Part-Time Work in Korea as an International Student: The Permit, the Hours and the Jobs It Doesn’t Cover

Last updated: October 2026_

Ask the internet whether international students can work in Korea and you’ll get two confident, contradictory answers: “yes, right away” and “not until you’ve been here six months.” Both are true — for different students. The six-month wait applies to language-course students (D-4) and short-term visiting students (D-2-8). Degree students on a regular D-2 can apply from their first semester. Much of the confusion comes from guides blending these categories into one “international student.”

This guide is based on official guidance — chiefly the Ministry of Justice’s residence manual (September 2026), along with the government’s legal information portal and university international offices — and covers who can start when, what the permit legally is, how your Korean level changes your weekly hours, and the jobs the permit does not cover.

Before any of it, the deal in one sentence: for work that requires a permit, no permit in hand, no first shift. You can sign a contract before the permit arrives — in fact you need one to apply — but you start working only after it’s granted. Working without it is unauthorised employment, and it is enforced against both you and your employer.

The short answer

• Degree students (D-2) can apply from their first semester. Language-course students (D-4) must wait six months.
• You need a part-time work permit from immigration, confirmed first by your university.
• Your weekly hours depend on your program and your Korean (or, in English-taught programs, English) level. Below the language bar, the cap is 10 hours a week for undergraduates and language students, and 15 for graduate students — including vacations.
• Apply with a job already lined up: the application needs your employment contract and the employer’s business registration.
• Some jobs aren’t covered at all, including private tutoring, delivery-agency work and nightlife businesses.
• Universities can set stricter rules than immigration. Check with your international office first.

Why it’s a permit and not a right

A student visa (D-2 or D-4) is legally a study status, not a work status. Employment isn’t simply limited — by default it isn’t allowed. What exists is an exception: permission to engage in activities outside your status of stay (체류자격외활동허가), usually called the part-time work permit (시간제취업 허가). It covers work at a level a student would ordinarily do — simple, part-time, and compatible with full-time study.

Two gatekeepers stand in the way, in order: your university’s international student office, which must confirm your application, and your local immigration office, which grants the permit. The university layer matters more than people expect. Universities can apply stricter internal standards than immigration requires — some, for example, won’t confirm applications until you’ve completed a semester. In practice, your international office’s answer is the first one you need.

Who can start when

• Degree students (D-2-1 to D-2-4: associate, bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral): no waiting period. First-semester students without a transcript yet are exempt from the grade requirement, so the rules allow working from semester one — subject to your university’s own policy.
• Other D-2 sub-types: exchange students (D-2-6) and work-study-linked students (D-2-7) also appear in the guidance, but some conditions differ by sub-type. Confirm the line for your exact sub-type.
• Language-course students (D-4-1, D-4-7): eligible six months after the date your status was changed to D-4, or your entry date if you arrived on a D-4 visa.
• Short-term visiting students (D-2-8): six months, counted the same way.
• Generally not eligible: students who have stayed beyond the standard program length (for example, two years for an associate degree or four for a bachelor’s) and D-4 sub-types other than D-4-1 and D-4-7. Master’s and doctoral students who have finished coursework and are writing a thesis remain eligible, but with a separate weekly cap (30 hours in the guidance) and without the unlimited-vacation allowance below.

What you need to get a permit at all

For degree students: grades. Generally a C average (2.0 on a 4.5 scale) or better in your most recent semester. First-semester students are exempt.

For language-course students: attendance. D-4 students are judged on attendance instead of grades: the permit is restricted if your average attendance across all completed terms is below 90%. Your institute may apply its own standard on top.

A job offer. The permit is tied to a specific workplace, so you apply with a signed contract (more under How to apply).

Your language level is not usually what decides whether you can work at all. It decides how many hours you can work — which is the next section.

How your language level sets your hours

The language bar scales with your program:

Your program	TOPIK	KIIP (Korea Immigration & Integration Program)	Sejong Institute
Language course (D-4)	Level 2+	Stage 2 completed, or pre-test 41+	Beginner 2 completed
Associate; bachelor’s years 1–2	Level 3+	Stage 3 completed, or pre-test 61+	Intermediate 1
Bachelor’s years 3–4; graduate	Level 4+	Stage 4 completed, or pre-test 81+	Intermediate 2

If you study in an English-taught program, English scores can stand in for Korean: TOEFL iBT 71+, IELTS 5.5+, CEFR B2, or TEPS 601+ (New TEPS 327+). Students from countries where English is a native or official language are exempt from submitting proof of English proficiency — not from the other application documents.

Your weekly cap then depends on whether you meet that bar:

Program	Language bar NOT met	Language bar met	With extra criteria*
Language course (D-4)	10h/week, including vacations	20h/week, including vacations	25h/week
Associate & bachelor’s	10h/week, including weekends & vacations	25h on weekdays + no cap on weekends, public holidays & vacations	30h on weekdays
Master’s & doctoral	15h/week, including weekends, holidays & vacations	30h on weekdays + no cap on weekends, public holidays & vacations	35h on weekdays

*The higher caps apply at universities certified under the international education quality assurance system (IEQAS) and, for some students, to those meeting additional grade or Korean-level criteria. Each has its own review standard — ask your international office which apply to you. D-4 limits are not in the residence manual’s hours table, so confirm them with your language institute.

Read the first column carefully. “Unlimited hours during vacation” applies only to degree students who meet the language bar — it isn’t a feature of student status. A student below the threshold is capped at 10 hours a week (15 for graduate students), and that cap covers summer and winter break too. On Korea’s minimum wage, the difference between that cap and 25 hours plus open vacations is large enough to change your budget. Reaching the next TOPIK level can mean more permitted working hours. (For what TOPIK levels universities expect for admission, see TOPIK Requirements by University and Major.)

How to apply

You’ll need your ARC first — the application uses your registration number. If your employer pays by bank transfer, you’ll also want a Korean bank account. Then:

1. Find the job and sign the contract. Ask the employer for a standard employment contract (표준근로계약서) and a copy of their business registration certificate (사업자등록증). Agree that your start date depends on the permit.
2. Get the university confirmation. Your international student office signs the part-time work confirmation form (시간제취업확인서). This is where your grades or attendance and language documents are checked, and where you’ll learn about any internal rules.
3. Apply to immigration — online through HiKorea (e-application) or in person at the office for your area. Documents listed in the manual: application form, passport, ARC, the university confirmation, transcript or attendance certificate (skipped if immigration can check it in the student information system), proof of Korean (or English) proficiency, a copy of the standard employment contract showing hourly wage, duties and hours, and copies of the business registration certificate and the employer’s ID. If the business registration includes manufacturing or construction, the employer also signs a compliance form. The contract must be directly with the business — agency or dispatch arrangements aren’t accepted. Offices can ask for more, so check the current list before you go. There is no application fee.
4. Start only after approval. For degree students (D-2), a permit lasts up to one year within your period of stay, and you can hold permits for up to two workplaces at once, within your weekly hours. For language students (D-4), it lasts up to six months and covers one workplace. Changing employers needs a new permit before you start — the old one doesn’t transfer.

Jobs the permit doesn’t cover

The permit is meant for ordinary student work — cafés, restaurants, retail, office assistance and similar. Outside that:

• Private tutoring (개인과외) is strictly restricted.
• Teaching English conversation is a separate question. Conversation instruction follows its own rules (the E-2 conversation instructor status and its guidelines), and conversation teaching at foreign-language facilities for minors is listed as restricted. Assistant roles at places like English kids’ cafés or camps — safety or play assistant, not teacher — can be allowed. Ask immigration before accepting anything that involves teaching.
• Special-type and platform work: parcel delivery drivers, delivery-agency riders, designated drivers, insurance agents, home-visit study-material teachers and door-to-door sales.
• Dispatch, subcontracting or placement arrangements, and remote work.
• Activities against public morals, such as bars with hostess service and adult entertainment. Immigration reads this category broadly.
• Manufacturing and construction: restricted by default. Manufacturing can be allowed if your Korean is at level 4 or above. Construction has no such exception.
• Professional fields — work that would normally require a professional (E-1 to E-7) visa — are outside part-time scope, with three exceptions in the manual: assistant-level work in those fields, internships for work-study-linked students (D-2-7), and internships for degree students during vacations. Jobs that require a licence or qualification under Korean law still require it.

What happens if you work without a permit

This is worth stating plainly, because “everyone does it” is common advice in student communities. Unauthorised work violates the Immigration Act. Consequences can include deportation or an order to leave Korea, and the statutory maximum penalty is up to three years’ imprisonment or a fine of up to ₩30 million. In practice, the manual’s enforcement standard is a fine and permission to stay for a minor first offence, and deportation for a second; illegal work in construction leads to a departure order without exception. Breaking the conditions of a permit you do have is handled in steps too — a warning, then no more permits during your studies, then cancellation of your student status. Employers can be penalised too — which is why legitimate employers ask to see your permit. A visa that took months of documents and waiting can end over a cash-paid weekend job.

FAQ

Can I work as a TA or research assistant on campus? Whether you have a contract doesn’t decide it — a part-time permit application needs a contract too. For paid research, the manual draws two lines: who pays and whether it relates to your studies. Research or internships paid by your own university and linked to your studies don’t need a permit; unrelated ones do. Research paid by an outside organisation needs a permit if it’s linked to your studies, and a separate research (E-3) activity permit if it isn’t. Universities add their own paperwork — Korea University, for example, asks for an advisor’s confirmation and a dean’s letter — so check with your department and international office before you accept.

Do I need a permit for an internship that’s part of my degree? Not for a standard field-placement semester or a placement your program requires. Optional, self-arranged placements do need a permit.

My university says I have to finish a semester first, but you said first-semester students are eligible? Both are real. Immigration exempts first-semester students from the grade requirement, but universities may still impose stricter timing. Because the university confirmation is mandatory, their rule effectively applies. Ask early so you can plan around it.

Does the permit transfer if I change jobs? No — it’s tied to the workplace you declared. A new employer means applying for a new permit, and waiting for it, before your first shift there.

Can I sign the contract before I have the permit? Yes, and you need to — the contract is part of the application. What you can’t do is start working before the permit is granted.

Sources

• Ministry of Justice, Korea Immigration Service, 「외국인체류 안내매뉴얼」 (residence manual), September 2026 — D-2 and D-4 sections, published on HiKorea
• 생활법령정보 (the government’s legal information portal), International Students › Part-time work — citing the immigration manual dated 1 September 2026
• Korea University Global Service Center, part-time work guidance for undergraduates and graduate students
• Study in Korea (NIIED), studyinkorea.go.kr — part-time work guidance
• HiKorea — e-application

A guide to the wider rules around student jobs — pay, contracts and your rights at work — is coming soon.

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These rules change. Before you apply, check the current requirements with your international office and immigration, and read the conditions on your own permit. If something here no longer matches what you’re told, tell me and I’ll update it.