Visa Steps

Fast Visa Steps

Japan Visa run

Korean Consulates

 

 

 

E2 Visa Documents

Required documents from teachers for visa process

1. Bachelor's degree certificate
2.
Three sets of officially sealed transcripts
3. Photocopy of your passport information page
4. The school employment contract letter signed by you
5.
4 passport sized photos
6. Your resume
7. Self Medical Form - the applicant¡¯s self written medical form
8.
Criminal Record Check with an apostille certificate

 

Additional info for those items

1. Bachelor¡¯s degree

Please decide if you are okay to send your original degree certificate to your school in Korea OR if you don't want to send your original degree certificate. If you don't want to send the original one to Korea, you can get your degree notarization from the nearest Korean Consulate and send this notarized copy to your school in Korea. (Contact your nearest Korean Consulate and ask how to get it)

You can also get your degree certificate apostillized and send it to Korea. Teachers from New Zealand and Australia should apostillize their degree certificate as Korean Consulates in New Zealand and Australia are no longer notarizing teachers degree certificate/ (For further information, please contact your nearest Korean Consulate and ask about it)

2. Officially Sealed Transcripts

We'd like to advise you to prepare Three sets of officially sealed transcripts.

(1~2 Sets : send them to Korea, 1 Set : keep it with you to use it later) 

 

We would like to advise you to get three sets of officially sealed transcripts and send two sets to Korea and keep one with you. You need to use one set later for your visa process.

 

The envelope that contains the transcripts MUST have the official university signature and/or seal on it and be stamped or pressed by the university over the crease of the envelope. (See the pictures below. Those are the acceptable form of the transcript envelope examples)

(example 1)

 (example 2)

(example 3)

(example 4)

Item 3 ~ item 6
3. Photocopy of your passport information page
4. The school employment contract letter signed by you
5.
4 passport sized photos
6. Your resume

3. Copy of Passport - Photocopy of your passport information page

4. A signed copy of employment contract After you choose which school you would like to work at, and the school also offer you the job, you need to print out the school contract letter and sign it. (your passport signature and the contract signature must be the same)

5. 4 passport sized photos - 4 recent passport-size color photos. (Prepare four (4) passport photos; send three (3) photos to Korea and keep one photo for later visa process)

6. Your resume - Your resume with your permanent address and phone number of your country, your university name and major course all written in it

7. Self Medical Form

The applicant¡¯s self written medical form

Self Medical Form - the applicant¡¯s self written medical form required (click and see the form).

The Medical check will be filling the medical form by teacher at the application stage but when the teacher comes to Korea after obtaining the visa, he/she needs to take medical examination and submit a medical check issued from a qualified medical center in Korea (excluding a private hospital) to Korean immigration.

The medical check is is going to include: TBPE test, HIV test

8. Criminal Record Check

To prevent applicants with convictions for drug offences or sexual offences from entering the country, a criminal background check must be submitted.

 

HOW TO GET IT:

(1) Local (county), provincial/ state, or federal government law enforcement agency issued checks will be accepted. (Please do not go for federal criminal record check. It takes very long and complicated)
  County wide Criminal record check is taking a couple of hours to 1 day to get from the local police station. State wide criminal record check is talking 3 days to 1 week to get from state police office. If your local police station does not deal with criminal record check, please call the nearest Korean Consulate and ask.

 

(2) Go to notary public or registered local lawyer and get your criminal record check notarized.

  Sometimes, state wide criminal record check comes with notary public notarization. This case, there is no need to do it as it has been notarized already

 

(3) Go with (or mail) your notary public notarized criminal record check to apostille place and get it apostillized. If your criminal record check does not have notary public stamp, they will send your criminal record check back.

 

- Please click and find out WHERE you can get the apostillization in your country.

 

¡ß The countries that do not have an apostille agreement with Korea, (like Canada and China), will have to submit the criminal background check for verification at the applicants closest Korean consulate/ embassy.

 

¡ß For Canadians, the criminal background check with vulnerable sector screening will be required. Then you need to get it notarised by registered local lawyer (or at a notary public) and get it notarised again from Korean Consulate.

 

.- The criminal background check is only valid within 180 days/ 6 months of the E2 visa application.

 

- Any applicant who has any kind of criminal record may not be issued an E2 visa. Light crime record such as drunk & drive, may accepted by Korean immigration but it is not always be guaranteed to obtain E2 visa.

 

What is an Apostille?

 

An Apostille or postil is a seal applied by the Department of State to authenticate a document in a foreign country in order to assess the authenticity of an official signature. The Apostille is recognized as form of an international notary seal. An Apostille can be used if both countries (the country issuing the document and the country in which the document will be used) are part of the international The "Hague Apostille Convention".

For more information on Apostille, check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostille

 

Applicant needs to send the documents to the school's mailing address by FEDEX or UPS. Those parcel services are a little more expensive to use than normal post office airmail service. But it is faster and safer as they provide the tracking number and they provide 3 working days delivery service guaranteed.

After you send your documents to the school, please email us the "tracking number" of the package.

 

 

Visa steps

After the applicant accepts the teaching job in Korea, there are several steps for E-2 visa (teaching visa) process.

The folllowing is the normal way of doing the visa process. It will take apprx. 6~ 8 weeks to complete the whole visa steps and come to Korea. Applicant who wants to come to Korea after obtaining the visa need to take this steps.

 

Applicant who is very interested in coming to Korea to teach English advised to prepare the Criminal Record Check, two sets of officially sealed transcripts and passport. Also if you wish to do medical check at your local hospital for just in case, that would be encouraged but that doesn't mean that you don't have to take a medical examination in Korea.

Step 1

Applicant send several documents to Korea

 

Teachers: Submit required documents to Planet People by Fedex, UPS or DHL only. Those parcel services are a little more expensive to use than normal post office airmail service. But it is faster and safer as they provide the tracking number and they provide 3 working days delivery service guaranteed. After you send your documents to our office, please email us the "tracking number" of the package.

Planet People used to guide teachers to send visa documents to their school, but we now advise to send documents to Planet People's office from now on as we wish to check the teacher's visa documents since the new changes of visa process.

Required documents from teachers for visa process: See the top of this page

 

Step 2

 

School director take the school¡¯s and applicant¡¯s documents to Korean immigration and start the visa process

 

Once Planet People receive and check your documents and send those to your employer,

¨ç The school will contact KCUE and get your degree verification certificate - in case this has agreed both teacher and employer (this step will not taken if it has not discussed and agreed)
¨è the school will go to Korean immigration with the school documents and applicants documents. This is the moment that applicant¡¯s visa process starts in Korea.

 

Step 3

 

Immigration provide ¡®visa confirmation number¡¯ to the school and Planet People inform the visa confirmation number to the applicant by email or phone

 

It takes 2~ 6 working days for the immigration to provide visa confirmation number.

We recommend applicant to call the nearest Korean consulate/ embassy while waiting for the visa confirmation number and find out some information about following things.

 

-  How far is it from you (if it is close enough for you to go there in person OR if you need to mail documents to them and get it return by mail)

-  How much is E2 visa service fee and payment method

-  How long it takes to get E2 visa after you send your passport and other stuffs (they will tell you approximately how long it will take)

-  What are the documents you need to bring with you (please see the list in step 4)

 

Step 4

 

Applicant take several documents and go to the nearest Korean Consulate and wait 2~6 days for the visa. Go back there again and collect the passport.

 

These are the documents that applicant need to take to the nearest Korean consulate after receiving the visa confirmation number from Planet People.

 

1.  Actual passport (no photocopy of your passport as Korean consulate will stamp visa on your actual passport)

2.  Visa application form filled by you

www.planet-people.net/doc/Visa_application_form.pdf

(Please click the link/ download the form and print out)

3. Consul Checklist form filled by you

www.planet-people.net/doc/ConsulChecklist.pdf

4.  One passport photo

5.  Service fee (Bring cash if you are actually go there. Use ¡®money order¡¯ if you live far away and mail the documents to Korean Consulate

6.  Self addressed stamped envelope. (If you live far away and are not collecting it in person and you need to ask the consulate people to mail it to you)

7.  Visa confirmation number (write on top right of the visa application form)

8.  One set of officially sealed transcripts: Most Korean Consulates ask for one set of officially sealed transcripts these days. (please call the nearest Korean Consulate and ask if it is needed)

 

If Korean consulate is close, you can physically go there and apply for visa.

If Korean consulate is quite far away, you need to send visa application via express mail or registered mail service. Please DO NOT SEND BY REGULAR MAIL as this can take anywhere from one to three weeks. Self addressed stamped envelope, money order (or Check) need to be sent too.

 

Tips for filling visa application form

- Name and Address of Present Employer: Use the school name and address.

- Address in Korea: Use the school's address.

- Who Will Pay for Your Trip?: The school.

- Guarantor or Reference in Korea: Your director's name and the school address.

 

Step 5

 

Korean Consulate/Embassy will call you for interview date and time with Consul.

 

Please email Planet People and let know when your interview will be, and email Planet People again if interview goes successfully and when you can collect your passport from Korean Consulate/ Embassy.

 

Step 6

 

Come to Korea with pre-arranged air ticket and meet Planet People member (or school member) at the airport and go to the school (or home)

When you collect the passport from Korean consulate, you are ready to come to Korea and we may arrange your flight in advance so you could come to Korea with pre-arranged ticket.

Planet People will meet you at the airport and help your way to the school.

 

 

Where you can get the apostillization in your country

 

U.S

-Office of the Secretary of State

-Secretary of the Commonwealth

 

Australia

The Secretary to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

R.G. Casey Building

John McEwen Crescent Barton,

ACT 0221 Australia.

Telephone: +61 (2) 6261 3644 / +61 (2) 6261 1111

Fax: +61 (2) 6261 2820 / +61 (2) 6261 3111

Website: http://www.dfat.gov.au 

 

Ireland

Consular Section

Department of Foreign Affairs

69 - 71 Hainault House

St. Stephen's Green

DUBLIN

IRELAND

Telephone: +353 1 408 2174 +353 1 408 2322

Website: http://www.dfa.ie 

 

New Zealand

Department of Internal Affairs, Authentication Unit

Website: http://www.dia.govt.nz/apostille

 

U.K

Legalisation Office

Foreign and Commonwealth Office site Click