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mizzoumike76
Joined: 22 Nov 2008
Posts: 26
Location: Tirana, Albania hailing from the USA
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 Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2008 1:05 pm Post subject: CP Language Institute.........Scam? |
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Buenos Dias,
My name is Michael and this is my first post here on this forum. I am from the USA but currently living and teaching in Albania (where?) and enjoying it very much.
Just for fun, I had sent in my CV in response to a job offer on several websites from a school called CP Language Institute. I have since heard in only one place that this is a scam, as they ask for money for the visa application.
Since I have yet to see decent proof they are a scam, I am curious if anyone in Madrid has heard of this school? They're part of Schiller University, from what I understand.
They money was good (really good), but as for visas for non-EUs I hear this is difficult to obtain. To the point that a Bulgarian school said I would need to leave and come back every so often (which was fine for me but probably not legal).
If anyone knows about this school, please let me know. I would hate to fall for a scam, but I would hate even more to pass up on a great deal beause one person, one time, says it is a scam!
Thanks,
Michael
p.s. if you ARE that one person, please give us more info on why this is thought to be a scam. Thanks! |
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spiral78
Joined: 05 Apr 2004
Posts: 11534
Location: On a Short Leash
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| Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2008 2:52 pm Post subject: |
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Prior to Jan 1, 2008, a non-EU citizen could 1) stay in a given EU member country for 90 days 2) then travel across a border, and get a stamp and 3) re-enter original EU member country immediately for 90 more days.
There is a significant change in the law beginning Jan 1 this year. Now, the non-EU citizen can stay for 90 days in the Schengen Zone (google for a list of countries), then has to LEAVE FOR 90 DAYS before re-entering.
This makes the old border-stamp-visa-renewal approach invalid.
No, I don't know the 'school' in question. But the fact that they ask for money to process a visa makes them look VERY dodgy.
It is 99% impossible for non-EU citizens to get work permits for Spain. Highly unlikely that this school can actually do so. |
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jonniboy
Joined: 18 Jun 2006
Posts: 751
Location: Panama City, Panama
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| Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2008 11:01 pm Post subject: |
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| The fact that they're asking you for money for "visa processing" shows that it's a scam. Why would they go to all that expense and hassle for someone abroad who may well not show up when they can take their pick from any number of native speakers already there on the ground? |
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jonniboy
Joined: 18 Jun 2006
Posts: 751
Location: Panama City, Panama
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| Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2008 11:15 pm Post subject: |
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| spiral78 wrote: |
| Prior to Jan 1, 2008, a non-EU citizen could 1) stay in a given EU member country for 90 days 2) then travel across a border, and get a stamp and 3) re-enter original EU member country immediately for 90 more days. |
Not true. My Russian friends had 90 days from 180 long before 2008, so nothing changed then.
This thread for example http://www.travellerspoint.com/forum.cfm?thread=21863 dating from April 2006, mentions the 90 from 180 schengen rule as do numerous other threads pre-2008, so I'm genuinely curious where you get your 1 Jan 2008 date from? |
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spiral78
Joined: 05 Apr 2004
Posts: 11534
Location: On a Short Leash
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| Posted: Fri Nov 28, 2008 2:21 am Post subject: |
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Ah, my regional limitations caught me! Jan 1 of this year is when the 90/180 rule was expanded to the new Schengen states.
In any case, the overall point is to dispell the myth that a border run still works.
Out of curiosity, do you think there has been a significant increase in people who've really been penalized?
I've been questioned much more often and seriously this year than ever in the past, travelling around Europe on my US passport (I withhold the permanent residency and work permit documents until asked). I've encountered active border guards not only at airports, but train stations and even on a bus this year! |
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jonniboy
Joined: 18 Jun 2006
Posts: 751
Location: Panama City, Panama
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| Posted: Fri Nov 28, 2008 6:24 am Post subject: |
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| spiral78 wrote: |
In any case, the overall point is to dispell the myth that a border run still works.
Out of curiosity, do you think there has been a significant increase in people who've really been penalized? |
Yes border runs are seriously bad ideas now and are likely to be counterproductive as an ex of mine found out when she came to visit me in UK and ended up with a big "refused entry" stamp on her passport.
I honestly don't know if more people have been penalised. This year I've flown Riga > Stockholm , Paris>Barcelona and Valencia>Brussels as well as bussing it Amsterdam > Riga and Vilnius>Riga. There was only one check when Latvian customs came on the bus with sniffer dogs, but they didn't check passports. Spanish immigration have always struck me as notoriously lax so people would probably get away with staying there, provided they don't try international trips before flying back to the US. |
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gracias
Joined: 08 May 2008
Posts: 27
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| Posted: Sat Dec 13, 2008 1:26 am Post subject: |
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^^
Madrid papers this week reported 16 American teachers kicked out of Spain with 10 year no-entry stamps for working illegally in the month of November alone.
Since the Atocha bombings, and latterly Zapatero, Americans are no longer welcome in Spain. Just look at Madrileno faces when they hear American English spoken on the metro. It's not simple resentment, its pure hatred.
Be warned. |
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mizzoumike76
Joined: 22 Nov 2008
Posts: 26
Location: Tirana, Albania hailing from the USA
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| Posted: Sat Dec 13, 2008 6:53 am Post subject: sad. |
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I didn't know America bombed Spain to cause such hatred.
Come to Albania, when they hear (or mostly just recognize you as being) Americans, they smile and ask you all sorts of questions. Very friendly people, and they are so polite and always try to speak a little English to you. I have read that Albanians treat foreigners here as honored guests in their own home, and it really is true. It's nice to be welcome somewhere!
I used to work with a number of Iraqi and Afghan people who immigrated to the US after the wars began in '01 and '03, and we had many long talks about the opinion of Americans, and for the most part they said Iraqis and Afghans loved us. They wanted their countries back, but glad we came.
Why is the resentment so high in Madrid against Americans? Do they think we had something to do with the bombings, or are we just the catch-all scapegoat for what's wrong with the world? |
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Moore
Joined: 25 Aug 2004
Posts: 730
Location: Madrid
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| Posted: Sat Dec 13, 2008 12:25 pm Post subject: |
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I think "pure hatred" is really a bit strong, all my American mates are doing fine, both in Madrid and in Barcelona: absolutely none of them have mentioned anything beyond the usual anti-NeoCon Bush stuff that's been going on all over Europe for the last 8 years.
If anything the whole Obama thing has renewed peoples faith in America to re-invent itself. People in Europe do not dislike Americans, especially on a personal level, it's just all those years of Bush.
_________________________________________________________________________
...Jobs and language exchanges in Madrid, Barcelona and Berlin... www.lingobongo.com
...send your c.v. around ALL the schools in Madrid, Barcelona or Berlin in one hit with our c.v. sending service... www.lingobongo.com |
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mizzoumike76
Joined: 22 Nov 2008
Posts: 26
Location: Tirana, Albania hailing from the USA
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| Posted: Sat Dec 13, 2008 4:42 pm Post subject: |
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| Moore wrote: |
If anything the whole Obama thing has renewed peoples faith in America to re-invent itself.
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Ah, debating politics with Europeans is a constant source of amusement and education for me. I love to get their point of view on things, and I love giving them mine. By and large, most Europeans I have discussed world politics prove to be well informed and for the most part interested in my opinions and views. Over here the most dfficult concept to explain is Americans' sense of nationalism, and how it differs from person to person; someone such as myself with many generations in the US sees it much differently than someone who has immigrated to the US. They often assume I must feel more American than these newer Americans, which I don't. It is the essence of American nationalism, to immigrate and feel a part of your new land. What it means to be American is a subject many Albanians are very curious about and almost always quiz me on.
On a few occasions, when some Europeans learn I am American, they feel the need to run down a list of all the things America does wrong and bad (where we send troops and get involved) and then give me a list of what we should be doing (where we should send troops and get involved). I listen politely, then point out the irony.
I'm glad there isn't widespread animosity towards Americans in Madrid. I consider myself an ambassador for the US, and try to behave accordingly in public. As the parents always say, "be on your best behavior"!
As for Bush, when he visited in 2007 they welcomed him like a rock star. He stopped at a cafe in a town called Fushe Kruje, and they now have a bronzed plaque outside in honor of his visit to the cafe.
As for Obama, seems he said something about Serbia or Kosova the didn't like so much, so they don't care for him. They also worry he won't show the same support for Albania that Bush did. |
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jr1965
Joined: 09 Jul 2004
Posts: 175
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| Posted: Sat Dec 13, 2008 6:03 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| Just look at Madrileno faces when they hear American English spoken on the metro. It's not simple resentment, its pure hatred. |
Since when can the average Madrileno tell that a person speaking English hails from the US and not from, say, somewhere in the UK? On occasions when I was overhead speaking English in Madrid and other places in Spain (e.g., in a cab, on the metro, in a caf�) and a person asked me where I was from, most started by saying, �Eres Inglesa?� When I said �no� several people then asked me if I was French. So there you go� |
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jonniboy
Joined: 18 Jun 2006
Posts: 751
Location: Panama City, Panama
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| Posted: Sun Dec 14, 2008 2:16 am Post subject: |
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Guys, I wouldn't waste too much of your time with this poster. Remember this is a person who doesn't do punctuation or question marks but would still have us believe that a person moving to Madrid in May can earn 40 euro an hour for 30 hour weeks in August for a grand total of 5000 euro per month in Spain in August, rising to a claimed 8000 a month (!) Stop sniggering at the back now.
In a previous life he was the son of the King of Nigeria and had 30 million dollars to invest in your company and prior to that he was living under a bridge. You can read his story here...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Billy_Goats_Gruff  |
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sheikh radlinrol
Joined: 30 Jan 2007
Posts: 1222
Location: Spain
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| Posted: Sun Dec 14, 2008 3:18 pm Post subject: |
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| gracias wrote: |
^^
Madrid papers this week reported 16 American teachers kicked out of Spain with 10 year no-entry stamps for working illegally in the month of November alone.
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Which paper? Which day? Please tell us. |
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sheikh radlinrol
Joined: 30 Jan 2007
Posts: 1222
Location: Spain
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| Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2008 9:46 pm Post subject: |
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| sheikh radlinrol wrote: |
| gracias wrote: |
^^
Madrid papers this week reported 16 American teachers kicked out of Spain with 10 year no-entry stamps for working illegally in the month of November alone.
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Which paper? Which day? Please tell us. |
I'm still waiting for a response. The poster called ''gracias'' is clearly a lunatic and his comments should be deleted by the moderators as they serve only to mislead and confuse those who seek information on these boards. |
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