EPS Korea: The 18 to 38 Route to Working in Korea
Department of Migrant Workers · employment
Quick answer
EPS is the government-to-government route to South Korea, run by DMW with Korea's Ministry of Employment and Labor. You must be 18 to 38, pass the EPS-TOPIK, and clear a colour vision check and a skills and job capacity assessment. There is no recruitment agency and no placement fee.
Every figure on this page is from Department of Migrant Workers's own published documents.
Last verified 3 sources, listed below
EPS-TOPIK Advisory No. 1, series of 2025, Manufacturing Industry under Point-based System1 · EPS-TOPIK Advisory No. 1, series of 2026, Special EPS-TOPIK Online Registration2 · EPS Korea advisories3. PHGuides is independent and not affiliated with DMW.
EPS, the Employment Permit System, is how Filipinos get hired in South Korea through the government rather than through an agency. Korea’s Ministry of Employment and Labor runs it with the Department of Migrant Workers, and the test at its centre is the EPS-TOPIK.
Because it is government to government, no recruitment agency sits in the middle and no private placement fee is payable. The recruitment agencies guide covers the agency route this one replaces.
Who may register
| Requirement | |
|---|---|
| Age | 18 to 38 at the time of registration |
| Application not restricted by the HRD Korea system | |
| No criminal record of imprisonment or heavier punishment | |
| No deportation record or deportation order from Korea | |
| No restriction on leaving the Philippines | |
| Active personal email address and mobile number |
The age band is published as a birth date range that moves each round. For the 2025 manufacturing registration it was 4 February 1986 to 3 February 2007.
Who may not
| Disqualification | |
|---|---|
| Colour blindness or colour weakness | Outright ineligible |
| An existing or active EPS job roster | |
| Stayed in South Korea more than 5 years under the E-9 non-professional and E-10 seafarer visas | |
| Infectious disease such as syphilis, tuberculosis or hepatitis | |
| Use of narcotics or similar drugs |
Check your colour vision before you apply. DMW says so explicitly, and it is the one disqualification that is absolute rather than assessed.
A herniated disc, an amputated finger and similar conditions do not block registration. They are evaluated in the second round for ability to work, and can still exclude you from final consideration.
Other disqualifying factors are procedural: incorrect information at
registration, using special characters such as *, ! or +, and multiple
registrations. DMW warns that deliberately giving incorrect personal information
to create multiple registrations means automatic disqualification.
The point-based selection
Korea moved EPS onto a Point-Based Selection System, assessing Korean proficiency, physical fitness, skills and job capacity together.
| Round | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1st | EPS-TOPIK and colour vision screening. Candidates are screened down to 1.1 times the recruitment quota, from those above the minimum score for their industry |
| 2nd | Skills Test and Job Capacity Assessment |
| Final | Selection on the combined scores of both rounds |
Passing the first round is not selection. You must sit the second to be eligible for final consideration at all.
The Job Capacity Assessment is performed only for those who submitted the supporting documents: confirmation of training experience, or a junior college diploma or higher, certificates of national qualifications, and confirmation of work experience.
The design point is stated plainly in the notice: even where Korean proficiency is low, hiring chances widen for an applicant assessed as diligent, skilled and experienced.
Registering
Registration is online only, at eps.dmw.gov.ph, and there are no paper application forms.
| The 2025 manufacturing round | |
|---|---|
| Cap | 7,500 qualified applicants only |
| Window opened | 3 February 2025 at 8:00 |
| Window closed | 10 February 2025 at 17:00, or automatically on reaching 7,500 |
| Category chosen at registration | Assembly, Measurement or Joining |
| Venue for CBT and Skills Test | DMW Main Office, Blas F. Ople Building, Ortigas Avenue corner EDSA, Mandaluyong City |
The manufacturing category is chosen at registration and cannot be changed afterwards.
Those dates are the published 2025 round, shown so the shape of a window is clear. They are not a current schedule; each round is announced by its own advisory.
The documents, and their exact specifications
The file specifications are unusually strict and are a common cause of rejected registrations.
| Document | Specification |
|---|---|
| Gmail account only | |
| Passport ID picture | 3.5 cm by 4.5 cm, white background, taken within the last 6 months, JPG only, maximum 13 KB |
| Scanned passport | No signature, no discolouration, blue only, same dimensions as the original, JPG only, maximum 100 KB |
The 2026 Special EPS-TOPIK advisory published slightly different figures for its own round, a passport image of 12.4 cm by 8.7 cm under 90 KB and a passport-sized ID of 3.5 cm by 4.5 cm under 13 KB, which is a further reason to read the advisory for the round you are actually entering.
The Special EPS-TOPIK
A separate track exists for former EPS workers who completed their previous contract and returned to the Philippines voluntarily within their permitted stay. HRD Korea provides the list of candidates invited to register for each recruitment period, so it is by invitation rather than open application.
| The 2026 Special round | |
|---|---|
| Application period | 9 March 2026 at 14:00 to 12 March 2026 at 17:00 |
| Evaluation and payment | 9 March 2026 to 15 March 2026 |
| Test fee | 24 USD or equivalent |
| Test period | 26 March 2026 to 29 March 2026 |
| Venue | DMW Central Office, Mandaluyong City |
It runs under a Memorandum of Understanding on the Sending of Workers between Korea’s Ministry of Employment and Labor and DMW.
Where announcements appear
DMW publishes EPS-TOPIK advisories on its EPS Korea page and posts registration links on the EPS DMW Official Facebook page. Windows are short, measured in days rather than weeks, and the manufacturing round closed on its cap rather than its deadline.
The EPS enquiry address published on the advisories is ebmrd.eps@dmw.gov.ph.
What this page does not cover
DMW’s advisories do not publish the EPS-TOPIK passing score, the wage a Korean employer pays, the length of the employment contract, the payment procedure for the test fee, which is issued as a separate advisory each round, or the industries beyond manufacturing that EPS covers in a given year. None of those is stated here. The salary side is set by Korean law and is not published by DMW.
Related
The recruitment agencies guide covers the private agency route and the government fees on each, the PEOS guide covers the free orientation seminar to take before applying anywhere, the work abroad without experience guide covers why this is the cheapest published route for a first-time applicant, and the OEC guide covers the exit clearance every deployed worker needs. The working in Taiwan guide and the working in Japan guide cover the other two East Asian destinations and what their own labour ministries publish on pay.
Frequently asked questions
- What is EPS?
- The Employment Permit System, a government-to-government arrangement between Korea's Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Philippine Department of Migrant Workers. Because it is government to government, there is no recruitment agency in the middle and no placement fee to any private party.
- How old do I have to be?
- Between 18 and 38 at the time of registration. The advisories express it as a birth date range, so the cut-off moves with each round. For the 2025 manufacturing round it was born between 4 February 1986 and 3 February 2007.
- Do I need to speak Korean?
- You must pass the EPS-TOPIK, the Test of Proficiency in Korean, implemented by the Human Resources Development Service of Korea. Only those who pass may submit a job application under EPS. Under the point-based system, low Korean proficiency can be offset if you are assessed as skilled and experienced.
- Can I apply if I am colour blind?
- No. Persons with colour blindness or colour weakness are ineligible, and DMW tells applicants to check their colour vision status before applying for the first round. Herniated disc or finger amputation does not bar registration, but it is assessed in the second round for ability to work.
- How many people can register?
- It is capped per round. The 2025 manufacturing registration was open to 7,500 qualified applicants only, and the portal closed automatically on reaching 7,500 without further notice.
- Is there a fee?
- The Special EPS-TOPIK in 2026 carried a test fee of 24 USD or the equivalent amount. That is a test fee paid in the process, not a placement fee, and DMW publishes the payment procedure in a separate advisory each round.
- Can I go back if I already worked in Korea?
- Only within limits. You cannot register if you have stayed in South Korea for more than 5 years under the E-9 non-professional and E-10 seafarer visas. Former workers who completed a contract and returned voluntarily may be invited to the separate Special EPS-TOPIK, from a list HRD Korea provides.
- How do I know when registration opens?
- By advisory. DMW publishes EPS-TOPIK advisories on its EPS Korea page and posts the registration link on the EPS DMW official Facebook page. Registration windows are short, measured in days, so the advisory is the thing to watch.
More DMW guides
Sources
- Department of Migrant Workers | EPS-TOPIK Advisory No. 1, series of 2025, Manufacturing Industry under Point-based System, retrieved
- Department of Migrant Workers | EPS-TOPIK Advisory No. 1, series of 2026, Special EPS-TOPIK Online Registration, retrieved
- Department of Migrant Workers | EPS Korea advisories, retrieved