Working in Korea

How to get a job in Korea from Sri Lanka

Plain answers in the order you will ask them, each read from SLBFE's or Korea's own notice. Korea is a government-to-government route: nobody can sell you a place in it.

What this site does: explains the official route, keeps the current round's dates in one place, and helps you tell a real notice from a scam. What it does not do: teach Korean, find you a job, track your roster, or handle your application or fee. For those, we point you to the official places.

1The routes that exist for Sri Lankans

For most people there is one door: the Employment Permit System (EPS), run by Korea's labour ministry with SLBFE as Sri Lanka's only sending agency. The others are narrow or not open.

Route	Who it is for	How you get in	Where it stands
EPS (E-9 visa), manufacturing and fishery	Adults aged 18–39 willing to do factory or fishing work	Apply to SLBFE in a recruitment round, score high enough on the EPS-TOPIK Korean test and the skills test, then wait on the job-seeker roster for a Korean employer to pick you.	The main route. Open in rounds announced by SLBFE; the current round is below. People who have already spent 5 years in Korea on E-9/E-10 cannot apply again.
Seasonal work (E-8 visa)	Farm and fishery workers, for months rather than years	Only through agreements between governments. SLBFE has approved no private agency, individual or group to recruit for it.	We found no SLBFE call open for it. Every E-8 offer we have seen advertised is from someone not allowed to make it.
Skilled visas (E-7)	People a Korean employer hires directly, or E-9 workers who convert after years in Korea	Not an SLBFE programme. The employer sponsors the visa in Korea.	We have not verified the rules from an official page, so we do not describe them. Treat any offer of a “direct E-7 job” from Sri Lanka with the same care as an E-8 one.

SLBFE's own warning on E-8 (February 7, 2025): the Bureau has granted no approval to private employment agencies, individuals or groups for E-8 seasonal jobs, and anyone offering them is operating illegally (SLBFE ↗).

There is no working-holiday visa for Sri Lankans: Korea's list has 29 partner countries and Sri Lanka is not one of them (Working Holiday Info Center ↗, August 3, 2026).

Source: slbfe.lk ↗ · checked October 10, 2026

2The current round: applications Oct 2026

SLBFE published the notice on September 28, 2026 (PDF ↗). These are its figures; the dates it marks “TBD” are shown as such.

Places (scheduled): 1,000 manufacturing, 500 fishery
Applications: October 26, 2026 to October 30, 2026, to SLBFE only
Test fee: US$28, paid in rupees: LKR 9,250
Age: Born October 27, 1986 to October 26, 2008
EPS-TOPIK test: From November 25, 2026; the notice expects it to run to about Mar 2027
Round 1 results: Not yet announced; the notice expects about Mar 2027

The notice is out. SLBFE publishes the application instructions on October 12, 2026; applications open in 15 days.

For scale: the previous round had 2,500 places and took 9 months from its notice (Aug 2025) to the final result (May 2026).

Open this round's page The notice (English PDF) ↗The notice (Sinhala PDF) ↗

Source: slbfe.lk ↗ · checked October 10, 2026

3Who can apply

The notice's rules. Each one alone stops an application, and a false document cancels your result:

Aged 18 to 39 on the dates the notice gives
No colour blindness or colour weakness
Less than 5 years already spent in Korea on E-9 or E-10 (6 with an extension)
No sentence of imprisonment or heavier
Never deported or ordered to leave Korea
No travel ban from Sri Lanka
A passport valid at least 3 months from the day you apply, with your name and date of birth exactly as on the form
One application only, in one industry; you cannot change industry after round 1

Check your colour vision with a doctor before you pay. SLBFE's instructions for the last round asked for a doctor's confirmation, and colour vision is tested again at the medical after you pass: a failure there cancels your result (SLBFE instructions ↗). A herniated disc or a missing finger does not stop you applying, but is assessed in round 2.

Forged documents or cheating cancel your result and bar you from the EPS for 4 years.

Check yourself against the rules

Source: slbfe.lk ↗ · checked October 10, 2026

4How you are selected

1
Round 1: EPS-TOPIK on a tablet, plus a colour-vision check
40 multiple-choice questions (20 reading, 20 listening) in 50 minutes, out of 100. Questions follow HRD Korea's standard textbook.
There is no fixed pass mark. Among those above each industry's minimum, the highest scorers up to 1.1 times the quota go through. Every mark counts.
2
Round 2: skills test, and documents for bonus points
Out of 100: physical fitness 30 (hand and back strength), interview 50, basic skills 20. Below 60% you are out.
Up to 5 bonus points for documents you bring: 2 for 1+ years of relevant work (or 1 for 5+ months as an E-8 seasonal worker), 1 for 120+ hours of relevant training, 1 for a college diploma or higher, 1 for a national qualification.
Sales, office, service and unrelated courses and licences do not count; the notice lists what does.
3
Final selection
Rounds 1 and 2 are added together and the quota is filled from the top. Passing puts you on the job-seeker roster for 2 years. The notice says this does not guarantee employment: a Korean employer must choose you.

What the basic-skills test asks you to do

From the notice's attachment. Practise with your hands, not just the book.

Manufacturing

Insert pins (common task)
Joint connection
Measuring and cutting
Pipe bolting
Using a grinder
Product packaging
Pallet loading

Fishery

Insert pins (common task)
Rope arrangement and knots
Catch sorting and classification
Using a wheelbarrow

We do not sell classes and we do not predict scores. The free official materials are listed at the end of this page.

Source: slbfe.lk ↗ · checked October 10, 2026

5What it costs, and what you earn

The test fee is US$28, paid in rupees (LKR 9,250 this round). It is the only fee in the selection.
In the last round it was paid at a bank counter only, into accounts named in SLBFE's instructions; online and ATM payments were not accepted (SLBFE instructions ↗).
The accounts for this round are in SLBFE's instructions due October 12, 2026. We do not copy account numbers from older notices, so read them there.
There is no agency fee, because there is no agency. Anyone asking for money to register you, guarantee you, or speed you up is asking for something that does not exist.
If you are selected, SLBFE registration before you leave is Rs 22,027 for a first registration (SLBFE ↗).

Not confirmed, so not stated here: the pre-departure medical fee, training fees, and the flight.

Pay

Korea's 2026 minimum wage is ₩10,320 an hour, or ₩2,156,880 a month for 209 hours (Minimum Wage Commission ↗). It applies to EPS workers.
Take-home pay depends on overtime, housing deductions and insurance. Nobody can promise you a figure.

Source: slbfe.lk ↗ · checked October 10, 2026

6Who may recruit you

Only SLBFE. Korea's EPS runs between the two governments: SLBFE takes the applications, runs the test with HRD Korea, keeps the roster, and sends you. Every notice is on SLBFE's Korea page ↗.

A licence is not permission to recruit for Korea. SLBFE licenses agencies for other countries. If an agency, licensed or not, offers you a Korea EPS job, that is the sign. Check its licence anyway: an unlicensed one is breaking two laws.

Signs of a scam

Any fee beyond the US$28 test fee
A “registration”, “guarantee” or “special quota” for the EPS
An E-8 seasonal job offered by an agency, a person or a group
A Google Form, WhatsApp number or website that is not slbfe.lk
Paying the test fee online, by ATM, or into a personal account
“Go on a visit visa, change to a work visa in Korea”
A job promised without the EPS-TOPIK and the skills test
Anyone asking for your passport, NIC or SLBFE login to “apply for you”

Report it to SLBFE: 1989 from Sri Lanka, +94 11 2 880 500, or WhatsApp +94 71 9 802 822 from abroad.

Is this Korea job offer real? →

Source: slbfe.lk ↗ · checked October 10, 2026

7After you pass

1
Round 1 result on slbfe.lk
Results are announced on SLBFE's website ↗, with the timeline for round 2. Nobody phones you to sell you a place.
2
Documents for bonus points
Bring copies and originals of work, training, diploma and qualification certificates to the SLBFE branch named in the announcement. There is no submission fee.
3
Skills test
Three hours on the day: height and weight, hand and back strength, an interview, the basic-skills tasks. Your documents are checked during it.
4
Final result
Announced on slbfe.lk. A pass is valid for 2 years.
5
Medical, including colour vision
Before your name goes on the roster. A colour-vision failure here cancels the result.
6
The roster, and the wait
Korean employers pick from the roster. The notice says the roster does not guarantee employment, and we have no verified figure for how long people wait.
7
Register with SLBFE and leave
SLBFE registration (Rs 22,027 for a first registration, SLBFE ↗), pre-departure training and the departure are all arranged through SLBFE. Keep copies of everything.

Not confirmed from an official page, so not stated here: how long the roster wait is, the contract and visa steps in Korea, and the training fee.

Source: slbfe.lk ↗ · checked October 10, 2026

8Learn Korean, free and official

We do not teach Korean. These are SLBFE's and HRD Korea's own materials. The test follows HRD Korea's standard textbook.

Where to ask

SLBFE hotline1989 +94 11 2 880 500WhatsApp from abroad: +94 71 9 802 822
SLBFE Korea announcements ↗
SLBFE Korea programme page ↗
The current notice on slbfe.lk ↗

Source: slbfe.lk ↗ · checked October 10, 2026

Not an official site

expathjobs.com is independent. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by SLBFE, HRD Korea or any ministry. Every fact above was read from an official notice on the date shown next to it and links to it. Dates and fees change: confirm on slbfe.lk before you pay or travel.