If your visa is being processed before you leave for Korea, please read the instructions below.

If your visa has been processed and issued before you leave for Korea, you will receive a visa number from us by e-mail once your visa has been completed in Korea. This number confirms that an employment visa has been approved for you and that any Korean consulate or embassy will issue a visa for you.

Once you've got the number, send or take the following to an appropriate Korean consulate or embassy:

1. A cover letter which includes the visa number, your address, and your phone number.

2. A completed and signed *Visa Application Form, with an appropriately sized photo attached as indicated. The photo doesn't have to be passport quality. Visa application forms are also available at the embassies and consulates and their websites. See below for more information about what to write where.

The visa application form requires that you have Adobe Reader installed on your computer. Download it here for free.

3. Your passport, which must have at least one full blank page (yes, you have to send the actual passport if you're not going in person).

4. A set of official transcripts sealed in a university envelope (the same sort of transcripts you sent to Korea earlier in this process). Please call the Korean consulate / embassy you will be dealing with to verify if this is needed or not.

5. A money order or bank draft, payable to the appropriate Korean embassy or consulate, for the visa fee. If you are going in person, take cash. The fee for issuance of a single entry visa is currently C$65 or US$45, but please double check this as it changes frequently. Processing time is normally five business days. Verify processing time with the appropriate consulate or embassy.

Be sure to arrange two-way transportation by a reliable courier for everything if you do not take the documents in person. The easiest way to do this is to include a pre-paid Canada Post or USPS express envelope when you send your documents. However, check with the consulate as different consulates have different requirements for courier pick up, etc. Also, call the embassy/consulate the day after you send the documents to check that the consulate has received them and that everything is in order, and to make an appointment for your interview. If it's not convenient for you to attend the interview in person (you live far from the nearest Korean diplomatic office), it is possible to arrange a webcam interview. Please call the appropriate Korean diplomatic office to verify.

Recent changes in Korean immigration policies require that all new E-2 visa applicants with no previous teaching experience in Korea to attend an interview session at the nearest Korean diplomatic office (where you send your visa applications to). This is normally the last step before they place the visa on your passport. When approved, your passport will be ready 2-3 days after the interview and the embassy / consulate will send it to your address. In Canada, in most cases you can pick up your passport with the visa on the same day of your interview. Please be ready to make a trip to the Korean Consulate or Embassy for this. Interviews are not required to applicants with previous teaching experience in Korea.

* Application Form — What to Write Where

For any sections that are not applicable to you, write "N/A"

Box 11 - Issuing Authority — The nation of your citizenship

Box 19 - Purpose of Entry — To teach English for ______________ (your employer)

Box 21 - Desired Length of Stay — One Year

Box 23 - Address in Korea - Use your school's address and phone number

Box 27 - Who will pay for your trip? - Give your school's name

Box 31 - Reference in Korea - Give your school director's name and contact information

N.B.: If you are planning to leave Korea on holiday during the validity of your visa (and most people are), you'll need a multiple entry visa. Multiple entry visas are usually not issued by Korean consulates in Canada but are easy to get in Korea. Someone from your school will help you with this. The additional cost is around C$40. Be sure to get a multiple entry visa before leaving Korea on holiday or you will be unable to return on your already-used single entry visa.

Multiple entry visas are routinely issued in the United States to U.S. citizens. U.S. citizens should call the consulate or embassy to verify if there is an additional charge for issuance of a multiple entry visa before you leave.

Most Korean diplomatic offices are closed on Korean holidays AND local holidays.