Job Discussion Forums

[dghjarrett]

Hi everyone,

My name is Daniel Jarrett and I am currently working as an English Teacher in Berlin, Germany.

I qualified as an English Teacher in October 2009 when I successfully completed an intensive 4-week CELTA course at the Berlin School of English in Germany. Since this time, I have been teaching English in Berlin and I have taught English to children, teenagers and adults in a wide range of settings and environments. From 2009 to 2010, I taught English to children between the ages of 2 to 13 in nurseries, schools and private settings. Since the end of 2010, I have been teaching adults full-time and I am currently teaching English at several professional schools in Berlin. These courses include weekly group-courses, intensive courses and 1-to-1 lessons.

I am currently thinking about the possibility of moving on and trying to find work as an English Teacher in another location. I am specifically looking at the possibility of teaching English in Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong or another destination in South-East Asia.

I am due to get married in September 2011 to an Italian citizen and therefore, I will only apply and accept a job offer if it is possible that my wife would be able to travel with me as part of the job offer. When an English Teacher applies for a job at a school in South-East Asia and is then offered the job, is a spouse or co-dependent included in the VISA application and if offered, included as part of the available accommodation? If so, does this automatically mean that any co-dependent would subsequently be able to look and apply for work in the host-country or would they need a separate VISA for this. I understand that it varies from country to country, but in general is a co-dependent not seen as a problem in finding work in South-East Asia or does it make the situation more difficult.

thanks for any help / guidance, daniel

[naturegirl321]

If you're married and living in the same country, you can usually apply at the same time. Your spouse will get a dependent visa.

Though your employer may not be happy about that if she's not teaching. For accomodation, you might want to ask for a housing allowance instead, since the school might just have single housing available.

I'd investigate the visa process for those countries. Keep in mind that some schools might not want to hire you simply becuase you have a dependent. Which is fine, you probably don't want to work for those schools.

Also be prepared for some personal questions, such as
When are you going to have kids?

What is your wife going to do while you work? Becuase in some countries, it's illegal to work on a dependent visa. That's what a dependent visa is, it means that you're dependent on someone wlse for money and therefore don't need to work.

What does your wife think about moving to X country?

[sistercream]

I'm not familiar with regulations in other countries, but at least in Hong Kong and Macau a spouse on a dependent visa is entitled to do any job for which they are qualified without requiring any additional paperwork - which makes them much in demand! Of course what job your wife might get would depend on her qualifications and interests.
Like Naturegirl, I ASSUME your intended is both aware of and enthusiastic about your plans ...

[naturegirl321]

[dghjarrett]

Thanks for the advice so far.... It seems that having a dependent spouse does not put schools off hiring you or are there cases where people have been refused work due to being married etc....???

daniel

[tttompatz]

For most of Asia the chances of finding LEGAL work for yourself will largely depend on YOUR country of passport.

IF you are from the UK and hold a degree in addition to your CELTA then you will have no problem. IF you are not and/or do not then you will have issues and your wife may have problems accompanying you.

The reason I mention it is because the visa for your wife will depend on YOUR having a valid work visa for the country you intend to teach in.

There is lots of work in SE Asia for an English teacher BUT in most of the countries you mentioned the requirements for a work visa will include either a degree (Bachelors or above) and/or a passport from an anglophone country.

IF you get the proper work visa/work permits/residence permits then your LEGALLY married spouse will have NO problem obtaining a dependent's visa.

.

[naturegirl321]

[sistercream]

[dghjarrett]

Hi, yes. I forgot to mention that I am British and that I hold a University degree from a British University so hopefully I meet both these standards mention. However, my wife is Italian but does hold a University degree from an Italian University. Should this complicate things??

daniel

[dghjarrett]

Some interesting and helpful comments. Thanks a lot to everyone. I think the test will come when i start applying for jobs. But at the moment, I feel more confident that everyone will be ok.

daniel

[naturegirl321]

[tttompatz]