[Important Notice from EPIK] Update regarding EPIK interview arrangement

EPIK has just announced an important update regarding the interview arrangement.

EPIK will soon start to arrange an interview with candidates who were recommended by us.

However, for South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand candidate, as you are not allowed to leave the country without a specific reason and the letter,
EPIK has decided to postpone the interview arrangement until things get clear about international travel.

EPIK will still screen your initial document, but they will not offer you an interview until you are free to fly Internationally, just like other countries.

This is very unfortunate news since we all have no idea when SA, AU, or NZ government will undo the restriction.

Due to such a situation, if the candidate decides to withdraw the EPIK process, EPIK will allow you to do so without any penalty.

Those who are willing to wait until things get better, please read the details below.

With the recent announcement that “normalized” international travel will be allowed once more from October 1st, we believe that we will be able to proceed as normal. There are however some concerns:

The list of countries open for regular international travel and flights will hopefully be listed before October 1st. We believe that Korea will be on this list, but we have decided that we will not be able to send interview invitations until that is set and South African applicants are free to fly to Korea from South Africa normally. There were quite a few difficulties last term with arranging flights and exit permission for applicants from South Africa that caused strife for both applicants and the program. We are expecting that the need for explicit permission to travel abroad will also be lifted as normalized international travel begins. The need for this permission and the possibility that applicants may be denied or unable to ultimately take up their EPIK position made things difficult last term. As such if this type of documentation or permission is still required, it may make proceeding difficult. While there are cases where individuals have been able to travel without issue, there are also cases where some were denied permission to leave or/and had difficulties arranging flights for arrival on the necessary dates.

As such, once these points are decided, and we hope they will be before October 1st.

While we cannot guarantee that their application ultimately passes the interview stage, we do recommend that South African applicants continue to apply for their required documents as there have been delays with criminal record checks and apostilles for both diplomas and criminal record checks. However, this is a decision each applicant would need to make on their own after reviewing the above situation and their personal situation.

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At this time Australia and New Zealand require that citizens receive permission to travel abroad. After conferring with the Korean embassy in both countries, we have confirmed that some individuals have not been able to receive this permission to travel even with legitimate reason or if falling into one of the exempted categories. Further, international flights have largely been restricted. Unfortunately, there has been no indication of when these requirements/restrictions may be eased.

For now, we are processing applications through the initial application stage and updating the result. However, we won’t conduct the interview as we were waiting to hear back from the embassy and to see if these restrictions may be lifted soon. With the current situation, unfortunately, we will not be able to move forward with the next stage until there is some indication that the restrictions will be eased. For now, we will hold their applications who have passed the initial application stage, and will only be able to proceed to interview and beyond should the situation change and these restrictions are lifted.

We understand that this is not a comfortable position to be in. As such, if you wish to withdraw your application at this time as moving forward is uncertain, we understand and will process that without penalty. Otherwise, we will email you about scheduling an interview depending on developments with the travel restrictions. Unfortunately, it is hard to know when that may be.

If you wish to continue with your application in this regard, while we cannot guarantee that they will ultimately pass the interview stage, we do recommend that applicants continue to apply for their required documents as there have been delays with criminal record checks and apostilles for diplomas, birth certificates, and criminal record checks. However, this is a decision each applicant would need to make on their own after reviewing the above situation and their personal situation.

Please note that the above does not apply to those residing in Korea at this time and that will be residing in Korea on valid visas into March of next year.

We apologize for any inconvenience as we are sure this is a stressful time with a lot of uncertainty.