Job Discussion Forums

[Hugeshark]

I'm currently in the United States and about to start the subject to contract visa process (a company in Chile has offered me a contract).

After I hand in the application to the Chilean Consulate in my home state, am I legally allowed to enter Chile or do I have to wait the month or so until my visa request is accepted?

I would like to hand in the application then immediately travel to Chile on a tourist visa.

I appreciate any advice.

[Ai]

You should ask the consulate. I actually don't really know many people who had the visa before coming to chile.

[matttheboy]

Come to chile and then send the visa application in by post once you're here. it's quicker and easier. once you send off the application, you're legally allowed to work (keep the registered post stub). the contract has to have a couple of specific stipulations in it (can't remember what they are but it says on the form you get from immigration).

[Pontius73]

Is it even necessary to get a different visa in order to teach? I thought that most people just did it on a tourist visa and then exited every once in a while for a week or something and then re-entered the country and kept working.

[mike30]

It depends on where you work....the better schools will of course require that you have a visa, but there are plenty who will hire you without one.

If you want to work independently (which is the best option if you actually want to earn a reasonable salary) then you can just work illegally on a tourist visa....the problem with this is that you won't be able to bill corporate clients and will be stuck working only with private students who will pay you cash.

The best bet for Chile by far and away is to get a Visa Temporaria, register with SII to create boletas (invoices) and then sell group classes to companies on your own. There will be more leg work but you can actually make a decent living here. I charged 15,000/hour to my clients and you could easily bump that to 20,000 with the right companies, and they'd still be saving heaps of money hiring you over going through an institute.....if you're planning on staying in Chile any longer than 1 year then this is the only way to go.

[chini]

I wouldn�t be so sure. Things are changing regarding company English classes. Most institutes have Sence codes so they can get away with charging higher rates, so don�t go overpricing yourself. Unless you�re an amazing teacher with more than just a TEFL or CELTA certification, I think $20,000 is a rip off.

[Pontius73]

How hard is it to get a visa temporaria and register with SII? And do I have to get the visa before I leave or can I get it in country?

[mike30]

Chini----the prices I was making reference to are for group classes...the key to making good money is to ONLY teach group classes, that way you have 4-5 students and almost never get cancellations, and 20,000/hr for a group class is less than 50% of what they'd pay at an institute even with SENCE....you have to sell companies on the idea of group classes because the Chileans don't really go for it at first, but 1-1 classes are a pain with the frequency of cancellations in this country

Pontius----I would think that you'd need to get the visa in country, and it's not hard to get...signing up with SII is just a formality after you've got your visa...don't get me wrong, it's much more difficult than just going to work for a school, but you'll make triple the money with less teaching hours once you're set up

[novia]

I charge $4500-$6000 an hour in privates (lower end if they buy a month at a time etc... and higher an hour at a time).

So basically after one person try to charge $1500-3000 an hour per person. Here that is reasonable. So like a group of 4 you could make $8000-20,000.

Depends if you are sin verguenza or not.

I find in my experience if people think they are getting a discount they take classes longer and are more likely to stick around. Too expensive you may put a family on the street. [/i]