Studying nursing in Korea for Vietnamese students: programs open to international students, TOPIK requirements, the national licensing exam and the E-7 visa after graduation

Before you get advice on studying nursing in Korea (du học Hàn Quốc ngành điều dưỡng), there is something you should know. To work as a nurse in Korea, you must hold a Korean nursing license. Earning that license by studying in Korea takes three steps: graduating from an accredited nursing program, passing the national nursing licensing examination and receiving a license from the Minister of Health and Welfare. The route for graduates of foreign nursing schools is covered separately below.

This article lays out that path in order. It covers the universities that admit international students to nursing through admission tracks for foreigners, Korean-language requirements, costs and post-graduation visas. Amounts are given in Vietnamese dong first, with Korean won in parentheses (Hana Bank base exchange rate on November 3, 2026: 100 dong = 5.21 won).

The path to becoming a nurse in Korea: accredited program → national exam → license

The nursing license is based on Article 4 of the Nursing Act. It used to sit in Article 7 of the Medical Service Act, but the license provision moved to Article 4 of the Nursing Act when the Nursing Act, promulgated on September 20, 2024, took effect on June 21, 2025.

Under the Nursing Act, eligibility for the national exam is based on education. Candidates must graduate from a university or junior college nursing major accredited by an accreditation body such as the Korean Accreditation Board of Nursing Education (KABONE). The provision contains no nationality requirement. International students therefore also meet this requirement if they graduate from an accredited Korean nursing program.

Two detailed rules are worth knowing.

• Accreditation at the time of admission. If the nursing program was accredited when you entered, you are treated as a graduate of an accredited program once you graduate and receive your degree. You only need to check whether the program you are applying to is accredited now.
• Exam eligibility for expected graduates. People expected to graduate within six months are also eligible to take the exam. However, the license is issued only after you actually graduate and receive your degree.

The situation is different for those who have already graduated from a nursing school in Vietnam and hold a Vietnamese nursing license. Those who graduated from a foreign school meeting the recognition criteria set by public notice of the Minister of Health and Welfare and obtained a license in that country become eligible for Korea's national exam. The criteria are set out in the Ministry of Health and Welfare public notice “Recognition Criteria for Foreign Schools, etc. Related to Eligibility for National Health Personnel Licensing Examinations.” We could not confirm from public sources which Vietnamese schools meet these criteria. Anyone considering this route should contact the Korea Health Personnel Licensing Examination Institute (KHPLEI) directly.

Universities admitting international students to nursing

Not every university, and not every admission track, opens nursing to international students. For example, Korea University includes nursing in its spring 2027 special admission for international freshmen, but not in its third-year transfer admission. The schools where nursing was confirmed as a recruiting unit in admission tracks for foreigners in the 2027 admission guidelines and implementation plans are as follows.

A few additional notes.

• Application timing. For March 2027 entry, applications have already closed at Yonsei University, Korea University, Ewha Womans University, Catholic Kwandong University and Chonnam National University (spring intake). Under its implementation plan, Daejeon Health University will accept applications from December 28, 2026, to January 13, 2027. Chonnam National University will accept applications for the fall 2027 semester in a first round from April 1 to 16, 2027, and a second round from April 26 to May 14.
• Implementation plan stage. The materials for Inha University and Daejeon Health University are admission implementation plans. Check again once the final admission guidelines are released.
• Accreditation status. Catholic Kwandong University's nursing program holds a five-year KABONE accreditation (December 2022 to December 2027). Check the accreditation period at other schools before applying as well.
• Junior college nursing programs. Even at a junior college such as Daejeon Health University, some nursing programs have a four-year program length. However, not every junior college nursing program can be assumed to be the same, so check school by school.

Korea's nursing school admission quota for the 2026 academic year is 24,883. Admission tracks for foreigners usually recruit outside the regular quota, separately from this figure (e.g., Daejeon Health University).

For how junior colleges relate to student visas, see Vietnam's ‘vocational study abroad’ visas explained; for how to choose schools that can host student-visa holders, see Finding Korean universities that accept international students.

Korean language: graduation, not admission, is the real hurdle

As the table shows, admission requirements vary widely from school to school. Yonsei University requires TOPIK level 5; Chonnam National University, Inha University and Catholic Kwandong University require level 3; and Daejeon Health University requires level 3 (or level 2 on condition of mandatory training after entry). Ewha Womans University does not require a language qualification from freshmen at the application stage.

A low admission requirement does not mean a lighter Korean-language burden. Among the universities in the table, Yonsei University, Ewha Womans University, Inha University and Daejeon Health University require TOPIK level 4 before graduation. At Daejeon Health University, as a rule, students who fail to obtain level 4 cannot graduate. However, an exception allows the school to approve students who score 90% or more of the level 4 score, have 90% attendance and an average of C or higher. Even with a low admission bar, major coursework after admission must be done in Korean.

Planning around TOPIK level 4 is the realistic approach: obtain TOPIK level 3 in Vietnam, enroll, then aim for level 4 within the first or second year. More on demand for nursing study and the realities of getting licensed is in A reality guide to studying nursing in Korea.

Costs: sample semester tuition

Nursing tuition differs sharply between national and private universities. Published figures for the 2026 academic year include the following examples.

• Chonnam National University nursing (national): about VND 42.2 million (KRW 2.2 million) per semester
• Hallym University nursing (private): about VND 87.4 million (KRW 4,554,800) per semester, according to its guide for students admitted through the overseas Korean and international student track

Both figures are for the 2026 academic year and may change for 2027. We could not confirm whether Hallym University opens nursing to fully foreign students.

Living expenses, dormitory fees and the cost of practicum uniforms and textbooks come on top of this. When applying for a student visa, you must prove a bank balance covering one year of tuition and living expenses. Vietnamese nationals submit a bank balance certificate for study expenses under the payment-hold method. One-year costs by program and financial proof requirements are summarized in the 2027 Korea study cost guide.

Careers and visas after graduation

Job seeking (D-10-1). Those who earn an associate degree or higher at a Korean university on a student visa (D-2) and switch to job-seeking status for the first time are granted a one-year stay without the points system being applied. You can use this status while waiting for your national exam results and license. Extensions are in principle subject to the points system, but graduates of Korean universities who are within three years of graduation and hold TOPIK level 4 or higher can stay up to three years, one year at a time, under a special points-system exemption.

There is also a special rule for part-time work by D-10-1 holders. All of the following conditions must be met.

• Three years have not yet passed since graduation.
• TOPIK level 4 (or KIIP level 4) or higher.
• Has never stayed under any status from professor (E-1) through special activities (E-7).

The permitted hours are 25 hours a week on weekdays, and the work is limited to fields open to part-time work by international students. This special rule does not mean you can work as a nurse.

Employment as a nurse (E-7-1). Nurse is among the professional occupations under special activities (E-7). The requirements are as follows.

• A nursing license from the Minister of Health and Welfare. A degree alone, without a license, cannot get you this visa.
• The employer must be a medical institution under the Medical Service Act.

Nursing assistants are not eligible. Those who hold E-7 as nurses can also work as medical coordinators without separate permission. Graduates of Korean universities with a bachelor's degree or higher are exempt from the E-7 one-year experience requirement.

Regional visa (Gyeonggi Province). In the Ministry of Justice's regional (metropolitan) visa pilot program, nurse is included among Gyeonggi Province's E-7 eligible occupations. Gyeonggi's quota is 630 people across all eligible occupations combined, and a recommendation by the provincial governor is required. However, the current guidelines run only until December 31, 2026, and Gyeonggi's special rule for applicants with strong Korean skills does not apply to nurses. It is hard to count on this as a post-graduation route for students entering now.

Easily confused: nurses and care workers

The Vietnamese word ‘điều dưỡng’ is sometimes used for both nurses and care workers. In the Korean system, they are completely different occupations.

During the pilot period for the care worker E-7-2 visa (2024–2025), the cap was 400 people a year. For how it will operate from 2026 onward, check Ministry of Justice announcements.

In August 2025, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced that they had designated 24 universities nationwide as universities to train foreign care workers, which would begin educating international students in 2026. This is a separate track from nursing programs.

If you hear the words “nursing study abroad” during a consultation, first ask which of the two is meant. Check whether the degree you will graduate with is a bachelor's in nursing and whether the program makes you eligible for the national exam.

Pre-application checklist

• I have confirmed that the program is a ‘nursing’ program accredited by KABONE (including the accreditation period).
• I have confirmed in the admission guidelines whether the school admits international students to nursing through a track for foreigners, and in which semester (March or September).
• I have built the TOPIK admission requirement and the TOPIK level 4 pre-graduation requirement into my plan.
• I have checked which academic year the tuition figures are based on and calculated four years of costs in dong.
• I understand the post-graduation sequence of national exam → license → E-7-1, and the D-10-1 job-seeking period.
• I have received written confirmation of whether the program I was advised on is a nursing program or a care worker program.

--- License and exam eligibility are based on the Nursing Act (version in force from September 2026), visa rules on the Ministry of Justice visa and stay manuals (October and November 2026 editions), university information on each university's 2027 admission guidelines and implementation plans, and tuition on 2026 academic year figures.