Is it true that you can't get a teaching visa in Korea without a bachelor's degree?

For the E-2 (foreign language instructor) visa, yes — a bachelor's degree is a hard requirement from Korean immigration, and it must be from a country where English is the native language for the standard E-2: USA, UK, Canada, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, or South Africa. The degree doesn't have to be in education or English, any 4-year bachelor's works, but you'll also need a clean criminal background check and a sealed transcript, both apostilled.

There are a few narrow exceptions worth knowing. The E-1 (professor) visa requires at least a master's, so that's stricter. The E-7 (specially designated activities) can sometimes cover language teaching in specialized roles like corporate trainers, but it's harder to get and requires relevant experience. For non-degree holders, the most realistic path is coming on a different visa first — a working holiday visa (H-1) if you're from an eligible country lets you do limited part-time work, and F-series visas (F-2 points-based, F-4 ethnic Korean, F-5 permanent, F-6 marriage) remove the degree requirement entirely.

Some hagwons advertise positions for non-degree holders, but those are usually under-the-table arrangements and risky. You can be deported and banned from re-entry if caught, and your employer can also be heavily fined. Public school programs like EPIK and GEPIK strictly enforce the degree rule.

If you don't have a bachelor's, the safest bet is to either complete one through an online accredited program (many people do this while teaching English in Vietnam or Thailand first) or look at TaLK (Teach and Learn in Korea), which has historically accepted associate degree holders in the past — check the current year's requirements before applying because the program has tightened over time.