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. The Classification of E2 Teaching Visa Holders in Korea

Total USA Canada UK NZ S.Africa Australia Ireland Others

17,273 6,724 5,005 1,615 749 685 674 352 1,469

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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 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

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 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 or 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.

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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,

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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

need of criminal background report and health certificate. But
they expressed the concerns about the issuance of the criminal
background checks due to the limited resources, backlogs, or the
long time requirements for verification.
- It varies from country to country from 40 days to 60 days to
have one's criminal background check issued. In the case of
the United States and some other countries, one can have his/her
criminal background check issued out of the website and get
them notarized (consular certification) in the embassies.

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 02-500-9197).

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