A student part-time job starts after the work permit, and a new employer means a new permit

Right now

1. 1Ask your university's international office or student affairs office to write the "part-time work confirmation for international students" (외국인 유학생 시간제취업 확인서). Without it you cannot apply at all. The officer needs the business name, business registration number, hourly wage and working hours of the place you will work, so get those from the employer first.
2. 2Check that your grade average in the previous semester is C (2.0) or above and that you have the Korean score for your year. First and second year undergraduates need TOPIK level 3, third and fourth year undergraduates and graduate students need TOPIK level 4. The Korea Immigration and Integration Program (KIIP) and King Sejong Institute courses count instead.
3. 3Do not work a single day before the permit comes through. If you are caught working without one, the first time may end in a fine notice, but the second time is deportation. Ask the Immigration Contact Center on 1345 if anything is unclear.

What to have ready

• Passport and Alien Registration Card
• Part-time work confirmation for international students: Written by your university's international student officer. It lists the business name, business registration number, hourly wage, and weekday and weekend hours.
• Copy of the standard employment contract: It must state the hourly wage, the work and the hours. Only a contract signed directly with the party named on the business registration certificate is accepted.
• Copy of the business registration certificate and of the employer's ID
• Transcript or attendance certificate: Not needed if your university has already entered your enrollment details in the Foreign Student Information System (FIMS).
• Proof of Korean ability: One of a TOPIK score report, a KIIP completion certificate or pre-test result, or a King Sejong Institute certificate. English-track programs use TOEFL, IELTS or TEPS scores instead.
• Employer's confirmation of compliance with part-time work requirements: Written by the employer. Only needed when the business registration certificate lists manufacturing or construction.

Phrases you can copy and paste

Step by step

1. 1

   Check that your status lets you apply

   Degree students holding D-2-1 to D-2-4, D-2-6 or D-2-7 can apply right away. Language trainees (D-4-1, D-4-7) and visiting students (D-2-8) have to wait 6 months from the date their status was changed, counted from the entry date if they came in on a visa. Students who finished a 2-year associate or 4-year bachelor's program but were granted an exceptional extension because they lacked credits are not eligible. Master's and doctoral students who have completed coursework and are preparing a thesis may be allowed, but only up to 30 hours a week, and the unlimited weekend and vacation rule does not apply to them. If your grade average in the previous semester is below C (2.0) on the application date, you are treated as unable to combine study and work and restricted; language trainees are restricted if their average attendance across all terms is below 90%. A record of being punished for working without a permit or breaking permit conditions in the past 3 months also restricts you.

2. 2

   Find the Korean requirement and hour limit for your year

   One table, in force since July 2023, sets the rules. Associate degree students and first and second year undergraduates meet the requirement with any one of TOPIK level 3, completion of KIIP level 3 or a pre-test score of 61 or higher, or King Sejong Institute intermediate 1 or higher. Third and fourth year undergraduates and graduate students need TOPIK level 4, completion of KIIP level 4 or a pre-test score of 81 or higher, or King Sejong Institute intermediate 2 or higher. Associate and bachelor's students who meet it can work up to 25 weekday hours and graduate students up to 30, and there is no hour limit on weekends and public holidays during the semester or during vacations. If you attend a university certified under the International Education Quality Assurance System, had a grade average of A or higher in the previous semester, or hold TOPIK level 5 or higher, have completed KIIP level 5 or passed its comprehensive evaluation, you get 5 more weekday hours, which makes 30 for undergraduates and 35 for graduate students. If you do not meet the Korean requirement, you are limited to 10 weekday hours as an undergraduate and 15 as a graduate student regardless of your university or grades, and the unlimited weekends and vacations do not apply. In English-track programs, TOEFL 530 (CBT 197, iBT 71), IELTS 5.5, CEFR B2 or TEPS 601 (NEW TEPS 327) or higher counts as meeting the Korean requirement in any year, and students from countries where English is the native or official language do not have to submit proof.

3. 3

   Sort the jobs you can do from the ones you cannot

   Permitted jobs are the part-time work students usually do: simple labor, work related to your major, or work that can be combined with study. The jobs that are blocked are clear. Platform and contractor work such as parcel delivery, delivery app riders, designated drivers, insurance agents, home-tutoring teachers and door-to-door sales is not allowed. Work through staffing agencies in dispatch, subcontracting or placement arrangements is not allowed either, and neither is remote work. Manufacturing and construction in the non-professional employment (E-9) category and seafarer (E-10) work are restricted, with one exception: manufacturing is allowed if you hold Korean level 4 or higher. Professional-field work (E-1 to E-7) is restricted in principle, but supporting roles, work-study internships and internships in professional fields during vacations for degree students are allowed. Conversation teaching at facilities that teach foreign languages to minors is not allowed, while safety assistant and play assistant jobs at English kids cafes and English camps are. Private tutoring is strictly restricted because of where and with whom it happens. You cannot work for a business that has been punished for illegal employment in the past. If a job legally requires a license, you need that license too.

4. 4

   Sign a standard employment contract and collect the employer's documents

   Sign the contract directly with the party named on the business registration certificate. The standard employment contract must state the hourly wage, the work and the hours. Get a copy of the business registration certificate and a copy of the employer's ID. If the certificate lists manufacturing or construction among the business types, the employer also has to write the "confirmation of compliance with part-time work requirements for international students". That form carries a sentence saying the employer can be punished under Article 18 of the Immigration Act for having you work outside the permitted business types. Students (D-2) may work at up to two places at the same time within the hour limit; language trainees (D-4) may work at one.

5. 5

   Get the confirmation from your university

   Where:

   Your university's office for international students

   The "part-time work confirmation for international students" is written on a set form by your university's international student officer. It records your completed semesters, the business name and business registration number of the workplace, the business type, the employer's signature, the work period, the hourly wage and your hours on weekdays, Saturdays and Sundays, and confirms that the job will not interfere with your studies. The footnote at the bottom of the form still shows old numbers, 20 weekday hours for undergraduates (25 at certified universities) and 30 for graduate students, but the hour limits that apply are the ones in the manual's table in force since July 2023. If your university has already entered your enrollment details in FIMS, you do not submit a transcript or attendance certificate.

6. 6

   Apply online through HiKorea or in person

   Where:

   HiKorea e-civil application, or a booked visit to the immigration office for your area

   How long:

   Normally 10 days, 2 months if an investigation is needed

   Cost:

   No fee

   The item "part-time work permit for students (D-2) and language trainees (D-4-1)" on the HiKorea civil application list is available online. You apply, attach the documents, and after receipt and processing check the result under e-civil application status on My Page. If you apply in person, a permit sticker is attached; if online, you print the permit. The processing office is the immigration office for your area, and the legal basis is Article 20 of the Immigration Act, Article 25 of its Enforcement Decree and Article 29 of its Enforcement Rules. If the online application fails, tell the Immigration Contact Center on 1345. It takes calls Monday to Friday from 09:00 to 22:00 except public holidays, and the call is charged.

7. 7

   Moving to a new employer or adding one means doing it again before you start

   Where:

   HiKorea e-civil application "report of change of part-time workplace"

   How long:

   Within 14 days, usually within 3

   Cost:

   No fee

   The manual says that when your employer changes and so does your workplace, you have to get a new part-time work permit in advance. HiKorea has an e-civil application for exactly this, "report of change of part-time workplace for students (D-2) and language trainees (D-4-1)", and the document to submit is a part-time work confirmation written for the new workplace. You can only work at a permitted workplace, so finish this before your first shift at the new place. When adding a second place to an existing one, check that you stay within the limit of two places and the hour limit.

8. 8

   Know what needs no permit and what needs a different one

   Activities that bring in occasional payments such as honoraria or prize money as part of daily life are not subject to the permit. The standard field practice semester and compulsory practical courses under the Ministry of Education notice do not need a permit, but voluntary field practice does. Research and internships linked to your studies that pay a research allowance from your own university or its industry cooperation foundation are exempt; if unrelated to your studies, you need the permit. If an outside institution pays the research funding, you need the part-time work permit even when the research is linked to your studies, and if it is unrelated you need permission for activities outside your status as a researcher (E-3). Students cannot take activities outside their status as researchers at companies or university industry cooperation foundations; that requires a change of status. A master's or doctoral student working as a student researcher at a government-funded research institute goes through a special fee-paying permission for activities outside the status of stay, not the part-time work permit.

9. 9

   Each repeat violation brings a heavier penalty

   If you are caught working without a permit for the first time and the violation is minor, you may get a fine notice and then permission to stay, but illegal work in construction gets a departure order with no exceptions. A second offense means deportation. If you have a permit but break its hour, business type or workplace conditions, the first offense is a warning, the second bars part-time work for the rest of your studies, and the third cancels your student status. The application form itself states that the employer can be punished too. The workplace and hours written on your permit are all you are allowed.

The Korean words

시간제취업 허가siganje chwieop heoga, The permit a student gets in advance to work part-time alongside studying

The student version of permission for activities outside the status of stay under Article 20 of the Immigration Act.

체류자격외활동cheryu jagyeok oe hwaldong, Doing an activity that belongs to a different status of stay alongside your own

Needs permission in advance. Full-time work that becomes your main activity is not eligible.

표준근로계약서pyojun geullo gyeyakseo, The standard employment contract form

It counts as a permit document only when it states the hourly wage, the work and the hours.

사업자등록증saeopja deungnokjeung, Business registration certificate

A copy goes with the application. If manufacturing or construction appears in the business type box, the employer adds one more confirmation.

인증대학injeung daehak, A university certified under the International Education Quality Assurance System

Students there who meet the Korean requirement get 5 more weekday hours.

업체변경 신고eopche byeongyeong singo, The report that your part-time workplace has changed

The name of the HiKorea e-civil application. Do it before working at the new place.

통고처분tonggo cheobun, A notice to pay a penalty instead of going to court

Possible for a first, minor case of working without a permit.

Easy to miss

• ·Starting early under the name of "training" or "probation" before the permit comes through. The dates stay on the paperwork. Your first shift comes after you have the permit or the sticker.
• ·Earning money through delivery rider, parcel or designated driver apps. Platform and contractor work is not covered by the permit. If caught, it is treated as working without a permit.
• ·Registering with a staffing agency that sends you to a shop. Contracts that split who employs you from who uses your labor are not allowed. Sign directly with the party on the business registration certificate.
• ·Assuming weekday hours are generous because weekends are unlimited. Unlimited weekends and vacations apply only to degree students who meet the Korean requirement, and weekday hours are a separate limit of 25 or 30. If you do not meet the requirement, it is 10.
• ·Cutting the hours on your application because the footnote on the confirmation form says "20 hours for undergraduates". That is an old number left on the form; the limits in the table in force since July 2023 apply. Go through the table with the officer.
• ·Putting off the report when you move to a new shop. You can only work at the permitted workplace, so working anywhere else breaks the conditions. So does going over two places.
• ·Applying for a factory job with Korean level 3. Manufacturing is allowed as an exception only with Korean level 4 or higher.
• ·Tutoring a neighbor's child in English. Conversation teaching at facilities that teach foreign languages to minors is restricted, and private tutoring is strictly restricted.
• ·Going on a voluntary field practice placement from your department without a permit. Only the standard field practice semester and compulsory practice are exempt.
• ·Thinking it is fine to keep going at the same shop after the permit period ends. It is up to 1 year for students and up to 6 months for language trainees, and after that you get the permit again.

You can skip this if

• Side work under any status other than student (D-2), language trainee (D-4-1, D-4-7) or visiting student (D-2-8) is outside this guide and goes through the general permission for activities outside the status of stay. The spouse (F-3) of a student follows the guidance for the dependent status.
• Language trainees and visiting students can apply only once 6 months have passed since their status change or entry date.
• Students who finished an associate or bachelor's program but were granted an exceptional extension because they lacked graduation requirements cannot apply.
• If you study alongside a working holiday (H-1) or another status, the rules of that status come first.
• This guide is based on the HiKorea civil application guides checked on November 3, 2026, the stay applications edition of the guidance manual by status of stay dated November 2, 2026, and Ministry of Justice press releases. The manual states that it is updated when guidelines change but that uploading can take time, so ask 1345 for the latest rules.

Where this comes from

• Part-time work permit for students (D-2) and language trainees (D-4-1), civil application guide, checked November 3, 2026 (HiKorea, Korea Immigration Service, Ministry of Justice)
• Report of change of part-time workplace for students (D-2) and language trainees (D-4-1), civil application guide, checked November 3, 2026 (HiKorea, Korea Immigration Service, Ministry of Justice)
• Integrated guidance manual by status of stay (stay applications edition dated November 2, 2026), section on part-time work permits for students (D-2), checked November 3, 2026 (HiKorea, Korea Immigration Service, Ministry of Justice)
• Permission for activities outside the status of stay, procedure and method, checked November 3, 2026 (HiKorea, Korea Immigration Service, Ministry of Justice)
• List of e-civil applications, checked November 3, 2026 (HiKorea, Korea Immigration Service, Ministry of Justice)
• Ministry of Justice press release, shifting visa policy from recruiting to growing international students as their number approaches 400,000, October 7, 2026 (with attached Q&A)
• Ministry of Justice press release, visa reforms to help international students settle in local communities, June 23, 2023 (weekly part-time hours raised from 20 to 25)