I’ve wanted to experience living in South Korea since I was 11-years old. Some of my fondest childhood memories are watching my grandmother’s Korean variety shows while eating rolls on rolls of her fresh 김밥(Kimbap, Seaweed rice). 

Are you dreaming of an exciting adventure in South Korea? If so, you might be curious what steps you need to take. Here is an in-depth timeline of the process from submitting your application to landing in South Korea in only a matter of months! Without further adieu, here is the exact timeline to teach English in South Korea.

Obtaining an E-2 visa upon your arrival to Korea does not actually give you permission to live in Korea. I know, I was confused at first too! But, an E-2 visa is a legal document you need to teach English in South Korea regardless of educational institution. An Alien Registration card, or ARC, is an identification card that foreigners are legally obligated to carry with them at all times. According to Yonsei University (2014), “It is illegal to stay in Korea for more than 90 days without being registered, regardless of your visa at entry.” 

From Manchester to Guri

Hello everyone! My name is Sam, and I’m moving to Korea in August 2023 to teach English at the CREVERSE Guri Dasan April Institute. There are so many things I’m looking forward to! I can’t wait to explore Gyeongbok Palace in Seoul, and taking yacht cruise underneath the Gwanganri bridge in Busan at night. All whilst enjoying the extremely rewarding job of teaching English! Here are a couple of pics that are getting me more excited. But let me get back to the topic at hand! To teach in Korea, you need an E-2 teaching visa, and here are the step by step directions on the visa application process in the UK, after you receive your visa code.

The desire for adventure has you applying to teach English in Korea, Congratulations! You’re on your way to an opportunity of a lifetime! But there might be questions that you have regarding the documents needed for the visa, like:

• Is an RCMP check the same as a criminal records check?
• Where should I get that done?
• How much is getting all these documents going to cost me?
• What does apostilled even mean?

Worry not! I’m going to give you a play-by-play guide to make the process for any Canadian resident a breeze!

**This process can take up to 4 weeks! Be sure to start ASAP!

Before you can board the plane and fly to South Korea, of course some planning and paperwork needs be completed and mailed to the Aclipse headquarters in order to receive your visa. Below is a list of what items and documents you will need to obtain if you are a United States citizen in order to teach in Korea.

Before I talk about how to obtain each document, I first want to list the documents themselves, which I have provided below. 

1) 2 passport photos

2) 1 apostilled copy of your bachelor’s degree

3) Latin degree translation (if necessary)

4) 1 apostilled criminal background check (CBC).  When applying for your CBCs do not apply too early. They should be valid through one month after your target start month. ie. Target start month is May, your CBCs should be valid through June.

5) Degree verification from university OR degree verification through American Databank.

6) Your original E2 health statement form with signature and blank date.

7) A copy of your passport which you can scan and email to your recruiter. Just make sure your passport will be valid throughout your entire stay in Korea.

Although It seems like an overwhelming task to obtain these documents, it’s really manageable and just something that has to be done. The most important part is to simply begin and not procrastinate. And I can’t stress enough the value in asking questions. Prior to this experience I’d never needed to provide so many official documents and perhaps you’re in the same boat – that’s okay; that’s why Aclipse has a fantastically equipped and patient team to help you!

Specifically, I want to address obtaining your apostilled CBC and diploma copy.

Obtaining Your Apostilled CBC:

If you are an E2 Visa holder, like I am, you will need to obtain one background check.that needs to be apostilled. Now you maybe asking yourself how do you go about obtaining an Apostilled CBC?

The first step that must be taken to get your CBC is getting fingerprinted at your local police station. This process took about 20 minutes from start to finish. Next, you’ll need to complete and print a specific form from the one of the FBI channelers. This form needs to be mailed along with the fingerprints to the address specified on the FBI channeler website. You’ll also need to prepare a money order, check, or completed credit card form for the amount requested per copy of the results. Include the money with the fingerprints and form. And then you wait for your CBC!

Your CBC is a federal document, which means it needs to be apostilled at the federal level. Once I received my CBC, I mailed it myself to the US Department of State to apply for the apostille, but this method could take as long as six weeks to process and has in the past resulted in start date delays, so you need to do so as soon as possible. You can also send your CBC to Aclipse by making a payment on their Paypal account, and they will send it to Washington Express and get it apostilled for you, which is an easier method.  

Below are examples of what your CBC and the apostille of the CBC look.  One thing of note is is to make sure your CBC has the same name that is on your passport.  This is crucial and make sure to double check this prior to mailing it to Aclipse.

Obtaining the necessary documents to teach in Korea can be really stressful and a big headache if you do not know where to start or how to go about it. From experience, following a methodical order of things needed to be done will help speed up the process. Every citizen coming to Korea has a different route to follow and one needs to know the specific requirements for their nationality. The method of obtaining documents is different in every county. So what may be allowed in America, may not be allowed in South Africa.

For South Africans, acquiring the necessary documents to teach in Korea is pretty straightforward and is much easier than other nationalities’ lengthy processes. There are 5 things you need to have and a particular order of steps that you should follow in order to use your time efficiently. This blog will lead you step by step to make the sure process is easy and efficient.  

Kia Ora, my name is Samantha and I’m from originally from Taranaki in New Zealand. I graduated from Victoria University with my BA in English literature and Theatre which I then followed up with a Diploma of Primary teaching. Now my partner and I are both currently in the recruitment process with Aclipse to teach in Korea. Having recently obtained our visa documents for Korea, I wanted to provide some insight into how to make the process less stressful and help answer some of the questions many candidates from New Zealand may have.  I am confident if you just follow the steps below that you will successfully obtain your documents without any issues.

Step 1: Apply for a Criminal Background Check

The first thing my partner and I did was apply for a criminal background check which was free. Make sure you apply early as it can take up to a month till you receive it. We each filled out a personal request form from the justice department which you can find through this link: https://www.justice.govt.nz/criminal-records/get-your-own/

The website page has instructions on filling out your form and how to send it. While filling it out I requested both an electronic version via email and a paper copy which arrives by post. I took a photo of my driver’s license as identification which I attached to an email along with my form. I then sent it to the following email with my first and last name as the subject: criminalrecord@justice.govt.nz

* One thing of note when filling out the form, make sure the name you provide in the form matches the name in your passport.  This means if your passport has your middle name please provide your middle name in the form, and if your passport just has your middle initial, only include the initial in the form.

Example of a New Zealand Criminal Background Check