Your first two weeks teaching English in Asia: an arrival checklist for China, Japan, South Korea and Vietnam

• Your passport, with your work visa, plus copies. In Vietnam you must carry your passport or residence papers (Law 47/2014, Article 44).
• Originals of your visa documents: apostilled degree, criminal record check and your contract. Some offices ask to see them again after arrival.
• Passport photos in several sizes. Korea's residence registration asks for a 3.5 × 4.5 cm photo, and Shanghai's health check asks for three two-inch photos.
• Your address in the local language, and your employer's contact details.
• Money for the first month or more. Your first payday can be several weeks after you start, and you may have to pay a housing deposit, utilities and a health check up front.
• A debit or credit card that works abroad, as backup until your local account is open.
• Any regular medicine, in its original packaging with a copy of the prescription, and check the country's import rules before you fly.

Residence registration (the residence card)

If you're staying more than 90 days you must register within 90 days of entry at the immigration office that covers your address, booking a visit through HiKorea. Bring your passport, a 3.5 × 4.5 cm photo, proof of where you live and documents for your visa status (Korea Immigration Service). The fee is listed as KRW 35,000 (Easy to Find, Practical Law); check the current fee when you book. The card can take a few weeks to arrive, and your school can often help with the appointment. You'll need the card for a lot of what follows, so book early.

Health check

E-2 teachers usually need an employment health check, and your school will tell you where and which tests. As one example, Seoul National University Hospital's E-2 package covers blood tests (including HIV and syphilis), a drug screen, a chest X-ray, a urine test, a physical and vision, hearing and colour-vision checks. It needs 12 hours' fasting and two ID photos, takes about an hour, and results come in about 7 days. It was listed at KRW 162,000 when we checked (Seoul National University Hospital). Prices differ between hospitals.

Bank account

Open an account at a branch with your residence card and passport; the bank gives you a bankbook and cash card on the spot. Bank hours are usually Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 16:00. Sending money home needs your passport, employment contract, residence card and receipts, and credit cards depend on each card company's rules (Seoul Metropolitan Government: banking).

Insurance, housing and phone

• Health insurance and pension are compulsory, with the employer paying half. EPIK puts medical insurance at about 5.89% of salary, half of it deducted from your pay (EPIK).
• Housing. EPIK provides housing, with utilities and maintenance fees paid by the teacher, and most hagwons offer furnished housing or an allowance. If you rent yourself, ask exactly what deposit you'll owe.
• Phone. Ask your school which carrier and plan other teachers use. A short-term travel SIM or eSIM can tide you over until your residence card arrives.
• Help in English. The Korea Travel Hotline (+82-2-1330) runs 24/7 (Seoul Metropolitan Government).

More on visas and pay in our South Korea guide.

Residence card and address registration

If you land at New Chitose, Sendai, Narita, Haneda, Chubu, Kansai, Kobe, Hiroshima, Fukuoka or Naha airport, you get your residence card at the airport; elsewhere it's issued later (Immigration Services Agency). Within 14 days of settling into your home, go to your city, ward or town office and file a moving-in notification with your residence card (or your passport if the card is being issued later). Your address is added to the card, and the city then sends you your 12-digit Individual Number (My Number), which you'll need for things like your pension, sending money abroad and opening a bank account. The first My Number Card is free and is usually ready about a month later. If you move again, you have 14 days to notify the office (Immigration Services Agency: necessary notifications, PDF).

Health insurance and pension

If your workplace is covered (companies, and most private workplaces with five or more regular staff), your employer enrols you in Employees' Health Insurance and the Employees' Pension, whatever your nationality. If not, you enrol in National Health Insurance and the National Pension at the city office. Without an insurance certificate you pay the full cost of treatment. If you leave Japan you can claim part of your pension contributions back as a lump-sum payment (Japan Pension Service, PDF).

Health check

Employers must give employees a health check when they're hired, covering things like a chest X-ray, blood pressure, blood and urine tests and an ECG. A check you had in the previous three months can be used instead (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (Hokkaido)). Your employer arranges it.

Housing deposits

If you rent yourself, expect large move-in costs. A security deposit (shikikin) of about one to two months' rent is returned when you leave, minus repair costs. Key money (reikin), also about one to two months' rent, isn't returned. Some places charge neither. Contracts are often two years with a renewal fee, and you set up utilities yourself (National Consumer Affairs Center of Japan, PDF). Photograph the room when you move in, so you can show its condition when you leave (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, PDF).

Bank and phone

You'll need your My Number (and ID such as your residence card) to open an account, and ask your employer which bank other teachers use, as requirements differ between banks. More in our Japan guide.

Registration and residence permit

If you stay in a hotel, the hotel registers you with the police. If you stay anywhere else, you must register with the local police within 24 hours, with your passport and rental contract (State Council: Guide to Working and Living in China); some places let you do this online (National Immigration Administration). You then have 30 days from entry to apply for your residence permit. Your work permit needs a health certificate, a no-criminal-record certificate and your apostilled degree, and your employer must register you for social insurance within 30 days (State Council).

Health check

For the residence permit you'll usually need a health check at a designated centre. In Shanghai, for example, it's required for anyone staying a year or more to work, you book at least two weeks ahead through WeChat, you bring your passport and copies, three two-inch photos and your work permit papers, and the certificate is ready after three working days. A report from a designated hospital abroad, dated within six months, can sometimes be verified instead (Shanghai Municipal Government). Other cities run their own centres, so ask your school.

Phone, bank and payment apps

• SIM card. Buy one at a China Telecom, China Mobile or China Unicom shop with your passport.
• Bank card. You can open an account with your passport.
• WeChat Pay and Alipay. Both let you link a foreign bank card, and they're widely used, including for metro QR codes. International cards also work at many ATMs.
• Getting around. Didi works with a foreign phone number, metros run in dozens of cities, and train tickets can be booked on 12306 with your passport.
• Emergency numbers: 110 police, 119 fire, 120 ambulance.

All from the State Council guide. Many schools provide housing or an allowance; if you rent yourself, you'll need the rental contract for your police registration. More in our China guide.

Temporary residence declaration

Your temporary residence has to be declared to the local police. The original law puts this on the person running your accommodation (the hotel or landlord), within 12 hours of your arrival (24 hours in remote areas), and it has to be done again when you move (Law 47/2014, Article 33). The law has been amended since, so check with your landlord that it's been done.

Work permit and temporary residence card

Your employer applies for your work permit. You'll need a health certificate from a qualified medical facility, issued no more than 12 months before; a foreign certificate only counts if Vietnam recognises it (Decree 219/2025, Article 18). With the permit, the sponsoring organisation can apply for your temporary residence card (TRC). Under the original law a work TRC lasts up to two years and must expire at least 30 days before your passport does (Law 47/2014, Articles 37 and 38). Fees and processing times change, so ask your employer. Compulsory social insurance also applies to foreign employees (US Embassy in Vietnam).

If you first arrive on an e-visa, it lasts up to 90 days. Extending a visa has to be done in person at an immigration office (US Embassy in Vietnam). Working on a tourist or e-visa without a work permit isn't legal.

Bank account

Banks need your passport plus a valid visa or TRC. Your face is captured in person for biometric checks on online payments, and transactions can be suspended when your ID papers expire, so update the bank when you get a new visa or card (Circular 17/2024/TT-NHNN).

SIM card

Since 15 April 2026, mobile numbers have to be verified with facial biometrics, and SIMs registered with a passport must be re-verified or outgoing service can be suspended (Vietnamese government policy portal, in Vietnamese). Buy your SIM at an official carrier shop with your passport so it's registered to you.

More in our Vietnam guide.

• Cash flow. Plan for the deposit, the first month's living costs and the health check before your first payday. Our country guides cover what packages usually include.
• Sending money home. Expect to show your passport, contract and residence card at the bank.
• Address first. Almost everything (bank, phone, insurance) depends on your registered address and residence card or permit, so do registration first.
• Keep copies of every form, receipt and card, and photos of your apartment on move-in day.
• Ask a current teacher. Colleagues usually know which bank, phone plan and clinic are easiest locally.

Haven't signed yet? Our interview guide covers what to ask a school about housing, deposits and visa costs before you accept.