A health check is mandatory to obtain an Alien Registration Card (the final step in formalizing your legal stay in Korea). Requirements may differ from province to province, but you will likely be required to provide the results of a full physical exam as well as an HIV test and a TBPE drug test (TBPE stands for Tetrabromophenolphthalein Ethyl Ester).
These tests can all be obtained from a large, certified hospital. If your co-teacher is unsure about what is appropriate, theyshould contact your provincial Korea Immigration Service office. The name for Immigration Office in Korean is 출입국관리사무소.
The Alien Registration Card (ARC) is your identification card for your legal stay in Korea. You must apply for your ARC as soon as possible after your arrival. You will apply for the ARC at your local Korea Service Immigration office (출입국관리사무소). Most provinces have only one such office.To avoid waiting in line at the immigration office, you can schedule an appointment online at www.immigration.go.kr | English | On-Line Service | Reservation
- Required Documents
Please have your co-teacher call your local office to learn exactly what you need, but you will likely need:
- Your passport
- 2 colour passport photos (3cm x 4cm)
- Proof of Employment (provided by your school)
- The POE Business Registration Number (provided by your school)
- The application form
- A processing fee of ∼\10,000 or ∼\50,000 (bring cash).
※ Important: When you go to the Immigration Service office, you can apply for two types of visa: a Single-entry visa or a Multiple-Entry visa. If you intend to travel abroad during your year in Korea, you will want to get a Multiple-entry visa. The Multiple-entry visa will cost approximately ∼\50,000.
The process may take 7-10 business days.
The national EPIK office will open a bank account for teachers arriving at the orientation on time. Banks are only open during normal business hours (Monday Friday, 9:30am 4pm). This means that you may need to do most of your banking during the school day. Likewise, if you missed the opportunity to open an account at the orientation, you will want to open an account in order to receive the Entrance Allowance from the national EPIK allowance to receive your monthly pay from your school.A passport should be sufficient for opening an account, but some banks/branches may insist that an ARC is required.
Sending Money Home
Many teachers will want to send money home. Although they do not advertise it, quite a lot of banks are also Western Union agents. For a reasonable fee (∼￦30,000), you can send money to any Western Union branch in the world. Alternatively, you can have your Korean bank transfer money to a bank in your home country. In this case, you would need to provide your Korean bank with the swift code of your home bank. The fee for this kind of transfer would be similar to the Western Union fee.
Generally speaking, your pay will be issued on the 25th of each month. There are many factors for your School Administration Office to figure out when they issue your pay check. For example, they must learn about taxation rules for a teacher of a specific nationality, specific allowances (or lack thereof) for work in rural areas or work at more than one school, calculating pension pay for foreign workers, etc.)
2009-06-12Please be patient and expect small snags while your school learns the procedure. Please also keep in mind that your pay day is different than the Korean teachers’ pay days, so it can happen that your payment is accidentally missed. Likewise, when the 25th of the month falls on a weekend, it can also be unintentionally skipped. In either case, politely remind your co-teacher to inquire with the School Administration Office about receiving your pay promptly.
It is recommended that you politely ask for a “Detailed Statement of Pay” for each month, so that you can see how the different allowances/fees have been paid/deducted.The pay statement may be entirely in Korean, but you can expect to see deductions for: Income Tax (∼￦30,000－40,000); Residence Tax (∼￦5,000); National Pension Premium (∼￦90,000－100,000); and the National Health Insurance Premium (∼￦50,000－65,000). The aforementioned deductions are mandatory for all Korean and foreign employees alike, with the exception of the Income Tax (see notes).
You will probably also see another deduction on your pay statement of approximately ￦50,000-60,000 for meals. You school(s) will offer meals at the cafeteria and, by default, your school will probably sign you up to pay for these meals (just like your Korean co-teachers). We encourage you to use this option as it is cheap (only about ￦3,000 per meal) and healthy and a good way to bond with your co-workers and explore Korean culture. However, there may be appropriate reasons why you would like to opt out of paying for the cafeteria lunches. If so, have your co-teacher notify the School Administration Office and they will not deduct the fee, but you will need to bring your own lunches.
- • In accordance with(the absence of) international tax agreements, Canadians
are not eligible for tax exemption. - • If you have already worked in Korea for two years, you will not be eligible
for tax exemption. - • Other nationals may be exempt from paying tax in Korea if they can prove tax residency in their home
country. In order to do this, you would need some kind of Residency Certificate from your home country.
You must inquire about the details by contacting the appropriate government body in your home country. We
cannot offer advice or help with this because the laws and processes are complex, subject to change and
beyond our specialization and understanding. - • If you prove tax residency after your first month’s pay, any taxes you have already paid will be reimbursed
to you. - • Please be patient with your first pay cheque it may take time for your school to figure out exactly how it
should be done.
The Entrance Allowance of ￦1.3 million (minus the cost of the health check, if it was administered at orientation) is administered by the National EPIK office. If you had a bank account made at the orientation, you do not need do anything else and you can expect the payment within the first month of your contract.
If you missed the opportunity to open a bank account at the orientation, you will need to supply the National EPIK office with a visual copy of your bank book (the page with your name and account number) in order for the office to issue the Entrance Allowance. DO NOT send any bank account information by email. Have your School Administration Office fax a copy of your bank book to the National EPIK office at 02.765.9947. If you have not received the Entrance Allowance by the end of the first month of your contract (or, 3 weeks after you faxed your bank account info), please have your co-teacher contact at EPIK office.
This is not necessary, but recommended for security and emergency situations. You should check the website of your national embassy in Korea for details about how to register.
It is not the duty of your school or co-teacher to help you get a cell phone, but if you ask kindly, they may be willing to assist you with this. Please understand that it may only be possible to get a pre-paid phone because most retailers insist that you sign a year contract, which you can only do if you have a visa that is valid for at least another 365 days (which you probably won’t have).
If you have a good Korean friend, they may be able to set up an account for you under their name. Please do not ask your coworkers to open an account under their name.
The co-teacher(s) who help you with all the administrational and bureaucratic challenges you must accomplish are not receiving any extra payment for their efforts. Often, you will be unaware of how much time and energy (and perhaps money) they have truly spent to help you get settled in Korea and navigate the many bureaucratic hoops.
It is a common Korean custom for one person to purchase a snack or meal for a whole group when they have something to celebrate and it would be a very nice gesture to hold a small informal celebration in your office to thank your co-teacher(s) for their efforts. Pizzas, cakes or boxes of oranges would all make good gifts.
The goal of the National Ministry of Education, Science & Technology is to put one Native English Teacher in every school in Korea. Therefore, if your school feels positively about your performance at the school, it is almost certain that they will inquire if you would like to renew the contract. The timing varies according to the POE, but the question should probably be addressed about two months before the end of your current contract. If you agree to renew the contract with your school, it is quite a simple procedure: you will agree to sign a new contract at the appropriate time (varies according to the POE) and then get a new health check to apply for a new visa at your local provincial immigration office.
Occasionally, there may be acceptable reasons to change schools within the same POE (e.g., you are currently teaching high school and have your heart set on elementary). If you feel that you have a good reason/motivation for potentially switching schools, have your co-teacher contact your POE to inquire about the possibility.
• Changing POEs (Re-applying)
There are many good reasons to renew your contract with your current POE:
- you will get an extra 2 weeks of paid vacation
- you are sure to jump up a level in pay (exception: Level 1+)
- working more than one contract at the same location shows strong credibility to potential future employers
- you will avoid the bureaucratic hassles of re-applying
- you will not have to move
- you will be familiar with the work environment and expectations
However, it is understandable that there are valid reasons for changing POEs. Applying to a different POE is the same as applying the first time around. In this case, you are re-applying, not renewing (renewing is done with the same POE). Because there is no integration between the various POEs, you must submit all same the original documentation that a new applicant must submit. This process can take quite a while from overseas, so it is recommended that you start quite early. Also, positions in the more popular provinces tend to fill first, so it would be prudent to contact us about the best time to apply.
If you hold a year-long visa, the visa that you obtained at the beginning of the year will almost certainly expire several days before the end of your contract. Therefore, you will need to extend your visa for a short period of time. To do this, you will have to go to the immigration office where you obtained your ARC. You cannot apply for the visa extension earlier than two months before the end of your current visa. In other words, you must apply for the extension in the last 60 days before your current visa expires.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Be sure to get the visa extension BEFORE your current visa expires. Leave ample time for processing (inquire at your local office)
• Required documents
You will likely need:
- Your passport
- Your Alien Registration Card
- Your current contract
- you will not have to move
- A processing fee: ~\30,000
If you are renewing your contract, you will need to get a visa extension as well. In addition to the above requirements, you will also need to produce a new contract, Proof of Employment (provided by your school), the POE Business Registration Number, and another health check. Essentially, it will be very much like the first time you applied for your Alien Registration Card.
Chances are that you will depart from Korea before your Entrance Allowance and Severance Pay are reimbursed in full (this can take up to one month). Therefore, it is prudent to ask your bank about how to transfer the funds to an account in your home country when you are not in Korea. Ask them if there are any forms that might make it easier.
All Koreans and foreigner employeespay equally into the National Pension Insurance Plan. According to pension agreements between Korea and several governments, some nationals are able to get a Lump-Sum Refund of their pension premiums upon exiting Korea. The refund is currently available to citizens of Australia, Canada and the United States.
If you are a citizen of one of these three countries and you would like to receive a refund, it is best to make arrangements before you depart Korea. To find the form, go to the National Pension Service website at www.nps.or.kr| English | Foreigners and Lump-sum Refund. This page will explain when and how to fill out the necessary form. There is also a link to a very accessible brochure, “Guide to the National Pension for Foreigners” at the bottom of the main English NPS webpage.
