"My child is a foreign national. Can they attend school in Korea?" It is the first question foreign families ask after moving in. The Enforcement Decree of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act opens a separate route for foreign children and students to apply for admission or transfer at a school near where they live, and what the school checks is not the type of visa but the fact that the child actually lives in Korea. Based on the decree's articles, this article lays out how elementary, middle and high schools differ and which documents are needed.

Foreign children are included among "returning students and others"

Article 19 of the decree calls the group that may follow a separate admission and transfer procedure "returning students and others". Alongside children returning from abroad, children of overseas Koreans and children of North Korean defectors, it lists children or students who are foreign nationals. Children who have not lived in Korea or have no school record, and therefore cannot go through the ordinary enrollment procedure, enter by the same route. An ordinary child receives an enrollment notice from the city, county or district and goes to an assigned school, but foreign children often receive no such notice. That is why the decree has the guardian apply to the school directly instead of waiting for a notice. When you can apply, and how a mid-semester arrival is handled, may differ from school to school, so give the school the date your child arrived in Korea when you ask. The ordinary procedure is explained separately in how elementary school entry proceeds.

For elementary school, apply to the principal of the school in your residential zone

Under Article 19, paragraph 1, a guardian may apply, in place of the ordinary admission or transfer procedure, to the principal of an elementary school within the school zone of the child's residence. You go straight to the school rather than through the education office or the district office. The Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education's 2026 elementary school records Q&A says a foreign student entering first grade is processed as an admission, in the same way as a Korean student. In other words, the child's status in the school record does not change; only the application route differs. For an ordinary transfer when a child already enrolled in a Korean school moves, see elementary school transfers, class assignment and after-school care.

The school checks entry and exit records and proof of residence

A principal who receives an application must check, through shared administrative information, the certificate of entry and exit facts or the certificate of alien registration. If the guardian does not consent to that check, the guardian must submit documents directly, and the decree asks for one of two kinds. One is a document proving entry and exit facts or alien registration. The other is a document confirming residence, such as a lease contract or a written residence guarantee from a neighbor. Because the article presents these as alternatives, its wording leaves open applying with residence documents even when alien registration papers are not immediately at hand. However, which document schools and education offices prioritize in practice follows the guidelines of each city and provincial education office, so it is safest to phone the school before applying.

For middle school, apply to a school within the school group or zone

The middle school stage is governed by Article 75. A guardian may apply, in place of the ordinary admission, transfer or entry-by-transfer procedure, to a middle school in the school group or middle school zone to which the elementary school of the residential zone belongs. The eligible group is the foreign children and students in Article 19, paragraph 1, plus students who cannot use the ordinary procedure because they had no residence or school record in Korea. The documents checked follow the same structure as for elementary school. What a school group and a middle school zone are is explained in how middle schools are assigned, so if you are about to move, first look at which school group your new address belongs to.

For high school, the school's own rules decide

High school is worded differently from the previous two stages. Article 89-2 of the decree says a guardian in the same group may enter, transfer or enter by transfer to a high school in place of the ordinary procedure as provided in the school's rules. Unlike for elementary and middle school, the article does not specify the target school and documents; the detailed requirements are delegated to each school's rules and the education office's admission guidelines. So when looking at high schools, ask the school you want whether it has rules for entering foreign students by transfer and how it decides grade placement and recognition of prior education. For a student who has never attended a Korean school, it helps to prepare the previous school's grade and enrollment certificates in Korean or as a notarized translation.

There are also classes for children who are not yet fluent in Korean

Article 19, paragraph 4 provides that a child or student who belongs to a multicultural family under the Multicultural Families Support Act may enter or transfer to an elementary school with a special class for multicultural students, as the superintendent of education determines. For children returning from abroad, a special class for returning students is open in the same way. Which schools run such classes differs by city and province, so ask the district office of education. Home-level support for Korean language development is covered separately in the language development support service through Danuri. The two programs are applied for at different places, so it helps to know both.

If a child stops attending after enrolling, it is processed as an exemption

The Gyeonggi Q&A says that when a foreign national stops studying after enrolling in a compulsory education institution, the case is processed as an exemption. For Korean children, a long unexcused absence triggers a reminder and warning from the school and a report to the local office, but for foreign children there is a separate way of handling cases where compulsory education does not apply. This distinction is a difference in how the school record is settled, not permission for the child to stay away. For a child to attend steadily, it is better to keep sharing attendance and the guardian's contact details with the school after enrollment as well.

Three things to check before you apply

First, the documents a school can check differ depending on residence status and alien registration, so start by sorting out which documents you have. Second, for elementary and middle school, call the school in your residential zone first to confirm when you can apply and which documents are needed, and for high school check each school's rules separately. Third, decree articles can be amended, so look at the current text on the Korea Law Information Center again just before applying. This article is general information based on Articles 19, 75 and 89-2 of the decree and the Gyeonggi Office of Education's 2026 Q&A; it is not legal advice for any individual situation. Confirm residence-status questions with the immigration authorities and school assignment with the relevant district office of education.