According to the MOU on the Sending of Workers between the Ministry of Employment and Labor of the Republic of Korea (MOEL) and the Secretariat of State for Professional Training and Employment (SEFOPE), Special EPS-TOPIK for those who voluntarily returned home within their permitted sojourn period and want to come back for work in Korea will be conducted as follows.

All job seekers who want to work in Korea under the Employment Permit System should pass the EPS-TOPIK, implemented by the Human Resources Development Service of Korea (HRD Korea) authorized by the MOEL, and only those who passed the test are allowed to submit the job application form for EPS.

July 7, 2021

Held by:  Ministry of Employment and Labor of the Republic of Korea (MOEL)

Implemented by: Human Resources Development service of Korea (HRD Korea)

Cooperated by: Secretariat of State for Professional Training and Employment (SEFOPE),

National Directorate of Overseas Employment (NDOE)

1. Test Schedule

* The schedule can be changed according to EPS circumstances

2. (Allowed) Type of Industry: Manufacturing, Fishery

* If an applicant wants to apply for a designated recommendation to his/her last workplace (employer) where he/she had worked more than a year should select the same industry of the workplace. For this reason, applicants should select the industry carefully considering the mentioned condition.

3. The (expected) number of passers: To be announced

   ○ The number of passers will be announced later separately in the order of the high scores among the applicants who scored 100 or more points out of  200 regardless of industry.

4. Test Place and date Announcement

○ Test Place: CBT(Computer Based Test) Examination Room

○ Announcement of the Test date: August 25, 2021

○ Announcement Method

– website of EPS-TOPIK(http://epstopik.hrdkorea.or.kr)

– the notice board of NDOE

 5. Qualifications(Eligibility)

○ Reemployed workers under the EPS who voluntarily have returned to his or her home country within their permitted sojourn period (Time of returning: Not before January 1^st, 2010)

○ Persons aged between 18 and 39

○ Persons who have not been convicted of imprisonment or heavier punishment

○ Persons who have no record of deportation or departure orders from the Republic of Korea

○ Persons who are not restricted from departure of home country

○ Persons who don’t have total 5 years or longer duration of sojourn with E-9 and E-10 VISA in Korea

* In case of returning to his/her country before amendments of  Immigration Control law(Nov 2017), a person can be on the available applicants list even though he/she had stayed for 5 years or more in Korea. In that case, it is impossible for the person to apply because of lack of qualification for the test.

6. Registration Procedure

○ Period : July 26~28, 2021

○ Place : NDOE

○ Method : Individual-Visit-Registration

○ Required documents

– Copy of passport on their returning home (for proving he/she is a voluntary returnee)

– Application form (Free distribution at the registration place, only to the applicants who paid the test fee)

※ Registration numbers are written on each application form, and one applicant can

Receive and submit one application form. If there is any error in an application form, correct it with correction fluid or tape and submit it.

– A copy of passport (or ID card)

※ A copy of passport (or ID card) is required to be attached on the application form

※ It is preferable to attach a copy of passport (or ID card) written in English (especially name)

– 2 photographs of 3.5 x 4.5cm (taken within 3 months, Only White Background)

○ Test fee: 24 USD (same amount in local currency)

※ If an applicant who has unavoidable reasons cancel his/her registration during registration period, the applicant can get full refund. (However, re-application after cancellation is not allowed)

○ Registration will be made in the order of receipt, and if the applicants overly applied an additional test date will be decided and the test will be conducted accordingly. Its date also will be announced on the announcement date of the designated test venue & date for each applicant.

○ Additional Points and Exemption of test fee

※ If you have additional points, submit both application form(refer to Attachment) and certificate.

 7. (planned) Testing Period: September 14, 2021

○ Test Structure & Criteria

○ Composition of the test

○ Test Duration

※ All examinees must be in the test room before the orientation time.

○ Test Structure & Allotment of Scores and passing standard

– Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ).

– R/C and L/C will be implemented continuously without a break.

○ All of the questions are to be taken from closed question bank based on “The Standard Textbook for EPS-TOPIK”.

○ Items to prepare on the test day: Admission Ticket, Passport (or ID card)

※ All applicants are required to bring his/her passport (ID card) of which is the same with the one posted on his/her application form

※ No applicant is allowed to take the test without passport(or ID card)

8. Announcement of Test Result

○ Announcement Date: October 20, 2021

○ Announcement Method

• Notice board of the NDOE
• Website of the Employment Permit System(http://www.eps.go.kr)
• Website of the EPS-TOPIK (http://epstopik.hrdkorea.or.kr)

○ Validity period of test result is 2 years(effect on the date of result announcement)

9. Other Information

○ If an applicant is confirmed as a non-voluntary returnee, his/her test result will be  considered invalid even he/she passes the test and the applicant  should take full  responsibility on that.

○ Those who pass the test will benefit from a shortened reentering procedures including faster job registration and placement, and exemption from pre-departure training.

○ On the test day, mobile phones, smart watches, Bluetooth earphones, and other electronic devices which are possibly used in cheating during the test are highly prohibited.

○ Test will be void, and examinees will NOT be eligible for taking the test for 4 years in case of cheating during the test.

○ If an applicant’s personal information on the passport is not exactly the same as the one on the application form (name, date of birth, and

gender), their registration to the EPS job seekers’ roster and entry to Korea is not permitted in any case, and the applicant is fully responsible for any problem caused by the differences in their  personal information.

○ For improvement of Proficiency in Korean, all of the questions are to be taken from closed question bank based on “The Standard Textbook for EPS-TOPIK”.

*The Standard Textbook for EPS-TOPIK” has been uploaded on the webpage as follows and applicants can download it for free.

<the list of webpage you can download the Standard Textbook>

10. Notice about preventing spread of COVID-19

○ All applicants must wear the masks before entering the test venue and comply with proper instructions or guideline for the safety of other people.

○ Before entering the venue, all applicants must have their temperature and clean their hands with hand sanitizer. If an applicant have fever, cough or other respiratory symptoms, entrance for the venue can be restricted.

○ Please shun physical contact such as handshakes and hugs and maintain proper cough etiquette(cough or sneeze into your sleeve).
◈ Passing the special EPS-TOPIK only guarantees the qualification for job application for EPS, and does not guarantee the employment in Korea.

◈ Moreover, persons who are restricted from the employment in Korea, such as those who do not pass the medical examination or who have the record of illegal stay in Korea or who do not meet the criteria for E-9 visa, cannot be employed in Korea.

◈ If the drug test results are positive after entering Korea, you can be returned to your country.

◈ According to MOU on between Ministry of Employment and Labor of the Republic of Korea and Secretariat of State for Professional Training and Employment, only NDOE has the legal authority to send Timor-Leste workers to the Republic of Korea. Only the job seekers who passed the EPS-TOPIK and registered on the roster by NDOE can be hired by Korean Employers. If any other private sectors are involved in procedure for sending workforce, there will be the legal punishment for those acts.

◈ It costs 24 USD(or same amount in local currency) for an applicant to take Special EPS-TOPIK and only the certain amount of money noticed officially as a sending cost by NDOE  during the registration period of a job application form will cost you for entering Korea under the EPS. Besides, except NDOE, any other agency or person is not allowed to be related to employment procedures of EPS. For this reason, all applicants should be aware of this fact and protect themselves from any damages or losses caused by anyone or any other agencies’ absurd (deceiving) proposal related to recommendation or employment in Korea under the EPS.

◈ Applicants with color blindness, color weakness are not permitted to pass point system based test. Also, applicants with physical handicaps such as the slipped disc or finger amputation can be excluded on the valid roster.

◈The penalties for cheating candidates and illegal substitutes are being reinforced. If one work in(come to) Korea unfairly, he/she will be accused of law enforcement

【Attachment】

Application for Test fee Exemption and Additional points