Korea Working Holiday Visa (H-1): Guide and First Week

A working holiday is the cheapest, simplest way for a young foreigner to live in Korea for a year: no school to enrol in, no employer to sponsor you, and the right to take a part-time job when the savings start to run low.

It is also the visa that puts you through every step of settling in at once, with nobody from a university or company to walk you through it. That is why this final part of the series ends with a first-week checklist that ties the other five together.

This is Part 6 of our Living in Seoul 101 series. The Korean name for the visa is 관광취업 (tourism-employment), status H-1.

Which countries can get a Korean working holiday visa?

Thirty countries and regions, each with its own age limit and annual quota. The official list, updated for 2026/27 by the Working Holiday Info Center (run by the Overseas Koreans Agency under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs), is below.

🌏 Partner countries/regions, age limits and annual quotas (2026/27)

Country / region	Age	Annual quota	Employment limit	Study limit
Andorra	18–30	50	None	None
Argentina	18–34	200	None	None
Australia	18–30	Unlimited	6 months per employer	4 months
Austria	18–30	300	None	None
Belgium	18–30	200	6 months	6 months
Brazil	18–34	300	None	None
Canada	18–35	12,000	None	6 months
Chile	18–34	100	None	None
Czech Republic	18–30	300	None	None
Denmark	18–34	Unlimited	9 months	6 months
Finland	18–35	To be announced	To be announced	To be announced
France	18–30	2,000	None	None
Germany	18–34	Unlimited	None	None
Hong Kong	18–30	1,000	6 months per employer	6 months
Hungary	18–30	100	None	None
Ireland	18–34	800	None	6 months
Israel	18–30	200	3 months per employer	6 months
Italy	18–30	500	6 months	None
Japan	18–25	10,000	None	None
Latvia	18–34	100	None	None
Luxembourg	18–35	100	None	None
Netherlands	18–30	200	None	None
New Zealand	18–30	3,000	None	6 months
Poland	18–30	200	None	None
Portugal	18–34	200	None	None
Spain	18–30	1,000	None	None
Sweden	18–30	Unlimited	None	None
Taiwan	18–34	800	None	None
United Kingdom	18–35	5,000	None	None
United States	18–30	2,000	None	None

A few agreements have special rules worth knowing:

• Canada: stays of up to 24 months, the option to participate twice, and no 25-hour weekly cap (the Info Center’s guide says up to 40 hours a week).
• United Kingdom: extension of up to one year is possible. United States: extension of up to six months; applicants must be post-secondary students or have graduated within the past year.
• Japan: ages 18 to 25, up to 30 where the embassy accepts there are unavoidable circumstances. Since 1 October 2025, Japanese nationals can take part twice instead of once.

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What do you need to apply for the H-1 visa?

You apply from your home country, at the Korean embassy, consulate or visa application centre that covers you. You must be in the country when you apply and when the visa is issued.

Embassies add their own requirements. The embassy in Tokyo, for example, asks Japanese applicants for a detailed one-year activity plan covering work, Korean study and housing, and a bank balance of at least ¥300,000. Read your own embassy’s page, not someone else’s.

The visa is valid for one year and the stay is up to 12 months, unless your country’s agreement says otherwise. It is intended as a holiday first; embassies can refuse applicants whose plan is really full-time work or study.

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What jobs can you do on a working holiday visa?

Most temporary work, up to 25 hours a week, with no separate work permit. Cafés, restaurants, shops, hostels, translation and office support are typical. Some agreements also limit how long you can work for one employer (see the table).

What is off limits, per the Working Holiday Info Center:

• Entertainment venues that may harm public morals: receptionists, dancers, singers, musicians, acrobats and similar at bars and nightlife establishments.
• Licensed professions: doctors, lawyers, professors, pilots, cooks and other jobs that require a qualification under Korean law.
• Language teaching: teaching a foreign language requires an E-2 visa, even part-time.

The honest maths: 25 hours at the 2026 minimum wage of ₩10,320 is ₩258,000 a week before tax, plus the paid weekly holiday allowance (주휴수당) if you work 15 hours or more a week and attend as scheduled. That supplements savings; it does not replace them. Language-based work such as translation and editing tends to pay better, the Info Center notes. Income earned in Korea is taxable, and you can file a return before leaving if you are owed a refund.

For where the part-time jobs actually are, see our analysis of part-time job postings in Korea. Always get a written contract before you start.

Where do working holiday makers live?

Most start in short-term housing and move somewhere cheaper once they know the city. A 고시원 (goshiwon, a tiny furnished room), a sharehouse or a co-living building can be rented month by month with little or no deposit. Our one-month housing comparison prices them out over 30 days.

A standard Seoul studio usually means a deposit of millions of won and a 12-month lease, which rarely fits a one-year visa. Our guide to what renting in Seoul really costs explains why the advertised deposit is rarely the real one.

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What should you do in your first week in Korea?

Book your residence card appointment first, because everything else waits on it. Here is the order that works, drawing the whole series together.

If you hit a wall anywhere along the way, it is usually the same wall: the phone number. Our explainer on the identity verification problem explains why, and the fix is always the same: residence card first, then a phone line in your own name.

For questions about your stay, the Immigration Contact Center answers on 1345 from any Korean phone, in multiple languages. For emergencies, dial 112 (police) or 119 (fire and ambulance).