Job Discussion Forums

[ciarak121]

Hi everyone:)

I was hoping someone could help me...

Does anyone know anything about London academy for teaching english in Spain in Granada??

Any information would be greatly apprecisted:)

Thanks

Ciara

[sdruessel]

Have you found out anything about this school? I was offered a job there, but cant seem to find much information.

[ciarak121]

Hi
no I havent found out anything:( Have you? were you offered the job in Granada too? when are you supposed to start? Do you think its a legit offer?

[sdruessel]

Yes, I received contract to start May 15th that seems legit , but I have a weird feeling about it. I sent them email to see if I could visit with someone. What are your thoughts?

[spiral78]

OK, guys: questions

1. Do you have passports from an EU country? If not, this is probably a scam.
2. Did they ask you to pay for ANYTHING AT ALL up front? If yes, this IS a scam.

Red flags:

It is VERY rare for schools in this region to hire anyone sight-unseen, and this is a very strange time of year to be hiring - most contracts are Sept-June.

What are they offering?

The school itself may well exist and be legit- there have been lots of scammers over the past few years who've hijacked the details of real schools, so I'm not suggesting that the school itself is necessarily scamming anyone.

[sdruessel]

I agree it could be a scam, but they have not asked for any money, yet. I had a Skype interview, but the video wasn't working so we just messaged back and forth for nearly an hour. Then the academy (not a traditional school, but a language school) sent me a contract that also had the contact email and website for the legal firm that would be handling my work visa. If they ask for money, then I will know it is a scam. The website for this school is www.londonacademy.es. I will keep everyone posted...

[spiral78]

If you are not an EU citizen, they won't be able to get you a work permit. Private language schools really can't petition for exceptional work visas.

Recently, there have been some scams in which the 'legal firm' asks for money to process the visa.

Don't send any.

If you are a citizen of the UK or Ireland, you don't need a visa. If you are not, please be aware that there is basically no chance that a private language school can get you a legal working visa.

It is possible to work in Spain on some student visas (see other threads for info). I know a couple of people who went on exceptional visas; they have specialist related qualifications and the universities that employ them could reasonably argue that they had quals no EU candidate offered.

Otherwise, it just isn't legal, and any company telling you otherwise is going to scam you at some point. Don't hold your breath that you've found some wonderful loophole....you're 99% sure to be disappointed.

[pr455]

I agree with everything that spiral78 has said. With the crisis in Spain, there is absolutely no way that they will even consider giving a work visa to a foreigner over a Spaniard. Keep us informed, but if they ask for any money, you know it is a scam. Companies pay their lawyers to handle the paperwork for the work visa and the people being hired should not have to pay anything.

Suerte,

Shawn

[Asand108]

I also have a signed contract and instructions to book my flight for 15th May with a travel agent in Madrid . He has asked my to pay for the flight by transferring money via Weston union and a scanned copy of my passport.
I suggested to London academy that I can book direct for here at half the price but they insisted that I use the address in Madrid.
Any comments?

[Asand108]

I wrote to [email protected] to arrange flight tickets and have asked them for a IBAN or bank account details for a secure payment (traceable). This was 24 hours ago. Since then I have heard nothing form them which is strange because as I was enquiring about the flights they replied within 2 hours every time.

[Asand108]

I have also asked London academy by phone and Skype if it is true that more than one teacher has been offered the post. The reply was " yes just 6".

[pr455]

This sounds like it could be a scam. Why would an academy insist you use an address in Madrid to book a flight. Something sounds fishy about all of this. You can continue if you want, but if I were you, I would quit while I am ahead.

Shawn

[Asand108]

To be a little more direct:

The key words are WESTERN UNION transfer SCANNED PASSPORT.
According to the previous chats no money has been asked for until now.

[Asand108]

And remember, Granada is a small city with a populus of 240 000 people in a country with very high unemployment and they have just offered 6 teachers 34 teaching weeks. Does it really add up?

[spiral78]