Do I need permission before starting at a new company, or can I notify afterwards?

That is the first question and it does not have one answer for all work statuses. Article 21 makes changing or adding a workplace subject to prior permission as the default. The Enforcement Decree creates an exception for E-1 to E-7 holders who meet criteria announced by the Ministry of Justice, who may notify within 15 days after the change instead. So it is not "E-7 means notification" — it is whether your particular sub-type and situation fall inside the announced criteria. Establish that before you agree a start date, because the two routes have opposite rules about when you may begin work.

My contract is signed and my visa has months left. Can I start work?

Not on that basis alone. Where prior permission applies, work must not begin before it is granted — and having time left on your card does not supply it, because the card records a period of stay, not permission to work at a new employer. The exposure in a gap period is usually not unlawful stay; it is unlawful work, which is assessed on whether you actually performed activity at the new workplace rather than on whether you were paid for it.

They asked me to come in for training while the paperwork is processed. Is that safe?

Treat it as work. If the training forms part of performing the job and takes place under the employer’s direction, it can be assessed as employment activity regardless of whether it is paid. Handover, on-site training, dealing with customers, production or research work, and joining a live project are all in that territory. Where prior permission is required, the safe arrangement is that the employment start date in the contract and in the HR system is not earlier than the date permission is granted.

How is E-9 different?

E-9 runs two procedures in sequence, not one. A workplace change needs a statutory ground under the Act on the Employment of Foreign Workers, applied for through the employment centre within a month of the contract ending; then permission for the new workplace must be obtained within three months of that application, failing which departure is required. So an E-9 worker is not filing the same form as an E-7 holder with an extra step — there is a whole employment-permit procedure in front of the immigration one.

Employment

Changing Employers on a Korean Work Visa

Published October 15, 2026Last verified October 15, 2026

Default rule

Prior permission

Notification route

Some E-1 to E-7 only

E-9

1 month, then 3

Riskiest date

Your first day

For a Korean employee, changing jobs ends one contract and starts another. For a foreign employee it does that and then asks a second question: does your status of stay permit work at this employer, in this role, and has anyone authorised it yet.

The date that produces trouble is almost never the last day at the old place. It is the first day at the new one.

What people rely on, and what actually authorises work

The first three are all true and none of them is enough

The old contract has ended. True. Not authorisation.

The new contract is signed. True. Not authorisation.

There is time left on the card. True. That is a period of stay, not permission to work here.

Permission granted, or a valid notification route. This is the one.

Set the start date after that, not before it.

Two systems again: the labour one ends a job, the immigration one starts the next.

Permission is the rule; notification is the exception

Article 21 of the Immigration Act requires a foreign national with a status permitting employment to obtain permission before changing or adding a workplace within that status.

The Enforcement Decree then carves out an exception: among E-1 to E-7 holders, those meeting criteria announced by the Ministry of Justice may instead notify within 15 days after the change.

So the first question is not "am I on E-7"

It is whether this E-7 sub-type and this situation fall inside the announced criteria. Two people both holding E-7 can be on opposite routes, and the routes have opposite rules about when work may begin. Building a table that says "E-1 to E-7 = prior permission" is wrong; so is one that says "E-1 to E-7 = notify within 15 days."

The notification route removes the prior step, not the substance. The new employer and the duties still have to fall within the status, and a notification can fail to be accepted.

F statuses are not on this map

F-2, F-4, F-5 and F-6 differ from each other in what employment they permit, and they are not variants of the workplace-designation system that governs E statuses.

Where a status is not tied to a particular employer — permanent residence and marriage-based residence being the clearest cases — the question is what employment the status allows, not whether a designated workplace may be changed.

Do not extend "15 days" across the F statuses

It produces a rule that does not exist, and it obscures the question that does: what work does your particular status actually permit? That is answered per status and per sub-type, not by a shared deadline.

Three fifteen-day rules that are not the same rule

The number appears in unrelated places, and conflating them is the most common factual error in this whole subject.

Whose duty	What it is
The worker, on the notification route	Notify a workplace change within 15 days after moving
The employer	Report to immigration within 15 days when employment ends — the reporting deadline
Neither	There is no general rule giving a departing foreign employee 15 days to change status

The employer’s failure to report is sanctioned by an administrative fine on the employer. It confers nothing on you and imposes nothing on you.

The gap period: the risk is unlawful work, not unlawful stay

If you leave a job with time left on your card, you have not automatically become an overstayer.

But starting work at a new employer without the required permission or a valid notification route is a separate problem, and it usually arrives first.

risky   old job ends → start at the new company → file with immigration
safe    old job ends → new contract → establish the route
          → permission or notification → then the start date

"Not paid yet" is not a defence

The assessment is whether you actually carried out employment activity at the new workplace. Whether payroll had processed anything is a weaker fact than whether you were doing the job.

“Just come in for the training” is the trap

The most common way people get this wrong is not a deliberate early start. It is an employer saying the permission comes through next week and asking for a few days of onboarding in the meantime.

If the training is part of performing the job and happens under the employer’s direction, it can be assessed as employment activity — paid or not. So can handover, on-site training, customer contact, production or research work, and joining a live project.

Where prior permission applies, the contract's employment start date should not precede the permission date.

Make the HR system agree with the contract. A start date in a payroll or attendance system that predates the permission is a record someone else made about you.

Push the start date rather than the paperwork. Moving a start date is an inconvenience; the alternative is an immigration finding.

The new employer has to qualify too

E-7 is not a permit that belongs to you and travels. Each move re-opens the employer-side questions: the E-7 sub-type and occupation code, the actual duties, the wage against the requirement for that sub-type, the employer’s sector and scale, the number of Koreans employed and the foreign employment ratio.

So a lawful E-7-1 at one company does not transfer to a role that falls under a different occupation, or to an employer that does not meet the conditions. What those conditions are, and how they differ between the statuses, is in E-9 vs E-7: what actually separates them.

E-9 runs two procedures, in sequence

An E-9 worker is not filing the same form with an extra step. There is a whole employment-permit procedure before the immigration one.

A statutory ground. The employer terminating or refusing to renew, suspension or closure, cancellation of the employment permit, breach of working conditions, unfair treatment, or another ground in the Act.

Apply through the employment centre within one month of the contract ending.

Be placed with a new workplace and obtain workplace change permission within three months of applying — or leave the country.

The three months run from the application, not from the day the job ended. Applying late shortens the total rather than extending it. Occupational injury, illness and pregnancy or childbirth can change how the periods are counted.

Where a long search is needed

If no qualifying employer is available quickly, the question becomes whether you can change to a status that permits job-seeking. D-10 is the usual candidate and it is not automatic: eligibility, and the period that attaches to your own route, both have to be established. That, and what happens to the employment insurance claim running alongside, is in losing your job on a Korean work visa.

Violations are not priced as a fee

Breaching the permission or notification requirements is an immigration offence. Depending on the case it can produce a notification disposition, a penalty or fine, or an investigation — and the record can weigh against later extensions, status changes and permanent residence applications.

Actually working at an unauthorised workplace is treated more seriously than a missed filing.

Which is why "we'll pay the fine" is a bad plan

The cost is not the fine. It is a record that follows every subsequent application you make in Korea, at the point where you most want a clean history.

The order that works

old contract: termination terms and date
  → new employer: does it meet the status conditions?
  → which route: prior permission or notification?
  → evidence that the old employment ended
  → sign the new contract
  → permission, or the notification after moving
  → set the lawful start date
  → new employer files the four insurances

The one item that most often goes missing is the fourth — evidence that the previous employment ended, when the previous employer is not willing to provide it. That is the other half of today’s pair.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need permission before starting at a new company, or can I notify afterwards?: That is the first question and it does not have one answer for all work statuses. Article 21 makes changing or adding a workplace subject to prior permission as the default. The Enforcement Decree creates an exception for E-1 to E-7 holders who meet criteria announced by the Ministry of Justice, who may notify within 15 days after the change instead. So it is not "E-7 means notification" — it is whether your particular sub-type and situation fall inside the announced criteria. Establish that before you agree a start date, because the two routes have opposite rules about when you may begin work.
My contract is signed and my visa has months left. Can I start work?: Not on that basis alone. Where prior permission applies, work must not begin before it is granted — and having time left on your card does not supply it, because the card records a period of stay, not permission to work at a new employer. The exposure in a gap period is usually not unlawful stay; it is unlawful work, which is assessed on whether you actually performed activity at the new workplace rather than on whether you were paid for it.
They asked me to come in for training while the paperwork is processed. Is that safe?: Treat it as work. If the training forms part of performing the job and takes place under the employer’s direction, it can be assessed as employment activity regardless of whether it is paid. Handover, on-site training, dealing with customers, production or research work, and joining a live project are all in that territory. Where prior permission is required, the safe arrangement is that the employment start date in the contract and in the HR system is not earlier than the date permission is granted.
How is E-9 different?: E-9 runs two procedures in sequence, not one. A workplace change needs a statutory ground under the Act on the Employment of Foreign Workers, applied for through the employment centre within a month of the contract ending; then permission for the new workplace must be obtained within three months of that application, failing which departure is required. So an E-9 worker is not filing the same form as an E-7 holder with an extra step — there is a whole employment-permit procedure in front of the immigration one.

Figures in this guide we track

Last checked 8 October 2026

Workplace change on the notification route: deadline to notify15 days2026-09-24
Employer’s deadline to report a change in a foreign national’s employment15 days2026-09-22
E-9: deadline to apply for a workplace change after a contract ends1 month to apply2026-09-23
E-9: window to obtain permission for a new workplace3 months2026-09-24

These move. We check them on a schedule and keep the previous values, so you can see what a figure was, not only what it is.

Last verified: October 15, 2026

Official sources

Revision history

October 15, 2026Published

Figures here are re-checked against their official sources at least every six months. Substantive changes — a rate, a cap, a rule — are logged above rather than silently overwritten, and collected site-wide inupdates & revisions.

This article is general information, not financial, legal, or tax advice. Requirements and figures change; confirm the current rules with the official sources above before making decisions.