New Changes

on the E2 Teaching Visa Holders in

Korea

December 10th, 2007

 Residence Policy Division,

Korea Immigration Service

1. Background of the Changed Program

1) Serious social outcry the unqualified E2 teaching

visa holders
 - Some E2 teaching visa holders in Korea were caught

for fraudulent diplomas, drugs, sexual offenses,

etc.

- News media coverage about those unqualified E2

teaching visa holders.

For example, Mr. Christopher Paul Neil, the serial

child sex offender, was reported by KBS on

Oct.17th, 2007 and the report came out about the

holders of fraudulent diplomas, drug using, etc.

on September 5th, 2007.

2) In order to protect children and young students

from those criminal offenders and fraudulent

diploma holders, a strong need to counter these

problems.

2. Number of E2 Teaching Visa Holders in Korea

as of Oct.2007
 Total USA Canad UK NZ S.Africa Australia Ireland Others
a
17,273 6,724 5,005 1,615 749 685 674 352 1,469

3. Details of the Changes to be Introduced

<1> Criminal Background Report

a) Submission of Criminal Background Report

- Those E2 teaching visa holders, who are already

in Korea, need to submit their criminal

background report when applying for the

extension of their residence in Korea.

- Those who are newly applying for E2 teaching

visa need to submit their criminal background

report when applying for certificate of E2 visa

issuance to the Immigration Office in Korea.

 b) Method of Submitting criminal background report.

- By contacting the federal government or state

government agency or the respective embassy of

the E2 visa holders(or applicants).

- By submitting Apostille confirmed documents

- If one is from those countries which did not join the

Apostille Agreement, he may have his documents

certified by the Korean Embassy in his country.

<2>Health Certificate

a) Submission of Health Certificate

- Those E2 teaching visa holders, who are already in

Korea, need to submit their health certificate when

applying for the extension of their residence in

Korea.

- Those who are newly applying for E2 teaching visa

need to submit their health certificate when

 applying for alien registration to the Immigration

Office in Korea.

b) Method of Submitting Health Certificate

- By going to National or privately-run hospitals and/or

public health centers.

- The following items must be included in the health

certificate

- TBPE diagnosis and cannabinoid test about drug use

- HIV test

4. Interview in Korea Embassy or Consulate.

- Those who are newly applying for E2 visa

teaching need to be interview at their nearest
korean embassy or consulate in their country.

- If you submit the transcript in advance of

the interview and get it certified of its
 authenticity and truthfulness by the Korean
Academic Verification Agency, the interview
process can be waived.

- but E-2visa applicants who had been stayed in

korea as professor(E-1), teacher(E-2),

research(E-3) may apply for E2visa at the

korean embassy or consulate in any abroad

and don't need to be interviewed at the

korean embassy or consulate in their country.

Press Release

Re: Mandatory Requirements of Criminal

Background Check and Health Certificate

In order to prevent illegalities of E2 teaching visa

holders such as unlicensed teaching, drug use, etc,

the Ministry of Justice made it mandatory for all the

E2 teaching visa holders to submit criminal

background check and health certificate starting from

December 15, 2007.

As a bid to strengthen the qualifications of E2

teaching visa holders, the Ministry of Justice also

made it mandatory in principle for all the applicants

of E2 teaching visa to have an interview at the

Embassy of Korea.

In addition, the Ministry of Justice announced that it

would strengthen the management of immigration

policy on those E2 teaching visa holders by cracking

down on the unlicensed teachers of fraudulent

documents (forgery), drug use, sexual offense, etc.

Ahead of the implementation of this program on Dec.

15th, 2007,

the Ministry of Justice held the town hall meeting with

10 consular officers of seven embassies including

those of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada,

New Zealand, Australia, Ireland, South Africa. the

Ministry of Justice gave explanation of the program

and details and asked for the smooth implementation

and facilitation by the embassies in Korea.

Participating consular officers expressed their support

for the Korea Immigration Policy. But they don’t

provide the criminal background checks due to the

limited resources, backlogs, or the long time

requirements for verification.

- It is advised for current E2 teacher or E2 visa applicant

to contact with his/her embassy for details.

Despite the difficulty of implementation and lack of

resources, the consular officers participated in the

town hall meeting, showed their strong support and

willingness of cooperation for the earlier

implementation of the program. They also agreed to

the need of closer cooperation channel and

discussions with Korea Immigration Service.

For any inquiries, please contact International

Cooperation Division (Tel 02-500-9191~9199).