Working in South Korea

What the employer must have

• The Korean employer must be approved to hire under the Employment Permit System and must select you from the EPS roster — employers pick workers, workers do not apply to employers.
• The contract must pay at least the Korean minimum wage, which is KRW 10,320 per hour for 2026.
• The E-9 visa is for non-professional work in the approved sectors (manufacturing, agriculture, fisheries, construction, some services).

What you must do before you leave

1. Register only through Nepal's own government EPS office. EPS runs on a memorandum between the two governments, so your government's agency is the ONLY body that can put you on the roster.
2. Pass the EPS-TOPIK Korean language test and the skills test. There is no way around them and no one can sit them for you — this is the real selection, and the 2026 intake quota fell to 80,000 from 130,000 in 2025, so scores decide who goes.
3. After you pass you go onto the worker roster and wait for a Korean employer to choose you. Nobody can guarantee or accelerate that selection.
4. Check any Korea offer against your government EPS office before paying a rupee, taka or peso to anyone.

Things to watch

• NO PRIVATE BROKER MAY CHARGE YOU A PLACEMENT FEE FOR EPS. It is a government-to-government scheme; an agent offering a Korea job for money is offering something they have no power to give.
• The E-9 stay is capped at 4 years and 10 months, and your family cannot accompany you.
• Korea publishes the roster and selection results through the official EPS system — results circulated only by an agent, on paper or over WhatsApp, are not proof of anything.

Official sources

• EPS — Employment Permit System, Republic of Korea (official, English)
• Department of Foreign Employment (Nepal)

Jobs in South Korea right now