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| which city do you prefer, Medellin or Bogota? |
| Medellin |
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66% |
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| Bogota |
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33% |
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| Total Votes : 3 |
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fizzeii
Joined: 15 Feb 2011
Posts: 1
Location: Medellin, Colombia
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 Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2011 6:39 am Post subject: Medellin vs Bogota, work visa |
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Hello everyone,
I'm currently in Medellin interviewing for jobs at Institutes and Universities, so far I've gotten several places interested in hiring me, but then the dreaded question comes of whether or not I have a work visa. I've been answering with "I'm in the midst of sorting out that situation", but really I'd like to ask them to help me arrange for one, though unsure if that's the appropriate thing to ask. Any suggestions with this one?
As others have already posted before, it's kind of a catch 22 as you need a contract to obtain a work visa but it's difficult to get a contract without a work visa.
Also, I've been informed that Bogota seems to have a lot more Institutes hiring folks without a visa, while Medellin is more challenging. Is this true? The University of Antioquia was interested in my CV but of course I can't work for them without a visa - anyone know what are the chances of the University helping to arrange one for you? I'm interested in applying to the Universidad Nacional in Bogota.
Oh and lasly...just out of curiosity, in which city would you prefer to live - Medellin or Bogota? (based on your personal tastes and your English teacher salary)
Thanks for reading, any advice would be helpful. |
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G22
Joined: 25 Oct 2010
Posts: 89
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| Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2011 5:21 am Post subject: |
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| Medellin is easily a nicer city. The climate alone makes it nicer. There are definitely more job opportunities in Bogota, however many institutes don't bother offering job visas here because employees often don't stay very long and the visas are expensive. I know International House offers a work visa but they also will reduce your pay if you choose to get a work visa from them. |
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windowlicker
Joined: 05 Jun 2008
Posts: 183
Location: Bogot�, Colombia
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| Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2011 2:30 pm Post subject: |
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| G22 wrote: |
| I know International House offers a work visa but they also will reduce your pay if you choose to get a work visa from them. |
Correcting wrong information on this forum is getting a little old. Unless things have DRASTICALLY changed at IH recently, this is completely false. IH gets a work visa for all of their teachers, though this process generally takes a month or two. If you get your visa but don't complete your contract, they will take the cost of the visa (proportional to the amount of time you have completed on your contract) out of your pay. As of this time last year, this is the only way pay and visa are related at IH. IH Bogota, while it has its problems, has also been increasingly going in the direction of "more legit" in terms of legal issues, so I would be extremely surprised if they are allowing some teachers to work illegally and receive more pay. |
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CountBassD
Joined: 08 Feb 2010
Posts: 33
Location: Bogota, Colombia
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| Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2011 2:27 pm Post subject: |
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| G22 wrote: |
| I know International House offers a work visa but they also will reduce your pay if you choose to get a work visa from them. |
Not at all true. |
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G22
Joined: 25 Oct 2010
Posts: 89
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| Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2011 9:54 am Post subject: |
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| windowlicker wrote: |
| G22 wrote: |
| I know International House offers a work visa but they also will reduce your pay if you choose to get a work visa from them. |
Correcting wrong information on this forum is getting a little old. Unless things have DRASTICALLY changed at IH recently, this is completely false. IH gets a work visa for all of their teachers, though this process generally takes a month or two. If you get your visa but don't complete your contract, they will take the cost of the visa (proportional to the amount of time you have completed on your contract) out of your pay. As of this time last year, this is the only way pay and visa are related at IH. IH Bogota, while it has its problems, has also been increasingly going in the direction of "more legit" in terms of legal issues, so I would be extremely surprised if they are allowing some teachers to work illegally and receive more pay. |
I took the CELTA through them in September, know at least 4 people who are currently working there and several more who worked there and quit. Prove that my information is not correct or else quit posting. I suspect you are someone affiliated with IH, which is why you rigorously defend them. |
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AGoodStory
Joined: 26 Feb 2010
Posts: 738
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| Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2011 7:09 pm Post subject: |
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| G22 wrote: |
| . . . Prove that my information is not correct or else quit posting. . . |
Prove that you are not right? Or quit posting? Seriously? Should we make a sticky: post only if you agree with G22? One of the main benefits of a forum is to provide a place for different opinions and experiences to be shared--you can read them all, consider and weigh the various opinions, and make up your own mind. Sort of defeats the purpose if everyone who disagrees with us quits posting.
. |
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G22
Joined: 25 Oct 2010
Posts: 89
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| Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 5:29 am Post subject: |
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| AGoodStory wrote: |
| G22 wrote: |
| . . . Prove that my information is not correct or else quit posting. . . |
Prove that you are not right? Or quit posting? Seriously? Should we make a sticky: post only if you agree with G22? One of the main benefits of a forum is to provide a place for different opinions and experiences to be shared--you can read them all, consider and weigh the various opinions, and make up your own mind. Sort of defeats the purpose if everyone who disagrees with us quits posting.
. |
Cool story. Like I said before I challenge anyone to prove that my statements are wrong. Windowlicker is a hack who works for IH and only posts on here to promote the company. |
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JacobTM
Joined: 02 Jun 2009
Posts: 73
Location: New York
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| Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 3:57 pm Post subject: |
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Chris they gave me a work visa and didn't reduce my pay.
Proven |
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G22
Joined: 25 Oct 2010
Posts: 89
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| Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 8:09 pm Post subject: |
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| JacobTM wrote: |
Chris they gave me a work visa and didn't reduce my pay.
Proven |
Who is Chris? Also that doesn't prove anything, anyone could make an account and make claims. |
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windowlicker
Joined: 05 Jun 2008
Posts: 183
Location: Bogot�, Colombia
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| Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 11:39 pm Post subject: |
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| G22 wrote: |
| AGoodStory wrote: |
| G22 wrote: |
| . . . Prove that my information is not correct or else quit posting. . . |
Prove that you are not right? Or quit posting? Seriously? Should we make a sticky: post only if you agree with G22? One of the main benefits of a forum is to provide a place for different opinions and experiences to be shared--you can read them all, consider and weigh the various opinions, and make up your own mind. Sort of defeats the purpose if everyone who disagrees with us quits posting.
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Cool story. Like I said before I challenge anyone to prove that my statements are wrong. Windowlicker is a hack who works for IH and only posts on here to promote the company. |
I WORKED (past tense) for IH. After my contract was up, I decided to move to Valledupar. I post on here quite frequently with lots of info other than defending IH from untrue accusations. I'll also say I didn't renew my contract with IH because the hours aren't fun and you can get better pay elsewhere. Happy? It doesn't change the fact that you post bogus stuff on here all the time about lots of things, but the info you post about IH is particularly wrong.
You want me to prove you're wrong? Well, I worked at IH and what you're saying wasn't the case. Things were disorganized at IH when I worked for them, but I would be shocked if they were paying teachers MORE to not get a visa. In fact, about three years ago they got in a little problem with the DAS because not all of their teachers had work visas and since that had happened, they were always extremely careful about visas while I worked there. So again, I would be absolutely stunned if things had turned around so much that they were not only employing teachers illegally, but actually paying them MORE to work illegally. |
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windowlicker
Joined: 05 Jun 2008
Posts: 183
Location: Bogot�, Colombia
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| Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 11:41 pm Post subject: |
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| G22 wrote: |
| JacobTM wrote: |
Chris they gave me a work visa and didn't reduce my pay.
Proven |
Who is Chris? Also that doesn't prove anything, anyone could make an account and make claims. |
Which makes me wonder how much faith can be put into your claims. |
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G22
Joined: 25 Oct 2010
Posts: 89
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| Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 5:42 am Post subject: |
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| windowlicker wrote: |
| G22 wrote: |
| AGoodStory wrote: |
| G22 wrote: |
| . . . Prove that my information is not correct or else quit posting. . . |
Prove that you are not right? Or quit posting? Seriously? Should we make a sticky: post only if you agree with G22? One of the main benefits of a forum is to provide a place for different opinions and experiences to be shared--you can read them all, consider and weigh the various opinions, and make up your own mind. Sort of defeats the purpose if everyone who disagrees with us quits posting.
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Cool story. Like I said before I challenge anyone to prove that my statements are wrong. Windowlicker is a hack who works for IH and only posts on here to promote the company. |
I WORKED (past tense) for IH. After my contract was up, I decided to move to Valledupar. I post on here quite frequently with lots of info other than defending IH from untrue accusations. I'll also say I didn't renew my contract with IH because the hours aren't fun and you can get better pay elsewhere. Happy? It doesn't change the fact that you post bogus stuff on here all the time about lots of things, but the info you post about IH is particularly wrong.
You want me to prove you're wrong? Well, I worked at IH and what you're saying wasn't the case. Things were disorganized at IH when I worked for them, but I would be shocked if they were paying teachers MORE to not get a visa. In fact, about three years ago they got in a little problem with the DAS because not all of their teachers had work visas and since that had happened, they were always extremely careful about visas while I worked there. So again, I would be absolutely stunned if things had turned around so much that they were not only employing teachers illegally, but actually paying them MORE to work illegally. |
So you worked at IH in the past, so what? When was the last time you had anything to do with them what so ever? It seems likely that you are a company hack who made an account to defend and promote the company on this site. |
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CountBassD
Joined: 08 Feb 2010
Posts: 33
Location: Bogota, Colombia
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| Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2011 4:40 pm Post subject: |
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| JacobTM wrote: |
Chris they gave me a work visa and didn't reduce my pay.
Proven |
You're clearly a fake account since your profile says New York while you claim to be in Bogota. You probably don't even know what 'paila' means. Retard. |
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Martillo
Joined: 03 Oct 2010
Posts: 10
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| Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 7:51 pm Post subject: |
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| G22 wrote: |
| Medellin is easily a nicer city. The climate alone makes it nicer. There are definitely more job opportunities in Bogota, however many institutes don't bother offering job visas here because employees often don't stay very long and the visas are expensive. I know International House offers a work visa but they also will reduce your pay if you choose to get a work visa from them. |
This is not true. You can check out my other posts on this forum to verify that I am not a sock puppet account.
IH pays all visa expenses, including airfair. They do not reduce the pay. If anyone is in Bogot� and is really interested, I can show you my pay receipts to prove this. The visa pay is actually a separate section in on the pay receipt and it is a positive number. The only way it affects your pay is to increase it. It has no affect on what you earn for teaching and they do not deduct at all, unless you leave before your contract is up, then they ask you to repay them 50% or 100% (based on how soon you left). That is only fair though because they are paying for your visa to work for them, not to move to another company and waste their time and money. |
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Martillo
Joined: 03 Oct 2010
Posts: 10
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| Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 7:54 pm Post subject: |
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| CountBassD wrote: |
| JacobTM wrote: |
Chris they gave me a work visa and didn't reduce my pay.
Proven |
You're clearly a fake account since your profile says New York while you claim to be in Bogota. You probably don't even know what 'paila' means. Retard. |
It is often hard to spot sarcasm on the internet. But I will bite, since someone else might think you are 100% serious.
JacobTM is not a fake account and I know him personally. Also, he has some very good and informative posts on here. |
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