Three health papers come up when foreign residents start work or school in Korea. A food job needs a health certificate (보건증). A hagwon teaching job and E-2 registration need a pre-employment medical check (채용신체검사서). A child’s school entry runs on the national vaccination record, which you can print as a vaccination certificate (예방접종증명서).
Each paper comes from a different law and a different office, and none of them replaces another. This page sorts them by situation, compares them side by side, and points to the full guide for each one.
Start here: which paper for which situation
Rules verified October 2026 · Food Sanitation Act · Hagwon Act · Immigration Act Enforcement Rule, Annex 5-2 · School Health Act
Find the row that matches what you are about to do. The rules look at the work or the visa, not at your nationality.
| Your situation | Paper | Full guide |
|---|---|---|
| Working directly with food that is not fully packaged: cooking, serving, selling | Health certificate (보건증), officially the health examination result (건강진단 결과서) | Health certificate guide |
| Teaching a foreign language at a hagwon (학원) | Pre-employment medical check (채용신체검사서) with a drug test, issued within one month | E-2 medical check guide |
| Registering as a foreign resident on E-2, D-3, or E-6 (some performers) | Pre-employment medical check (채용신체검사서) | E-2 medical check guide |
| Registering on E-8, E-9, E-10 or H-2 | A drug test confirmation or a health certificate (건강진단서) set for your visa | Visa table in the E-2 guide |
| A child entering elementary school, middle school or daycare | Usually nothing to hand in. The school or daycare checks the national record | Vaccination certificate guide |
| Proof of vaccinations for use outside Korea | Vaccination certificate (예방접종증명서) in English | Vaccination certificate guide |
| Travel that needs a yellow fever vaccination | International certificate of vaccination (국제공인예방접종증명서) | FAQ in the vaccination guide |
If two rows fit you, each rule applies on its own. An E-2 teacher hired by a hagwon, for example, falls under the second and third rows, and the two rules ask for the paper separately.
How the three papers differ
Fees verified October 2026 · Ministry of Health and Welfare Notice No. 2021-34 · Gov24
The three papers prove different things, come from different places and age differently.
| Health certificate (보건증) | Pre-employment medical check (채용신체검사서) | Vaccination certificate (예방접종증명서) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it shows | Three tests: typhoid, paratyphoid, pulmonary tuberculosis | A general physical. For E-2, also a syphilis test, a chest X-ray and a drug test | The doses entered in the national vaccination system |
| Who issues it | Public health centers, general hospitals, hospitals and clinics | For registration, a hospital designated by the Minister of Justice | Vaccination Helper, Gov24, public health centers, contracted clinics |
| Time limit in the rules | Valid one year. Renew within 30 days before or after expiry | For a hagwon, issued within one month of the hiring date | None set in the Act |
| Fee | Set by local ordinance at public health centers | Capped at 30,000 KRW. The drug test is outside the cap | No fee (Gov24) |
The time-limit row is where the papers differ most. A health certificate runs on a yearly cycle, and a hagwon wants a pre-employment check from the last month. The vaccination certificate has no expiry in the Act, because it records doses that were already given.
Why the online routes fail for foreign residents
Two of the three papers can be printed online. Both online routes stop at the same point: a login that depends on a Korean digital identity.
The in-person routes need only an ID. If you have no Korean digital certificate, plan for a visit to the public health center from the start. The pre-employment medical check is issued by the hospital that examines you, so this problem does not arise there.
Which papers are easy to confuse with these
Several other papers share a word with these three in English. In Korean the names are all different.
| Paper | What it is | Not the same as |
|---|---|---|
| Medical certificate (진단서) | A doctor’s diagnosis. The ministry caps a general certificate at 20,000 KRW, and an English one also at 20,000 KRW | A health certificate or a pre-employment check |
| Health certificate (건강진단서) for E-10 or H-2 | A visa form issued by a hospital designated by the Minister of Justice | The food health certificate (보건증), despite the same English name |
| Tuberculosis certificate (결핵진단서) | Hi Korea asks for it from nationals of 35 high-risk countries who change from a short-term to a long-term status | The tuberculosis item inside the food health certificate |
| International certificate of vaccination (국제공인예방접종증명서) | Issued under the Quarantine Act for quarantine diseases such as yellow fever | The vaccination certificate |
When an office names a paper only in English, ask for the Korean name. The Korean names on this page are the ones the rules use, so they are the names the desk will recognize.
Frequently asked questions
Official sources
Every figure here comes from the pages below and from the sources listed in each full guide. Rules change, so open the page before you act on it.
