visa without first getting workplace-change or out-of-status-activity permission; skipping the post-arrival medical/drug examination required before Alien Registration.
Where this leads
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