Korean Job Discussion Forums

Hawkeye1 · Joined: 25 Dec 2006

Hi,i'd really appreciate it if someone can help us out please as we have not met many people here yet and so have no reference point for this problem!
This is our first teaching job abroad and when our Director mailed us our visa(issuance) numbers we thought they were our actual visa numbers.It didn't help that the the mail said :'your visas have been issued,here are your visa numbers'.So now our Director wants us to pay for our Visa Run,he says its our fault that we didn't know the procedure and we must foot the bill.In my eyes the fault rests with him for not informing us fully.
So what do ye think?should i stand my ground or do people here regularly pay for their Visa Runs?
Thanks for your help.

Bibbitybop · Joined: 22 Feb 2006 Location: Seoul

Most foreign teachers in Korea do NOT pay for their visa run, at least not their plane ticket. Follow your contract. Is the cost of a visa run included? If yes, then hold your boss to it. If no, they you are out of luck.

Hawkeye1 · Joined: 25 Dec 2006

cool,thanks,i don't think there's anything in the contract about a visa run though because he thought we'd have it sorted by the time we came.a compromise might be the answer?

Bibbitybop · Joined: 22 Feb 2006 Location: Seoul

Well, if you don't have a visa, he doesn't have a worker. I think a compromise might be due.

How did you get here? On a tourist visa? If you don't have a visa yet, you may be able to bail and find a different job with a more-honest employer. I don't know the legality of that, though.

Anyone have an idea?

crazylemongirl · Joined: 23 Mar 2003 Location: almost there...

hang on...

let's see if I've got the story straight.

1. Director mailed you visa numbers
2. You didn't apply for you visas in-country
3. You flew to korea without a work visa

That's your fault. The director shouldn't pay.

wylies99 · Joined: 13 May 2006 Location: I'm one cool cat!

swetepete · Joined: 01 Nov 2006 Location: a limp little burg

A similar thing happened to me a couple of years ago. Through bad recruiting and miscommunication, I arrived on a tourist visa and was expecting to be sent over to Japan on the visa run. Upon arrival I was told it was up to me to pay for that. I was very angry and eventually got the recruiter to pay half of the expense, but I thought it was so incredibly cheap of my boss, I never forgave him.
Things got better at that school as time went on, but I never really got past thinking of him as a chiselling nickel'n'dime scumbag. Even now, those are the words that pop into my head when I think about him.
To be fair, he was always quite honest and good afterwards, but that first bad step really tainted the whole relationship.

Happily he sold the hagwon after a few months so I didn't have to work for him anymore. I guess he wasn't as bad as I thought he was at first, but still...he was rich, he could've just sucked up the expenses and had a much happier Pete-teacher.

Were you working through a recruiter? Somebody should have told you the deal with visa runs. Your boss should have told you. You guys seem pretty innocent as far as I'm concerned. Probably your boss is a toad.

kprrok · Joined: 06 Apr 2004 Location: KC

just because · Joined: 01 Aug 2003 Location: Changwon - 4964

If you had an opportunity to get the visa done in your own country but didn't (even if it was a misunderstanding which could have been cleared up anyway) YOU really should pay...

If you came over here without being issued a visa through some fault of your boss and your boss is sending you to japan then YOUR BOSS should pay...

By the sounds of it a compromise is in order...maybe 50/50 however it doesn't make your boss a *beep* if he doesn't pay....your recruiter really should have explained the procedure to you much better.