In order to secure an E2 work visa (English teaching visa), all teachers (excluding Canadians – explained below) must have two (2) documents authenticated with an Apostille: your original Criminal Record Check and the Notarized Copy of your Bachelor’s Degree Certificate.
An Apostille is a type of international authentication for documents. Documents that are issued in one country (your home country) but need to be used in another country (such as South Korea) must be ‘authenticated’ or ‘legalized’ to verify authenticity. In short, it’s a unified approach to curbing the use of fraudulent documents.
The Apostille information on this page is applicable to the following nationalities:
British, Australians, Irish, New Zealanders and South Africans
Americans and Canadians can refer to the following pages for authentication instructions.
IMPORTANT: Korean Immigration requires individual Apostilles for both documents (your criminal record check and degree). To be clear, DO NOT have these documents bound together and Apostilled as a single document.
All applicants (except Canadians) must have their original Criminal Record Check (CRC) authenticated with an Apostille. There are no exceptions to this requirement and failing to authenticate your CRC will result in a denied work visa application.
Most Apostille issuing offices will only authenticate CRCs that have been notarized, therefore, before you request the Apostille authentication, please call the respective issuing office first and ask them if the notarization is also needed. If the notarization is required, you will need to bring your CRC to a Notary Public, or Lawyer with a notary license, and ask them to notarize your original CRC.
If you need to have your CRC notarized before, you can request the Apostille authentication, then please ask the Notary to notarize your original CRC. To find a notary in your area, simply do a Google search for: ‘notary public + your city name’.
All applicants must have a notarized photocopy of their degree authenticated with an Apostille.
Before you are able to secure the Apostille authentication, you need to bring your original university diploma to a notary public or lawyer with a notary license, and ask them to make you a notarized copy. The notary will photocopy your diploma then sign and stamp the copy – you now have a notarized copy of your degree. Once this step is complete, you can bring or send the photocopied version of your diploma (which was notarized) to the appropriate office to secure the Apostille.
Refer to the table below for the Apostille issuing office in your country of citizenship.
Government offices have minor variations in their issuing policies. As a result, you may need to provide your specific office with certain documentation that isn’t required by other offices (examples: additional signatures, stamps, government issued ID). Please contact your Apostille issuing office in advance to clarify what documentation will be required in order to obtain Apostille authentication for your Criminal Record Check and notarized copy of Diploma.
Costs vary between countries and prices range from $20 – $80 per document. If you plan on mailing your documents for authentication, make sure to confirm which payment methods and mailing methods are acceptable because some government offices do not accept personal checks, money orders, etc.
Apostille authentication timelines vary between countries and their respective issuing offices. Likewise, much depends on whether you mail your documents to the office or visit in person. In most instances, government offices can authenticate your documents with an Apostille in 3-5 business days. This time frame doesn’t include the courier time involved.
Not that we’re aware of. To our knowledge, governments can only Apostille documents that were issued from institutions within the same country. For example, a British candidate who graduated from a South African university cannot have his/her diploma authenticated with a UK Apostille. Alternatively, they will need to have it authenticated by the South African government.
British candidates need to have documents Apostille authenticated by the UK Legalisation Office (a branch of the UK Foreign Office).
Australians need to have documents Apostille authenticated by Smart Traveller (operated by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
New Zealanders need to have documents Apostille authenticated by the Authentication Unit of the Department of Internal Affairs.
The Legalisation Section at the Department of International Relations is responsible for Apostille authentication in South Africa.
Irish candidates need to have their documents Apostille authenticated by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Americans need to use the federal Department of State and their respective Secretary of State, offices to acquire the proper Apostille authentications. Visit our United States Apostille page for details.
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Gone2Korea is your connection to full-time teaching jobs in South Korea. Western graduates, primarily from the US, Canada, UK, and Australia, use our services to secure jobs with trusted Korean schools, and schools use our services to find and hire enthusiastic teachers from the West.
Worth noting: We’re not a job ‘sourcing’ agency or recruiter that finds new schools on the fly. On the contrary, we work with a select group of schools and programs that we know and trust.
In addition to helping you land a job, we’ll also be helping you with your work visa, departure, arrival, and offering support for the entirety of your contracted term.
Prior teaching experience and related degrees are NOT prerequisites for teaching in Korea. Here’s what you’ll need in order to qualify.
Korean schools and programs offer western English teachers highly competitive benefits packages which includes:
