Embassy of the Republic of Korea in the USA

H-1 Visa (including WEST Program)

◈ Introduction

The Working Holiday Program (WHP) was created under the mutual cooperation and establishment of Memorandum of Understandings (MOU) between the Republic of Korea and 6 participating countries (Australia, France, Canada, Japan, and New Zealand, United States) with the purpose of providing opportunities to individuals from each respective country to travel to Korea, while allowing them to earn and save money through short-term employment.

☞ To see a video about WHP, please click the URL: http://youtu.be/PMOdAbPcgC4

◈ General Visa Information

◈ ** : U.S. participants should be bona fide post-secondary students or recent graduates (within 1 year after graduation), and provide evidence of status from his/her post-secondary institution.

◈ Ineligibility

Individuals of the WHP cannot engage in the following job categories that are against the spirit of the WHP agreement or national laws:

- Adult entertainment-related businesses

- Dancer, singer, musician or acrobat

- Requiring specific licenses or skills, such as in the field of medical practices, lawyer, professor, pilot, etc.

- Foreign language instruction (if an individual desires to work as a foreign language instructor after their arrival in Korea under WHP, the individual will be required to change their visa status to E-2); and

- Those who desire to take training or educational course in pursuit of an academic degree other than a Korean language training course will be required to apply for a student visa (D-2).

- Related to journalism, religion, academic research, or instruction of engineering-related technical skills.

- Those whose main objectives for coming to Korea are not travel, but solely to seek employment, will be ineligible to participate in WHP.

◈ Required Documents

- A valid passport & A passport copy(6 Month Validity Rule)

- A completed visa application (pdf)

- A passport size photo for the application (size: 2” x 2” available)

- Proof of a roundtrip airline ticket

- Proof of financial support or other documents that show you have sufficient funds to support yourself (for at least 3 months)

- Proof of student status or proof of highest academic qualifications (Reciprocity)

->Japan, U.S.

- Criminal Record(Reciprocity)

->Canada, New Zealand, France:

- Medical Exam (Reciprocity)

-> Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and France

- Appointment: no need, just walk in(parking: free behind the building)

☞ The required documents may differ among respective Jurisdiction Korean Consular Offices, so please contact the nearest Jurisdiction Korean Consular Office for detailed information.

◈ Application Process

- You can apply for a visa at the nearest Jurisdiction Korean Consular Office in your country.

- Once you submit all the required documents to the Jurisdiction Korean Consular Office in your country and apply for a visa, your visa will be issued upon review.

- Please ensure that you have correctly completed all the required information before submission. Any inconsistencies or false information within the submitted documents may result in visa denial.

- Upon your visa application, you may be asked to submit additional documents or be requested for an interview, so please ensure that you apply with plenty of time.

- Please note that submitted documents will not be returned.

- For more detailed information, please contact the nearest Jurisdiction Korean Consular Office.

* Important Notice:
A person with multiple nationalities who has both Korean nationality and foreign nationality is considered a Korean national, not a foreigner in Korea. The applicant’s visa hereby could be cancelled if he/she is proved to be a Korean national and not be a foreigner anymore even though the visa has been issued from the Korean government. Korean government may ask you to submit additional documents related to you and your parents’ nationality when you apply for a visa to check it.

◈ Submitting your visa application via mail  (The consulate is not responsible for any items delayed or lost in the mail) After submitting your visa application via mail, if you wish to have your passport with the visa mailed back to you, please enclose a self-addressed and pre-paid Express Mail Envelope(with $19.99 stamp) provided by the U.S. Postal Service.