Citizeo
Pathway

South Korea Working Holiday Visa

South Korea Residency
Pathway overview

At a glance

Korea's H-1 Working Holiday visa is for eligible young people from countries or regions with a working-holiday agreement with Korea. It generally requires applying under an eligible citizenship, meeting that citizenship's age and document rules, using work only to support travel, and showing funds and insurance.

Type
Temporary youth-mobility work visa
Who it covers
Young adults from eligible passport countries
Core requirements
Eligible citizenship, age, funds, and route-specific rules
Main limit
Usually temporary, with passport and age limits
Duration
Usually 12 months; Canada, the U.K., and the U.S. have longer published options.
Renewal / path
Renewal is limited; it is usually not a direct permanent-residence route.

Summary

South Korea's H-1 Working Holiday visa lets eligible young people spend an extended holiday in Korea and take short-term work to help pay travel costs. The main purpose must be the holiday, not ordinary full-time employment, professional work, or permanent relocation.

H-1 is agreement-based. Citizenship, age, quota, application location, work period, study period, and maximum stay can differ by passport. Korea's official Working Holiday Info Center currently lists Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Finland and Korea signed a new agreement in May 2026 for applicants aged 18-35 and stays of up to 12 months. Because implementation details and quotas were initially marked for update, Finnish applicants should confirm that the responsible Korean mission is accepting applications under final instructions.

Pathway fit check

Eligibility

All applicants generally must:

The current official age table is country-specific:

The agreement and mission page control. Some official table entries have footnotes about the exact birthday cutoff, so applicants close to an age limit should confirm before relying on the general grouping.

U.S. applicants have an extra rule. Korean consular guidance generally requires a U.S. applicant to be a current post-secondary student or to have graduated within the previous year. A dual national choosing another eligible passport follows that other passport's agreement, application location, and document rules.

What This Route Allows

H-1 normally permits a one-year stay with short-term work and limited study. The official program states a general maximum of 25 work hours per week, while the allowed employment period and time with one employer can vary by citizenship. Canadian participants are currently exempt from the 25-hour cap.

Examples from the official table include a six-month same-employer limit for Australians and Hong Kong participants, a nine-month employment period for Danish participants, and a three-month same-employer limit for Israeli participants. Other countries have no separate employment-period limit beyond the visa and weekly-hour rules.

The visa is generally granted once. U.S. nationals can currently receive an extension of up to six months, and U.K. nationals an extension of up to one year, under their agreements. That means the possible total stay can reach about 18 months for a U.S. participant and two years for a U.K. participant. Canada is a separate exception: current official guidance allows Canadian participants to stay up to 24 months and participate twice, with each participation lasting up to 24 months. Other participants should not assume an extension or second participation.

Private language study is generally possible within the country-specific study limit. Degree study or long-term academic enrollment usually needs a student status.

What This Route Is Not

H-1 is not an open professional-work visa. The official program restricts employment that conflicts with the holiday purpose or requires another status. This can include foreign-language teaching, licensed medical or legal work, journalism, religion, academic research, technical instruction, performance, and adult-entertainment work. English teaching normally requires E-2.

It is not a route for bringing dependent children or a spouse as H-1 dependents. Each person must independently qualify for an appropriate status.

It is also not a direct permanent-residence route. A future employer may be able to sponsor a different work status, but H-1 itself does not promise a change, extension, F-5 status, or citizenship.

Next Steps

  1. Confirm that your passport appears on the current official table and check its exact age, quota, work, study, and stay rules.
  2. Open the Korean embassy or consulate page for the country and location where you must apply. Do not assume you can file from any country or after entering Korea.
  3. If applying as a U.S. citizen, obtain current enrollment evidence or proof that graduation occurred within the previous year.
  4. Prepare the visa form, photograph, passport, travel and activity plan, proof of funds, return-ticket evidence, and insurance.
  5. Obtain any criminal record, health certificate, medical examination, or other country-specific document early enough for authentication but within its validity period.
  6. Check whether the quota is open before paying nonrefundable travel costs.
  7. Plan only work permitted under H-1 and stay within the general 25-hour weekly limit and any passport-specific employer or employment-period limit; Canadian participants should confirm their published exemption.
Compare your options

Similar youth mobility pathways in other destinations.

Sources