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radupreez
Joined: 10 Jan 2014
Posts: 4
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 Posted: Fri May 27, 2016 7:01 pm Post subject: Which countries can I take my wife with me? |
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Hi,
I've been teaching ESL for about 6 years in Asia and the Middle East. Came home to get married and now I'm starting to look into ESL opportunities again. I definitely want to take my wife with me, but I'm not seeing a lot of jobs that will offer a good setup for a couple. I know the Middle East employers are more considerate in this regard, but I'm just curious if anyone has ever brought their spouse to countries like China, Japan, Korea or other Asian countries?
Please share your experience, I'm looking seriously at jobs in China. What's the sponsorship process like etc?
Thanks. |
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nomad soul
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world
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| Posted: Fri May 27, 2016 7:13 pm Post subject: Re: Which countries can I take my wife with me? |
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| You should also post this on the General Asia forum. |
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radupreez
Joined: 10 Jan 2014
Posts: 4
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| Posted: Fri May 27, 2016 8:01 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks. will do  |
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scot47
Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343
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| Posted: Sat May 28, 2016 10:48 am Post subject: |
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| If your wife is not planning to work, Saudi Arabia offers some okay contracts. Decent accommodation and a big enough salary to support a non-working spouse. |
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MotherF
Joined: 07 Jun 2010
Posts: 1450
Location: 17�48'N 97�46'W
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| Posted: Sat May 28, 2016 3:17 pm Post subject: |
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What nationality is your wife?
What would she do while abroad? How does she feel about that?
What are your qualifications? What type of teaching are you looking for? |
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Guy Courchesne
Joined: 10 Mar 2003
Posts: 9650
Location: Mexico City
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| Posted: Sat May 28, 2016 5:36 pm Post subject: |
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I assume she isn't a teacher...
Your work visa in Mexico allows her to come as a spouse, though technically she couldn't work under the spouse visa (she would need her own work visa through a sponsor that isn't you). |
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Kowloon
Joined: 11 Jan 2016
Posts: 133
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| Posted: Mon May 30, 2016 2:41 am Post subject: |
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Need more information about you and your wife's circumstances.
If she would like to work and you have the right qualifications then consider Hong Kong. You can work on a spousal visa here and in my opinion there is enough in the way of generic office jobs that with a few months of job hunting she'd pick something up. Same as Singapore (but the TEFL market isn't as strong).
You can take her to Korea but she can't work on that visa. |
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spanglish
Joined: 21 May 2009
Posts: 742
Location: working on that
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| Posted: Sat Aug 13, 2016 2:37 am Post subject: |
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| Ideally your wife is an executive for an international engineering company and you can go as the trailing spouse and pick up TEFL work on the side while living in your (her) provided expat accommodations. |
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danshengou
Joined: 17 Feb 2016
Posts: 434
Location: A bizarre overcrowded hole
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| Posted: Sat Aug 13, 2016 4:29 am Post subject: |
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| spanglish wrote: |
| Ideally your wife is an executive for an international engineering company and you can go as the trailing spouse and pick up TEFL work on the side while living in your (her) provided expat accommodations. |
Amen to that! Sorry mate, TEFL is basically a dead-end for the one-income male provider type. Wise up and find another career and/or stay home and have your wife get a job. |
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Jmbf
Joined: 29 Jun 2014
Posts: 663
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| Posted: Sat Aug 13, 2016 5:31 am Post subject: |
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| danshengou wrote: |
Amen to that! Sorry mate, TEFL is basically a dead-end for the one-income male provider type. |
Plenty of exceptions exist to this. The lazy, unmotivated, minimally-qualified, stupid and just plain crazy sink to the bottom of the pool, the same as in any industry. Unfortunately a significant percentage of TEFLers fall into one of these categories. However, decent earning opportunities still exist for those willing to work for it. |
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spanglish
Joined: 21 May 2009
Posts: 742
Location: working on that
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| Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2016 2:49 pm Post subject: |
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| Jmbf wrote: |
| danshengou wrote: |
Amen to that! Sorry mate, TEFL is basically a dead-end for the one-income male provider type. |
Plenty of exceptions exist to this. The lazy, unmotivated, minimally-qualified, stupid and just plain crazy sink to the bottom of the pool, the same as in any industry. Unfortunately a significant percentage of TEFLers fall into one of these categories. However, decent earning opportunities still exist for those willing to work for it. |
I think we were both being a bit tongue in cheek, but I'd say there's more than a grain of truth to the above - even for the very, very well qualified. I've met many wandering DELTA/MA/myriad other qualification holders who would never dream of landing a basic accompanied expat package. As an example, Assistant and Teaching Centre Manager jobs at the British Council generally take some of the best qualified and experienced candidates and not even those positions are really set up for families. Most of the senior management guys (and they almost always are men) I've met in those positions are single and expect to stay single the rest of their lives.
Anyway, not meaning to cast a spell of gloom and negativity; where there's grit/ambition/will/money&brains for further study - there's a way. |
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bograt
Joined: 12 Nov 2014
Posts: 331
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| Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2016 9:02 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| I think we were both being a bit tongue in cheek, but I'd say there's more than a grain of truth to the above - even for the very, very well qualified. I've met many wandering DELTA/MA/myriad other qualification holders who would never dream of landing a basic accompanied expat package. As an example, Assistant and Teaching Centre Manager jobs at the British Council generally take some of the best qualified and experienced candidates and not even those positions are really set up for families. Most of the senior management guys (and they almost always are men) I've met in those positions are single and expect to stay single the rest of their lives. |
That's not been my experience at all and I'm not sure in what way you think these jobs aren't set up for families. Unless you mean the way they have to keep moving around to climb the ladder. Certainly the salary, accommodation allowance and free schooling is enough to support a wife and kids. BC senior management are rarely single in my opinion and quite often women. Maybe you've been hanging around the ME where most of them are gay. |
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spanglish
Joined: 21 May 2009
Posts: 742
Location: working on that
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| Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2016 11:06 pm Post subject: |
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| bograt wrote: |
| Quote: |
| I think we were both being a bit tongue in cheek, but I'd say there's more than a grain of truth to the above - even for the very, very well qualified. I've met many wandering DELTA/MA/myriad other qualification holders who would never dream of landing a basic accompanied expat package. As an example, Assistant and Teaching Centre Manager jobs at the British Council generally take some of the best qualified and experienced candidates and not even those positions are really set up for families. Most of the senior management guys (and they almost always are men) I've met in those positions are single and expect to stay single the rest of their lives. |
That's not been my experience at all and I'm not sure in what way you think these jobs aren't set up for families. Unless you mean the way they have to keep moving around to climb the ladder. Certainly the salary, accommodation allowance and free schooling is enough to support a wife and kids. BC senior management are rarely single in my opinion and quite often women. Maybe you've been hanging around the ME where most of them are gay. |
BC doesn't offer free or subsidized schooling to teaching centre employees; in some truly exceptional cases you might see one out of 100 managers (not teachers) manage to get this benefit. Additionally, I have never met any senior teacher or teaching manager with children - or even a spouse - in tow. Also, only in exceptional cases does BC offer accommodation allowance to anybody, teachers or teaching managers.
"Certainly the salary, [usually non-existent] accommodation allowance and [definitely non-existent] free schooling" are not enough to support a wife and kids, not even close.
I have professional experience, knowledge, and numerous friends and co-workers in BC teaching centres in Europe, South America, North Africa, and the Middle East.
Last edited by spanglish on Mon Aug 15, 2016 11:19 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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bograt
Joined: 12 Nov 2014
Posts: 331
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| Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2016 11:12 pm Post subject: |
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| spanglish wrote: |
| bograt wrote: |
| Quote: |
| I think we were both being a bit tongue in cheek, but I'd say there's more than a grain of truth to the above - even for the very, very well qualified. I've met many wandering DELTA/MA/myriad other qualification holders who would never dream of landing a basic accompanied expat package. As an example, Assistant and Teaching Centre Manager jobs at the British Council generally take some of the best qualified and experienced candidates and not even those positions are really set up for families. Most of the senior management guys (and they almost always are men) I've met in those positions are single and expect to stay single the rest of their lives. |
That's not been my experience at all and I'm not sure in what way you think these jobs aren't set up for families. Unless you mean the way they have to keep moving around to climb the ladder. Certainly the salary, accommodation allowance and free schooling is enough to support a wife and kids. BC senior management are rarely single in my opinion and quite often women. Maybe you've been hanging around the ME where most of them are gay. |
You seem touchy and way out of touch with current market realities.
BC doesn't offer free or subsidized schooling to teaching centre employees; in some truly exceptional cases you might see one out of 100 managers (not teachers) manage to get this benefit. Additionally, I ever met any senior teacher or teaching manager with children - or even a spouse - in tow. Also, only in exceptional cases does BC offer accommodation allowance to anybody, teachers or teaching managers.
"Certainly the salary, [usually non-existent] accommodation allowance and [definitely non-existent] free schooling" are not enough to support a wife and kids, not even close.
I have professional experience, knowledge, and numerous friends and co-workers in BC teaching centres in Europe, South America, North Africa, and the Middle East. |
You're moving the goal posts now as previously you said 'assistant and teaching centre management jobs' . Now you're talking about senior teachers. There's a big difference. Band 7 jobs and above usually offer free education for kids |
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spanglish
Joined: 21 May 2009
Posts: 742
Location: working on that
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| Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2016 11:21 pm Post subject: |
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No, I'm not moving any goal posts. You're largely thinking of managers outside the teaching centres, which would explain the talk of bands. Like I said - maybe 1 in 100 teaching *managers* might be able to take advantage of schooling for kids.
Edit:
To give some examples....the ATCM - assistant teaching centre manager (second from the top of the teaching centre) in Tunis made about the salary of an entry level NGO expatriate (or less) and definitely does not receive accommodation allowance. An ATCM in a major capitol city in Europe left in frustration for a hazard posting because he couldn't save money on his salary, which did not include accommodation or schooling allowance or anything like that - like all or nearly all BC Europe Teaching Centre jobs. (He had no children or spouse.) The Teaching Centre Manager in Tripoli had a sweet gig with housing, but it was unaccompanied, so forget about the whole wife and kids and schooling thing. The Teaching Centre Manager in Colombia has a great salary relative to the local economy that would be enough to support dependents, but - again - definitely does not have any housing allowance. In Caracas, more of the same but much lower salaries than Colombia.
Anyway....I could go on - just read the vacancy notices; the salaries and benefits are public to all. These aren't bad jobs. They're actually quite decent, but there are very, very few of them relative to the teaching and senior teacher jobs and we're doing everybody a disservice by pretending that you can tow a spouse and 1-3 kids around the world. The Foreign Service it ain't. |
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