Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Kwangjuchicken]

Stay or Leave?

[Kwangjuchicken]

wow a stay. Now that, along with the new Visa laws should go on the Unbelievable thread. I figue with maybe up to 3 round trips to USA, hotel costs, etc. It could cost me up to 4 months salary. And many here have figured it could take 2-4 months to get all of this done.

[Julius]

The long and short term outlook for Korea is b-l-e-a-k

Increasing xenophobia. Increasingly difficult regulations. In a decade there'll only be 100 women for every 125 men here, imagine how bad the anti foreign male racism will be then?

Theres never been a better time to leave K. They've done China a favour, I'll be heading there in the year ahead. Even if you give it one more year, nobody can seriously contemplate much more than that.

[Cliffhanger]

I voted stay for the simple fact that I still have debts to pay. If I had a few thou saved up I wouldn't come back thought. I was going to stay a few years, but if these laws stick around, my next contract will be my last.

[isthisreally]

I may come back someday, but if I'm going home to do all this stuff at the end of my contract, I might as well take a long vacation.

[Smee]

We'll see how it plays out, but if I have to interview in person just to renew my visa---instead of doing it in-country like last time---I'll leave. I had to go and get my visa taken care of in person before my first contract. I had to fly to New York---or drive 10 hours, which wasn't really an option---get a hotel, pay for the visa costs (obviously), plus pay for food and internet (as I had to stay in touch with my recruiter). All in all it cost nearly $600, and there's no way in hell I'd do that again. One of the reasons Korea appeals to first-timers is the relatively low start-up costs. If we have to pay for this interview process, plus front the bill for airfare (which I've had to do for the last two times), it's going to push a lot of people to Taiwan or Japan, or other countries that people have shied away from because the start-up costs were too high. Having to front $1000 - $2000 before even arriving in-country is too much.

The article on this I saw was from the Korea Herald, and it was another example of horrible journalism. No word on if this will even pass. I can't imagine this being a good idea at all. But when did that ever stop the K-bureaucracy?

I'm genuinely curious (not trolling or bashing): Why isn't there a way to have the visa taken care of in Korea? I mean, why do we have to do visa runs? Do other countries have such regulations in place? I just don't understand why somebody arriving on a tourist visa, or somebody switching jobs, has to leave the country and visit a Korean embassy, instead of just visiting an immigration office here.

[icnelly]

[Cheonmunka]

[TheUrbanMyth]

[weatherman]

I hope I don't have to eat these words, but aren't we all sound a bit like chicken little. Things will change and this is good. But lets wait before we say the sky is falling.


And in my 2 cents, there will always be more ESL teaching fodder for this market.