Working part-time on a student visa

Who can work, and when

The D-4 six-month rule is firm and there is no hardship exception. If you are arriving on a language visa, budget on the basis that you cannot earn anything for the first half-year, because you cannot.

The hour caps

This is the part that surprises people: your permitted hours depend on your Korean language level, not just your year of study. Higher TOPIK or KIIP levels unlock more hours.

Broadly, the structure works like this:

• Undergraduates in their first years get the tightest cap.
• Later-year undergraduates and postgraduates get more.
• Holding TOPIK level 4 or above increases the allowance at every stage.
• Holidays and vacation periods generally allow more hours than term time.
• Students with poor attendance or low grades can have the permission restricted.

The specific numbers are set by ministerial guidance and revised — check the current figures with your university's international office or on 1345 before making commitments to an employer. What matters structurally is the connection to language ability, which is a strong reason to sit TOPIK early.

It is also worth noting that the same TOPIK certificate is worth up to twenty F-2-7 points later. Studying Korean pays three times over for a student: better classes, more work hours, and residence points.

How to get the permit

1. Find the job first. The permit is tied to a specific employer and workplace, so you need the offer before you can apply.
2. Get your university's confirmation. The international office signs off — they check attendance, grades and your remaining permitted hours. This is not a rubber stamp; poor attendance means no signature.
3. Apply to immigration. Through HiKorea online, or at your regional office. The application is for permission to engage in activities outside your status (체류자격 외 활동허가).
4. Wait for approval before your first shift.

Documents typically required:

• Application form, passport, residence card.
• Certificate of enrolment and academic transcript.
• The university's confirmation of part-time work.
• Employment contract or a written statement from the employer, with their business registration certificate.
• TOPIK or KIIP certificate, if you are relying on it for a higher cap.

A second job needs a second permit. So does changing employer. Neither is automatic.

What you can and cannot do

Commonly permitted

• Cafés, restaurants and convenience stores.
• Office administrative work.
• Translation and interpretation.
• Teaching assistance and tutoring through approved channels.
• On-campus work.

Excluded or restricted

• Entertainment and adult-sector work — excluded outright.
• Manufacturing and construction — restricted, and permitted only in limited circumstances.
• Work requiring a professional licence you do not hold.
• Private English tutoring outside an approved arrangement. This is extremely common among students and it is not permitted — an E-2 or a specific permit is required.

That last one deserves emphasis. Informal English tutoring is widely done, widely known about, and unambiguously unauthorised employment. It is one of the more common reasons students end up with a violation on their record.

Attendance is the real constraint

Universities and language institutes report attendance to immigration. Falling below the institution's threshold triggers a report, and the consequences compound:

• Your part-time work permission can be withdrawn.
• Your institution may refuse the enrolment certificate you need for your visa extension.
• Repeated reports can end your status entirely.

Students who take too many hours and let attendance slip lose both the job and the visa. If you are genuinely struggling financially, talk to the international office — most universities have hardship funds and scholarship routes that students never ask about.

Your rights at work

Once you hold a permit, Korean labour law applies to you exactly as it applies to a Korean student. That includes:

• Minimum wage. Non-negotiable, regardless of nationality or visa status.
• A written contract. Mandatory.
• Weekly holiday allowance (주휴수당) if you work 15 hours or more a week — a paid day that many part-time employers quietly omit.
• Overtime premiums for hours beyond the standard.
• Payment on time, in full.

Employers who underpay foreign students rely on those students not knowing the rules, or fearing that complaining will affect their visa. It will not. The Ministry of Employment and Labor helpline on 1350 operates in English, complaints are free, and holding a lawful work permit means you are entitled to use the system.

Keep records: the contract, payslips, and your own log of hours worked. Cases are decided on records.

Tax

Part-time earnings are taxable. For small amounts withheld at source, the year-end reconciliation usually produces a refund. If you have worked and paid tax, file — students frequently leave refunds unclaimed because they assume it is not worth the effort. See the year-end settlement guide.

After graduation

Your part-time permission ends with your student status. The transition to real work is a change of status, not an extension of the permit:

• D-10 — the job-seeker status, and the standard next step. Apply before your D-2 expires, not after.
• E-7 — directly, if you already have a job offer. See the conversion guide.

One thing worth planning for now: a Korean degree scores under both the education and the "degree earned in Korea" categories of the F-2-7 points table. If long-term residence is your goal, a Korean master's is disproportionately valuable — and you are already here.