International Students Caught in Delivery or Adult Entertainment Work Face Deportation or Exit Order as a Rule, Even Once, as Justice Ministry Tightens Rules: Allowed Jobs, Banned Work, Hour Limits

The Ministry of Justice has decided to tighten its disposition standards so that international students caught working illegally in restricted fields such as delivery or adult entertainment face deportation or an exit order as a rule, regardless of how many times they have been caught. The decision was made on October 29 at a meeting of the working subcommittee on borders, stay and safety under the Foreigner Policy Committee, held jointly with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the Korean National Police Agency and the Korea Coast Guard, and was announced in a press release on October 30. The same meeting also decided to step up joint crackdowns on delivery riders with the police, build an identity-verification system for delivery workers, have the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport sanction delivery-platform operators (administrative fines) based on illegal-employment disposition records handed over by immigration authorities, and conduct intensive crackdowns in 69 areas and workplaces nationwide flagged as public-safety concerns. The "regardless of the number of offenses" principle was first introduced in November 2018 for part-time work in construction and is now being extended to delivery, adult entertainment and other fields.

What Changes

Under the Immigration Act, a foreign national without work authorization, such as an international student, who works without permission faces up to 3 years in prison or a fine of up to KRW 30 million (Article 94), and can also be subject to deportation (Article 46) or an exit order (Article 68). The law itself says "can," and which disposition is actually imposed is determined by the internal disposition standards of the Korea Immigration Service. It is those standards that are now changing. Under the standards that took effect on November 1, 2018, an international student caught working without permission received a notification disposition (fine) on the first offense followed by a 1-year restriction on part-time work, and deportation on the second offense; construction alone was handled under a "one-strike-out" rule, with an exit order within 30 days on the first offense without exception regardless of the number of offenses (entry ban suspended). With this decision, "deportation or an exit order as a rule, regardless of the number of offenses" becomes the standard for restricted fields such as delivery and adult entertainment.

Deportation and an exit order are different. An exit order is a disposition requiring the person to leave on their own, at their own expense, within a set deadline; if the deadline is missed, a deportation order is issued. A person who leaves the country under a deportation order can be banned from entering Korea until 5 years have passed from that date (Article 11). Employers are penalized too. Anyone who employs a foreign national without work authorization, and anyone who arranges or solicits such employment as a business, faces up to 3 years in prison or a fine of up to KRW 30 million (Article 94).

Part-Time Work Allowed Now: Hours by Program and Korean Level

International students on student (D-2) and language-training (D-4) visas can take part-time jobs only after obtaining permission for activities outside status of stay, and the permitted hours depend on the degree program and Korean proficiency. The Korean-language requirement can be met through one of three routes: TOPIK, the Korea Immigration & Integration Program (KIIP) or the King Sejong Institute. All hours below are per week.

Eligible for permission are students holding D-2-1 through D-2-4, D-2-6 and D-2-7 visas, as well as language trainees (D-4-1, D-4-7) and visiting students (D-2-8) once 6 months have passed since the date of their status change (or the date of entry for visa holders). Those who completed a 2-year associate or 4-year bachelor's program but could not graduate due to insufficient credits and were exceptionally granted an extension of stay are not eligible. If the average grade for the semester immediately preceding the application date is below a C (2.0), permission is restricted on the grounds that combining study and work would be difficult; for language trainees, permission is restricted if the average attendance rate across all completed semesters is below 90%. Permitted work is activity related to the student's major or compatible with their studies, within the range of what students are commonly understood to do. The official examples are restaurant assistant, general office assistant, tour-guide assistant and duty-free shop sales assistant.

What Is Not Allowed

Even with a permit, part-time work is restricted in the following fields.

• Gambling venues, entertainment workers at adult entertainment bars, and regulated entertainment businesses that run counter to public morals (Article 27-2, Paragraph 2 of the Enforcement Rule of the Immigration Act)
• Professional-field (E-1 to E-7) activities, such as conversation instruction (E-2) at foreign-language education facilities for minors
• Manufacturing and construction under non-professional employment (E-9), and seafarer employment (E-10) industries; manufacturing is allowed for those with Korean proficiency equivalent to level 4 or higher
• Activities of platform/gig workers (special-type workers), such as couriers, delivery-app riders, designated drivers, insurance agents, home-tutoring teachers and door-to-door salespeople
• Employment through dispatch, subcontract or placement arrangements (excluding internships arranged through industry-academia cooperation by regional universities designated by the Minister of Justice)
• Work far from campus (remote location)
• Workplaces of businesses or employers whose visa issuance is restricted due to a record of penalties for illegal employment or similar

The delivery work named in this announcement falls under "delivery-app riders" on this list, and adult entertainment falls under the adult entertainment bars and regulated entertainment businesses defined in Article 27-2 of the Enforcement Rule. "Fraudulent use of an account in another person's name," meaning borrowing a delivery-platform account registered to someone else, is also a target of this joint crackdown and investigative cooperation.

Some activities are allowed as exceptions. These are manufacturing (for those with Korean proficiency equivalent to level 4 or higher); safety assistant or play assistant roles at foreign-language education facilities for minors such as English kids' cafes and English camps; part-time or full-time seasonal work; assistant activities in professional fields (E-1 to E-7, excluding E-6-2) and work-study internships; and professional-field internships during vacation for degree-program students. For master's and doctoral students in science and engineering working as research interns at corporate research institutes during vacation, the Korean requirement is lowered to level 2 and there is no hour limit, provided their average grade in the preceding semester was a C (2.0) or higher and they have confirmation from the university's international student officer. Even for professional-field assistant work or internships, jobs that require a license under Korean law require that license.

Get the Permit Before You Start

The student applies in person at the immigration office with jurisdiction over their address, submitting an application for permission for activities outside status of stay, passport, alien registration card, certificate of enrollment and other documents. Confirmation from the university's international student officer is required, so start at the Office of International Affairs (the department in charge of international students). Once permission is granted, a permit stamp or sticker is placed in the passport, and a permit certificate may also be issued. Even if the boss says to start right away, begin work only after obtaining the permit. Working without permission makes you subject to the penalties and deportation described above, and even with a permit, working somewhere other than the permitted workplace carries up to 1 year in prison or a fine of up to KRW 10 million (Article 95). You can check whether the job you have in mind is within the permitted range through the "Employment Eligibility Check for Foreigners" on HiKorea, and you can also ask the Immigration Contact Center 1345.

What Changes in 2026 Through 2028

In the international student visa reform strategy announced on October 7, the Ministry of Justice plans to simplify the part-time work permit requirements around Korean proficiency and grades, while raising the Korean requirement to KIIP stage 3, and to grant permission without additional documents when a student presents a "part-time work confirmation" issued by their university. Under the same plan, tourist accommodation, a segment of the lodging industry facing chronic labor shortages, will be exceptionally added to the list of permitted industries. The timeline is: overhaul of permit standards in the second half of 2026, confirmation-based permits in the first half of 2027, and a pilot of a comprehensive permit system in the second half of 2027, with a 1-year grace period for the Korean requirement. If the plan proceeds as scheduled, from 2028 onward students without Korean scores at the KIIP stage 3 level will not be able to work part-time. Under the current standards, students without KIIP stage 3 who score 61 or higher on this year's last pre-assessment, with applications accepted November 3 to 7, are treated as having completed stage 3. The job-seeking (D-10) period of stay will also be differentiated from the first half of 2027: a total of 3 years for those who meet the Korean requirement and a maximum of 2 years for those who do not. The full reform is laid out in the student visa reform Q&A and the policy shift article.

Checklist