I’ve been asked this question several times, but I couldn’t answer every e-mail regarding this. Thankfully, Korea Times uploaded an article on this.
In Seoul alone, 11,967 cases of private tutoring have been registered with education offices in the city. Among them, 76 have been made by foreigners holding F-series visas such as the F-2 (spouses of Koreans), F-4 (ethnic Koreans) and F-5 (permanent residence). Most of them are teaching English.
Under the Immigration Law, foreigners with other visa types are not allowed to offer private tutoring to make money, except for those with student status, who can do so with restricted hours upon approval from their professors . Otherwise, foreign nationals are subject to fines and deportation.
There you go. Only foreigners with F-series visas could LEGALLY offer private tutoring. Those with student visas may also do with approval from their professors.
Like it said in the article, other visa holders may be subjected to fines and deportation. One might just be working to pay for fines, as it doesn’t seem to be covered by any life insurance. 
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Hayan na, naliwanag na sa atin ang lahat! kung ayaw niyong madeport, huwag pumasok sa ilegal.
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I agree! Pero aminin natin, may iba na nagtatago para lang po makakuha ng mas malaking income.. kawawa naman po ang mg OFW kung ganon.. mabuhay ang ating OFW!! But anyway, salamat sa impormasyon!!
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hi ms. betchay!
just wanna ask lang po, how much (in average) do english tutors charge for english tutorials per hour? please give me an idea, thank you po.
i also sent you a personal message in this blog, paki-check na lang po.
(^__^)
Hi Ms. Betchay.
I got your reply. Thank you so much for your time. However, I sent you another message, please just check your e-mail inbox. Hopefully, i can get your reply ASAP because my first Korean student will start her class with me THIS FRIDAY na po. So i need to finalize the proper tuition fee before I meet her this week.
Thanks again. Have a great day.
Hi Ms. Betchay.. Im in Seoul now in tourist visa but Im planning to stay here..One way is to get student visa right??..in that case, I can extend my stay and work is also possible.. Can u please please send me an email..information about this?.. Im quite desperate for this.. so are my Korean boyfriend and his mom..
I’ll be waiting..thank you thank you so much..
hello betchay,i’ve been meaning to ask you couple of questions since i first read your blogs few months ago,meron akong mga korean friends specially when i was still teaching English in a learning center in pasay(exclusive for korean students) way back 2007.ngayon,i am a private tutor online through skype and i have 44 preschooler students.just recently,my husband (filipino din), woking overseas in korea (for more than 3yrs now) asked me if I and our 3 yr old daughter could visit him there instead of him coming home to take a vacation this year.(ofws there are eligible for a month vacation yearly). someone told us that it would be harder to get a tourist visa to korea if the embassy knows that my husband is an ofw there,and A(airport) to A problem might be possible.is it true?just in case,will it be viable if I don’t tell the embassy that my husband is working there?.I really don’t want to lie but if by doing so means that i could get the visa approval more easily that way,then I might consider the act.one thing more, Mr. Lee,the owner of the preschool i work for,told me once that bringing my daughter with me to korea for a tour could make the visa application less likely to be denied.is it true? and is it also possible for me to apply the visa without any invitation from a korean friend? what are the possible questions that the embassy might ask to their visa applicants?pls enlighten me.thanks.
hi ivana! sabi nga nga nila hindi daw binibigyan ng visa pag yung hubby sa korea ay may e-9 visa… meron na kasi rito na nag-apply ng tourist visa pero hindi niya in-indicate na OFW ang hubby niya, at nabigyan naman siya ng visa… you’ll have to supply the embassy with your documents proving that you could support yourself on your tour… bringing your daughter with you when you come here might be a good idea and that way they wouldn’t think that you’d come here for work… the embassy don’t usually conduct interviews for visa applicants… they normally do though with those who are married to koreans
Hay alam mo naman ang mga Pinoy, hangga’t makakalusot, lulusot. Hope all the OFWs in Korea are doing fine.
hello po,,gusto ko lang pong itanong kung anu po yung mga kailangang mga documents to prove na, I could support my tour in korea??..magaapply po sana ako, ng 2 months tourist visa..