You taught in Spain. Now teach in Korea.

Yes, if your passport is from one of the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand or South Africa and you hold a bachelor's degree. Citizenship and the degree are Korean immigration's conditions for the E-2 teaching visa, alongside an apostilled clean criminal record and a health check. EPIK adds its own program rules: a 100-hour TEFL-type certificate unless you hold a teaching license or an Education, Teaching, TESOL or Second Language Studies degree, and an upper age limit in line with Korea's retirement age, which EPIK does not publish as a fixed number, so ask Korvia for the current cutoff. Meddeas selects native English, French and German speakers, so its alumni hold many different passports; check yours against the seven countries first. A Meddeas placement does not change the citizenship rule, though it counts for a great deal once you are eligible. Schooling can still matter: South African citizens and Canadian citizens from Quebec need schooling in English from grade 7 through university, and the same proof is asked of Korean citizens with legal residency in one of those countries and of applicants who emigrated to one of the seven countries.

Only if that EU passport is Irish. Korean immigration issues E-2 English-instruction visas to citizens of the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa; Ireland is the one EU member state on that list, so Irish alumni apply exactly like UK or US alumni. Any other EU citizenship, Spanish, French, German or Italian for example, does not qualify for an E-2 visa whatever your English level or your Meddeas record, and Korvia cannot place you in EPIK or hagwon English-teaching roles. We would rather tell you that now than after you have gathered documents.

No. Korvia is paid by the schools and programs that hire you, never by teachers: no deposit, no placement fee and no charge for document review or interview preparation. You can also apply to EPIK directly through epik.go.kr at no cost. The difference with Korvia is document review, interview preparation and a named coordinator, not price.

Unless you hold a teaching license or an Education, Teaching, TESOL or Second Language Studies degree, EPIK requires a TEFL, TESOL or CELTA certificate of 100 hours or more, and it classifies certificates case by case. Send Korvia your ESL Graduate Certificate with the hours and issuing university on it, and we will confirm how EPIK treats it before you submit anything. If it is not accepted, an accredited online 100-hour course can usually be completed before the intake deadline; EPIK lets you apply before the certificate is finalized as long as it is issued at least six weeks before your arrival date.

Partly. The UK, Australian and New Zealand checks are online applications you can start from Spain, but each still needs a home-country address: the UK Basic DBS requires a current UK delivery address, some Australian providers require an Australian postal address, and the New Zealand certificate is posted to you. Ireland's Garda Police Certificate takes 4 to 6 weeks and is then apostilled by the Department of Foreign Affairs; South African alumni use the SAPS police clearance certificate, the slowest of the seven at about 8 to 10 weeks with a DIRCO walk-in or 14 to 20 weeks by post, plus 4 to 6 weeks for the DIRCO apostille, so start it before anything else. The US FBI check is fastest through an FBI-approved channeler, though channelers cannot always process applications filed from outside the US, so many applicants roll their prints on a trip home; Canada's RCMP check needs fingerprints taken at an RCMP-accredited fingerprinting company, a Commissionaires office or a police service. The apostille comes after the certificate is issued. Korvia's country guides list the current route for each.

Yes. The pre-application, document review and EPIK interview are all online. The documents that need a physical process, the criminal record check and apostilles, are issued by your home country, so plan to request them before you leave Spain or ask family to help. The E-2 visa itself is issued by a Korean consulate, normally in your home country.

No. EPIK and hagwon positions are English-only teaching roles, and Korean co-teachers or academy staff handle communication with parents and administration. Many teachers pick up conversational Korean during their first year, as you did with Spanish.

Meddeas introduced Korvia Consulting to its alumni as its trusted partner organization in South Korea for those who want to continue teaching abroad, in its 2026 alumni newsletter and program flyer. Korvia has been EPIK's official international recruiting partner since 2008 and has placed more than 10,000 teachers in Korea since 2006. Your application is handled by Korvia; Meddeas does not process Korea applications.