Keeping your job when your hagwon suddenly closes: what to file, where your visa stands, and the 14-day window that matters
When a Korean hagwon shuts down mid-contract, your E-2 visa doesn't expire immediately—but you have roughly two weeks to notify immigration, find a new sponsor, and avoid overstay. Here's what actually happens and what to do first.
Park English · 2026-08-30 · 5 min read
We've watched three hagwons close in Bundang in the last eighteen months. One gave two weeks' notice. One told teachers on a Friday that Monday's classes were cancelled. One just stopped answering messages in the group chat, and the director's phone went to voicemail.
When a hagwon folds, the teacher finds out late. The owner usually knows it's coming for months. You get a weekend, maybe less.
Your E-2 visa is tied to that employer. The visa card in your wallet does not automatically cancel the moment the hagwon closes, but immigration expects you to report the situation within 14 days. If you don't, and you're still in Korea after that window, you're technically overstaying. The penalties for overstay start mild and get bad quickly: fines, bans on re-entry, deportation if it runs long enough.
What happens to your visa
The E-2 is a sponsored visa. Your hagwon filed the paperwork that let you enter and work legally. When the business closes, that sponsorship ends. Immigration does not hunt you down the next morning, but the clock starts.
You have two routes:
- Find a new sponsor fast. Another hagwon, another school, anyone eligible to employ an E-2 teacher. They file for a change of workplace (근무처 변경) at the immigration office. You stay in Korea, the visa transfers, done. This takes about two weeks if the paperwork is clean.
- Leave Korea and reset. If you can't find a new job in time, or you just want out, book a flight. Overstaying even by a few days can result in a one-year entry ban. We've seen teachers miss that deadline by 72 hours and get flagged at Incheon on the way out.
Most teachers try option one. It works if another school is hiring and you can start the transfer paperwork within a week of the closure.
What to do in order
This is the sequence that works:
- Get a closure notice in writing. Ask the director for something on paper, in Korean or English, that says the school is closing and gives the last day of operation. If they won't provide it, take screenshots of any message or email where they announced the closure. Immigration may ask for proof.
- Go to your local immigration office within 14 days. Bring your passport, ARC, and that closure notice. Tell them your employer has shut down and you are looking for a new sponsor. They will note it in the system. This step is not optional.
- Find a new hagwon and start the transfer. The new employer files a 근무처 변경 (workplace change) application. You'll need your passport, ARC, the closure notice, and possibly your old contract. Processing usually takes 10–15 business days. You cannot legally work for the new school until the transfer is approved.
- Watch your bank account. Severance, unpaid salary, and your housing deposit are separate from the visa issue, but they're urgent. If the hagwon is bankrupt, the Ministry of Employment and Labor's wage claim system (체당금) can sometimes recover unpaid wages. File a claim at the local labor office within 14 days of the last missed payday.
The deposit problem
Most hagwons hold a housing deposit—key money—anywhere from 3 million to 10 million won. When the school closes, that money is supposed to come back to you. In practice, it often doesn't.
If the hagwon rented the apartment in their name, the landlord may refuse to return the deposit to you directly. If the business is insolvent, the deposit is stuck in whatever bankruptcy or closure process the owner is navigating. Teachers sometimes lose the entire amount.
You can file a claim with the labor office, but recovery is slow and not guaranteed. Keep every document related to that deposit: your contract, the lease, any receipt or bank transfer showing you paid it. If the hagwon paid the deposit on your behalf and deducted it from your salary over time, you'll need payslips showing those deductions.
What about severance?
If you worked a full year or more, you are owed severance—one month's salary for each year worked. Hagwon closure does not erase that obligation. The employer still owes it, even if they're broke.
File a claim with the Ministry of Employment and Labor if the hagwon does not pay within 14 days of your last working day. The 체당금 system covers unpaid severance up to a cap, but the process takes months. Start it immediately.
How long do you actually have?
Immigration gives you roughly two weeks to report the closure and begin sorting your status. That is not two weeks to find a job—it's two weeks to tell them what happened. If you show up at the immigration office on day 12 and say "my hagwon closed, I'm looking for new work," they will usually give you a short extension to complete a transfer, often another 15–30 days depending on the office and your situation.
But if you don't report it at all, and they discover your sponsor is gone, you're overstaying from the date the hagwon shut down.
| Task | Deadline |
|---|---|
| Report closure to immigration | 14 days from last working day |
| File wage claim at labor office | 14 days from last unpaid payday |
| Start workplace transfer with new employer | ASAP, ideally within the first week |
| Leave Korea if no transfer is possible | Before overstay penalties begin |
We've placed teachers who had five days to find new work and make it happen. It's possible, but it requires moving the same afternoon you find out.