📄 Guide to Health Certificate Issuance for Restaurant and Cafe Part-Time Jobs

Hearing about passing a part-time job interview, and imagining the first paycheck with excitement, have you ever had the boss suddenly request, "Please bring a health certificate when you come to work"?

For foreigners and international students starting a part-time job in Korea for the first time, this one statement can give you a headache.😰

In short, a health certificate is a required document for food-related part-time jobs.

I'll summarize what a health certificate often required in Korean part-time jobs is and how to issue it.

📄 What is a health certificate?

The official name of the health certificate is Health Diagnosis Report.

According to Korea's Food Sanitation Act, anyone directly involved with food must undergo this health examination.

Thus, regardless of nationality, visa type, or employment form, if working in the food industry, everyone must obtain a health certificate.

🗂️ Sectors requiring a health certificate

If you work in the following places, you need a health certificate.

• Restaurants, cafes, bakeries

• Kitchen in delivery food outlets

• Convenience stores (when handling food)

• School/company cafeterias, canteens

• Food manufacturing/packaging-related tasks

👉 International students and foreign part-time workers are no exception.

📝 How to obtain a health certificate

1️⃣ Visit a nearby health center

The quickest and cheapest way to get a health certificate is to use a health center.

🔍 You can easily find it by searching [area name + health center] on Naver/Kakao Maps!

• ex) Yongsan Health Center, Gangnam Health Center

2️⃣ Things to prepare

• Alien registration card

• Examination fee (payable by cash or card)

  • Health center: about 3,000 won

  • General hospital: about 10,000 ~ 15,000 won

Upon arrival at the health center, fill out an application for the health certificate, get a number ticket, and wait.

📌 Sometimes, according to the health center, they may ask, "Where do you intend to work?" This is a process to check if the exam purpose is 'employment (work)', so if you have an employment contract, it would help to bring it.

3️⃣ Health check process

• 👩‍⚕️ When it's your turn, a simple examination will be conducted.

• ⏱ The entire process usually completes within 10 minutes.

• 🩺 Examination items

  • Typhoid/bacterial dysentery test

  • Infectious skin disease check

  • Chest X-ray (tuberculosis test)

4️⃣ Check results

Results can be checked 2-5 days after the examination.

There are two ways to receive the health certificate!

• Receive in person at the health center

• Issue online and print via the Gov24 portal

  • 🔗 : https://plus.gov.kr/

  • After entering the site, search for 'health certificate' to be directed to the relevant page immediately!

⚠️ Caution

• The health certificate is valid for 1 year.

  If it is still valid, you can use an online reissue without re-examination when changing your workplace, but if expired, you must retake the examination.

• Checking the English spelling of your name is essential.

  If your alien registration card has a different English name, a system error may occur, so carefully check both when applying for the examination and checking results.

• Be cautious about starting work without a health certificate.

  If problems arise while working in food-related industries without a health certificate, it might act unfavorably to the employee themselves.

🌿 Conclusion

When starting a part-time job in Korea, the health certificate is required more often and is an essential document than you might think.

However, if it's your first time, figuring out where to get it, how to issue it for foreigners, or how long it takes is not easy to find on your own, right? 🥺

From part-time job applications to work conditions and visa regulations, VIVISA provides regular information for foreigners to avoid confusion.

Don't start part-time jobs in Korea without knowledge and feeling uneasy—start with VIVISA! 💙