Specification — E-2 Teaching Visa
E-2 Visa Requirements & Documents for Teaching in Korea (2026)
- Eligible passports
- 7 countries
- Minimum degree
- Bachelor's
- Must be apostilled
- 2 documents
- Criminal check age
- Under 6 months
The E-2 is a document-driven visa. Nothing here is subjective — you either meet the specification or you don't, and almost every rejection traces back to one of two documents being wrong, stale, or missing an apostille.
The requirements and document set for the E-2 teaching visa in South Korea, from OK Recruiting, a Korea-based recruiter (since 2006). General information, current as of 2026 — requirements differ slightly by consulate, so confirm against the checklist published by the Korean mission you will actually apply to.
Who qualifies
Eligibility specification
- Nationality
- Citizen of one of seven countries: Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, the UK, or the USA.
- Education
- A bachelor's degree or higher, from a university in one of those same seven countries.
- Criminal record
- A clean national-level criminal record check.
- Health
- Able to pass the employment medical exam in Korea, including a drug screen.
- Teaching experience
- Not required for the visa.
- TEFL certificate
- Not required for the visa — but often required by the employer.
The degree condition catches people out. It is not enough to hold a passport from one of the seven countries — immigration expects the degree to have been awarded by a university in one of them. A Canadian citizen with a degree from a university in a non-listed country generally does not meet the standard on that basis alone.
Visa bar vs hiring bar. A TEFL certificate is not part of Korean immigration law. But EPIK and most hagwons ask for a 100-hour TEFL/TESOL certificate or a home-country teaching licence as a hiring condition. You can be legally eligible for the visa and still not be competitive for the job — keep the two separate in your head.
The document set
| Document | Spec |
|---|---|
| University degree | Original or certified copy, apostilled. Bachelor's or higher, from a university in one of the seven countries. |
| Criminal record check | National-level check, apostilled, and issued within the last 6 months. State or provincial checks are not accepted. |
| Passport | Valid for at least 6 months. (Not 12 — that figure circulates widely and is wrong.) |
| Photo | One photo for the consulate application. Spec depends on where you apply — see below. |
| Signed contract | From your school, usually arranged through your recruiter. |
| Health statement | A short self-declaration, required at most consulates. The medical exam itself happens in Korea. |
| Visa application form | Download the current version from your consulate's site — not from an old third-party copy. |
Your employer submits a subset of these to Korean immigration to obtain a visa issuance number; you then take that number, plus your own documents, to the Korean consulate. The full sequence is laid out in our E-2 visa process guide, and the forms are on our document download page.
The two documents that must be apostilled
Only two documents carry the apostille requirement, and between them they cause most of the delay in the whole process:
- Your university degree
- Your national criminal record check
An apostille is a certificate that authenticates the signature or seal on a public document so another country will accept it. All seven eligible countries are parties to the Hague Apostille Convention, so an apostille — not full consular legalisation — is what you need.
The rule most guides leave out
Your criminal record check must be less than 6 months old
Korean immigration expects the criminal record check to have been issued within the last six months at the time of application. This single rule is the most expensive thing on this page: an FBI check can take weeks, an apostille adds more, and if the clock runs out you start the whole chain again — often after you have already agreed a start date with a school.
Get the criminal check first, apostille it immediately, and treat the six months as your real deadline for everything else.
Criminal record check — by country
It must be the national check from the body below. A local police or state-level check will not be accepted.
| Country | Issuing body & document | Apply |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | Australian Federal Police — National Police Check | afp.gov.au |
| Canada | RCMP — certified (fingerprint-based) criminal record check | rcmp.ca |
| Ireland | An Garda Síochána — Police Certificate | garda.ie |
| New Zealand | Ministry of Justice — criminal record check | justice.govt.nz |
| South Africa | SAPS — Police Clearance Certificate | saps.gov.za |
| United Kingdom | See the breakdown below — the right body depends on where in the UK you are | — |
| USA | FBI — Identity History Summary (the "FBI background check") | fbi.gov |
UK applicants: four different doors
"Basic Disclosure" is not one national service — it is devolved, and applying to the wrong one wastes a fortnight. Korea's own guidance also accepts the ACRO Police Certificate, which is the option built specifically for overseas visa use and is usually the safest single choice.
| Your situation | Where to apply |
|---|---|
| Any UK applicant (recommended) | ACRO Police Certificate — designed for overseas immigration use |
| England & Wales | Basic DBS check (gov.uk) |
| Scotland | Disclosure Scotland — Level 1 disclosure |
| Northern Ireland | AccessNI |
Apostille — by country
| Country | Competent authority | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) | smartraveller.gov.au |
| Canada | Global Affairs Canada | international.gc.ca |
| Ireland | Department of Foreign Affairs | ireland.ie |
| New Zealand | Department of Internal Affairs | govt.nz |
| South Africa | DIRCO — Legalisation Services | dirco.gov.za |
| United Kingdom | FCDO Legalisation Office | gov.uk |
| USA | US Department of State (federal documents such as the FBI check); the Secretary of State of the issuing state for state-issued documents such as most diplomas | travel.state.gov |
Passport and photo spec
Two small details that generate a surprising amount of wrong information online:
Tolerances
- Passport validity
- 6 months minimum. Korean consulates ask for a passport valid more than six months. The widely repeated "12 months" is not a Korean requirement.
- Photos at the consulate
- One. Not four. The application itself takes a single photo.
- Photo size — US consulates
- 2 × 2 inches, colour, taken within the last 6 months, professionally printed.
- Photo size — in Korea (ARC)
- 3.5 × 4.5 cm, the Korean standard. Used for your residence card, not the visa.
You will use more than one photo across the whole process — the visa, the medical exam and the residence card each want one. Bringing spares is sensible advice; it is not a requirement, and "four photos" is not a rule anyone will enforce.
Where applications actually fail
- The criminal check expired. Issued more than six months before you apply — the single most common avoidable rejection.
- A state or local police check instead of a national one. It will be refused, and you will have lost weeks.
- Apostille missing on one of the two documents. Usually the degree, because people assume only the criminal check needs it.
- Wrong UK disclosure body. A Scottish service used for an English applicant, or vice versa.
- An old application form downloaded from a third-party site rather than your own consulate's page.
Frequently asked questions
Who is eligible for an E-2 visa in Korea?
Citizens of seven countries — Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, the UK and the USA — who hold a bachelor's degree or higher from a university in one of those same seven countries, have a clean national criminal record check, and can pass the employment medical exam in Korea. Teaching experience is not required for the visa.
Which E-2 documents need an apostille?
Two: your university degree and your national criminal record check. All seven eligible countries are parties to the Hague Apostille Convention, so an apostille — rather than full consular legalisation — is what Korean immigration accepts.
How recent does my criminal record check have to be?
It must have been issued within the last six months when you apply. This is the most common cause of a rejected or restarted application: the FBI check and the apostille together can eat several weeks, so get the criminal check done first and treat the six-month window as the deadline for everything else.
How long does my passport have to be valid for an E-2 visa?
At least six months. Korean consulates require a passport valid more than six months at the time of application. The "12 months" figure that circulates on teaching forums is not a Korean requirement.
How many photos do I need for the E-2 visa?
One for the consulate application. US consulates specify a 2×2 inch colour photo taken within the last six months; the Korean 3.5×4.5 cm standard applies inside Korea, for your residence card. You will use additional photos later — for the medical exam and the residence card — so bringing spares is sensible, but "four photos" is not an official requirement.
Do I need a TEFL certificate to get an E-2 visa?
No. A TEFL or TESOL certificate is not part of Korean immigration law for the E-2. However, EPIK and most hagwons require a 100-hour TEFL certificate or a home-country teaching licence as a hiring condition — so it affects which jobs you can get, not whether you can get the visa.
Sources: E-2 eligibility and the required attachment list — 출입국관리법 시행규칙 and its E-2 schedule via law.go.kr, and HiKorea; passport validity, photo count and photo specification — the E-2 document checklists published by the Korean Consulates General (Seattle, Chicago, New York); criminal-record issuing bodies — the Ministry of Justice's list of national criminal-record certificates by country. As of 2026.
Note: consulates differ in detail — photo size, accepted document age and fees vary by post. Always cross-check against the checklist published by the Korean mission you are applying to, and see our guide to the consulate stage and the full document checklist.