Korea has no central recognition office: immigration and employers verify apostilled degrees directly, health professions run the Kuksiwon exam gauntlet, and most engineering and IT work needs no licence whatsoever.
Overview
Korea has no ENIC-NARIC-style central equivalence body: there is no single agency that converts a foreign degree into a Korean ruling. Instead, recognition happens at the point of use. For immigration, the Korea Immigration Service verifies apostilled degree certificates directly against E-7 requirements (master's; or bachelor's plus one year's experience; or five years' experience) and the F-2-7 points table; for university admission, each institution assesses apostilled transcripts itself. Professional licensing is sectoral. Health professions are the hardest gate: foreign-trained doctors, dentists, nurses and pharmacists must hold a degree from a school recognised by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, hold their home licence, pass Kuksiwon's preliminary examination (with TOPIK level 5+ commonly required at application) and then the national licensing examination (KMLE for physicians) in Korean — a chain with historically low foreign pass rates. Lawyers practise home-country law only, as registered Foreign Legal Consultants under the FLC Act. Engineering and IT, by contrast, are not licensed for immigration purposes at all. Verified against kuksiwon.or.kr, immigration.go.kr and moj/mohw notices as of June 2026.
Recognition by Purpose
| Purpose | Who assesses | What they want |
|---|---|---|
| E-7 work visa | Korea Immigration Service (jurisdictional office) | Apostilled degree matching the designated occupation; experience letters where the bachelor's+1yr or 5-yr routes are used |
| F-2-7 points (education component) | Korea Immigration Service | Apostilled degree evidence; Korean degrees score highest in the table |
| University admission / graduate study (D-2) | Each university's admissions office | Apostilled transcripts and diplomas; TOPIK or English-track evidence per program |
| Health professions (doctor, dentist, nurse, pharmacist...) | Kuksiwon (Korea Health Personnel Licensing Examination Institute) + Ministry of Health and Welfare | MOHW-recognised school, home-country licence, preliminary exam pass, national licensing exam (in Korean), TOPIK 5+ commonly required |
| Foreign law | Ministry of Justice + Korean Bar Association | Foreign Legal Consultant registration under the FLC Act — home-jurisdiction advice only |
| Engineering, IT, design, research, finance (non-licensed) | Employer judgment only | No licence required; degree authentication for the visa is the only formal step |
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See Paid Plans →Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a Korean agency that will evaluate my foreign degree?
No — Korea has no ENIC-NARIC equivalent issuing general equivalence rulings. Recognition happens at the point of use: the Korea Immigration Service verifies your apostilled degree against E-7 or points-table requirements, each university assesses admission credentials itself, and professional regulators (Kuksiwon for health, the Ministry of Justice for foreign legal consultants) apply their own statutory tests. Practically, this means your effort goes into authentication rather than evaluation: obtain the apostille in the issuing country, attach a Korean translation, and ensure the degree's field visibly matches the occupation code or program you are applying for.
What do I need for an E-7 visa if my degree doesn't match my job?
The field-of-study match is exactly what officers check, so a mismatched degree pushes you onto the experience routes: a bachelor's in any field plus at least one year of documented related experience sometimes survives if the experience squarely matches the occupation code, while five years of related experience requires no degree at all. Experience must be proven with employer letters stating role, dates and duties — vague or unverifiable letters are a standard refusal ground. The clean overrides: a related master's degree, or total annual pay of at least three times GNI per capita, which waives the education and experience tests entirely.
I'm a foreign-trained doctor — can I practise in Korea?
Only by completing the full Kuksiwon chain, and you should plan years for it. Requirements: a degree from a medical school recognised by the Ministry of Health and Welfare (unrecognised school = no entry to the process), a medical licence from the country of training, a pass in the foreign-graduate preliminary examination (written plus clinical skills; TOPIK level 5+ is commonly required at application), and then the KMLE itself — conducted in Korean. Combined pass rates for foreign graduates have historically hovered around one third, with language the decisive barrier. Specialist recognition is a further Korean residency-training matter. Kuksiwon's international-graduate guide (kuksiwon.or.kr) is the authoritative roadmap.
Do engineers or IT professionals need any Korean licence?
No. Engineering and IT are not licensed professions for immigration or ordinary employment in Korea — there is no registration requirement equivalent to a US PE state licence or Canadian P.Eng. The Korean 기술사 (Professional Engineer) credential exists within the national technical qualification system but is a voluntary career certification, not a practice gate. What matters for the E-7 visa is the apostilled degree (or experience record) matching a designated occupation code, and the GNI-linked salary floor. Employers apply their own technical judgment in hiring — your foreign degree and portfolio are assessed commercially, not administratively.
Can I teach in Korea with my home-country teaching licence?
Not in Korean public or accredited private schools — licensed school teaching requires Ministry of Education teacher certification earned through the Korean system, which foreign teaching licences do not convert into. The realistic routes: E-2 conversation instruction, which requires only a bachelor's degree in any field, citizenship of a designated country for the language taught, the apostilled criminal record certificate and the post-arrival medical; international schools, which hire on foreign licences under their own accreditation; or university positions (E-1/E-7 depending on role), where hiring is on academic credentials. Your home licence strengthens applications commercially but carries no formal Korean recognition.
How do I prove my qualifications without wasting money on the wrong steps?
Work backwards from the single decision-maker who will read the file. For a work visa: apostille the degree in the issuing country, prepare a Korean translation, and align your CV's occupation language with the E-7 code — no Korean evaluation service exists to pay for. For graduate admission: each university lists its own authentication requirements; follow that list exactly rather than over-authenticating. For health licensing: confirm your school is MOHW-recognised before investing in anything else, because no other step matters if it isn't. And for unregulated fields, spend nothing beyond the visa authentication — additional 'recognition' products sold by agencies have no official standing.