Prepare an accurate personal file
- Passport identity and current status
- Degrees, licences and experience evidence
- Consistent job and immigration history
- Role and family circumstances disclosed accurately
VISA & WORK STATUS GUIDE · CHECKED 31 AUG 2026The visa follows
The visa follows
the actual work.
A school name or job title does not determine immigration permission by itself. Confirm the duties, legal employer, proposed sponsor and official route as one connected decision.
DO NOT SELF-CLASSIFY FROM A JOB AD
E‑2 and E‑7 are different work-status categories, not interchangeable labels.
Korean government information identifies E‑2 with foreign-language conversational guidance and E‑7 with specified activities. Eligibility, documents and employer requirements depend on the actual case. International-school teaching, leadership, counselling, operations and mixed duties should not be assigned a status from the English job title alone.
FIRST CONVERSATION
Five questions for the hiring institution
Record each answer as confirmed, conditional or still unconfirmed. Ask who supplied the answer and when it will be checked officially.
- 01
What is the full legal name of the employing institution—not only the school brand?
- 02
What duties, subjects, age ranges, clubs, leadership or administrative work are included?
- 03
Which status of stay is proposed for this exact role, and which entity will sponsor it?
- 04
Which applicant and employer documents are required, who pays each cost, and by what date?
- 05
What must be approved before travel or work begins, and what remains subject to authority review?
ONE APPLICATION · THREE RESPONSIBILITY LANES
Know who can confirm what.
A recruiter, school and immigration authority do not play the same role. Keep the responsibility for each statement visible.
Prove the role and sponsoring entity
- Signed contract and precise duties
- Legal employer and registration documents
- Institutional licence or other required evidence
- Application owner, costs and processing sequence
Decide the applicable permission
- Status eligibility and required evidence
- Issuance, change or extension decision
- Workplace change or additional activity
- Current procedure and individual exceptions
ALREADY IN KOREA?
Current status does not make every new duty or workplace permissible.
Before changing schools, adding work or taking duties outside the current permission, confirm whether a workplace change, additional activity, status change or another procedure is required. HiKorea lists electronic civil-application routes, but the available route and decision depend on the individual case.
PARTNER & CHILDREN
Separate accompanying status from the right to work.
Ask the employer to state what family support it will provide, but verify dependent status, document timing, partner work eligibility and children's arrangements through the official route. Do not treat “family visa support” as a complete answer.
Ask for four written answers
- Which family members can be included in the proposed process?
- Who prepares and authenticates family documents?
- When can accompanying applications be filed?
- Is any partner work permission separate?
PAUSE AND VERIFY
Signals that need an official answer before you proceed
- “Enter first and we will fix the work status later” without an official route confirmed.
- The school cannot identify the legal employer or sponsoring entity.
- The contract title and actual duties materially differ.
- You are asked to describe duties inaccurately or omit part of the role.
- Passport, criminal-record, health or visa files are requested through an unofficial channel.
- A partner’s right to work or a child’s status is presented as automatic without confirmation.
OFFICIAL CHECKING ROUTES
Use current government information for the individual case.
The Korea Visa Portal provides the official Visa Navigator. HiKorea provides immigration civil-application routes. The government's Study in Korea portal describes employment-status categories and supporting documents, while the Immigration Contact Center provides multilingual consultation. These sources can change; a checklist is not an approval.
Sources checked: 31 August 2026. This page is structured decision support, not legal or immigration advice. Requirements and procedures may change.