Korean Job Discussion Forums

[igotthisguitar]

Volunteer At Own Risk
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
By Spencer McCall

If you�re an English teacher thinking of heading down to Mallipo beach to help clean up Korea�s worst ever oil spill, don�t let your goodwill get the better of you or you might just be deported. Unless you fill out the proper form and pay a certain fee, the Korean government would much rather you stay home.

There are rules for foreigners volunteering, and the rules mean paying for offering a free service.

As surprising as it sounds, under the Immigration Control Act of Korea, � ... it is punishable that you [a foreigner] engage in the activities beyond your current visa status without permission� from the Ministry of Justice. This includes volunteering, not just at the oil spill disaster, but also for any work or event outside of the school that is sponsoring your E2 visa. The documents you require to volunteer include:

A travel document (passport)
Alien Registration Card
Application forms (downloadable from http://www.immigration.go.kr/)

Fees (60,000 won)

The government crackdown on volunteering extends far beyond the recent natural disaster relief effort, a particular event that has drawn dozens of English teachers to the beach in a genuine gesture of goodwill.

Posted by Korea Jim at 4:01 PM

Labels: danger, government, illegal, immigration, Korea, Spencer McCall, teacher reputation, visa, warning

http://esldaily.blogspot.com/2007/12/volunteer-at-own-risk.html

[JeannieAbroad]

Wow.

I always thought it was just don't ask don't tell. Thanks for the warning.

[Bibbitybop]

I've been saying this for over a year: Mods, this needs to be a sticky or in the FAQ. Maybe it is in the FAQ and I'm spouting for nothing.....but I haven't seen it.


This is the official link my friend was given by immigration last year when she did a play (a non-paying volunteer play):

http://www.immigration.go.kr/HP/IMM80/imm_04/imm_0404/sm9.jsp

And yes, the fee is 60,000won.


Now a few weeks ago, someone posted that they talked to a Busan immigration official and said that registration and paying a fee wasn't needed if a volunteer action didn't involve money. But Korea doesn't ever have it's shit together and no one follows or knows set rules.

So the answer, like the OP said, is play it safe. Korean officials will do anything to make a foreigner's actions illegal, even if it cleaning up their own mess on their own beach or working with kids in orphanages.

[kiwiduncan]

If the Korean immigration office ever decides to bust me for volunteering at the oil covered beaches on the west coast it will provide plenty of juicy material for the international and local media. Let them fine or deport volunteers if they want. I can't imagine a better way to lower Korea's international reputation.

[mercury]

Actually, this is old news. During the korean war, more than 200,000 of the UN soldiers sent to rescue korea were fined for doing similar things (other than fighting the enemy) e.g.....planting trees, helping with medical services, building houses and road, etc..etc... Many of the soldiers are still being sought in order to pay the fines.

[stvwrd]

mercury, could you post some links about that? I'd be interested in learning more about this.

Reading the immigration bureau website makes it sound like stopping by the grocery store on the way home from work probably violates the E-2 visa.

[caniff]

[aaabank]

Volunteering at the oil spill sites will NOT get you deported. The stipulations about volunteering are in place to prevent greedy hagwon owners from using foreigners as "volunteers" whilst being paid for their English "non-lessons" in an indirect way. Lawmakers know that corruption exists and that is the reason why the law exists. It is not there to prevent foreigners from coming to the aid of the environment.

[sojourner1]

Wow, this thread is very different than it was last night. Guess the mods cleaned it up when I said something out of line.

This site is very censored as if we live in communism. No one ever said that Korea was a communist state, but that it is a democracy with free speech, albeit, it's not a foreigners place to lead or partake in a political demonstration of any sort.

Just what are laws pertaining to free speech in Korea?

We know quite a bit about many other laws such as immigration law, but civil rights is never talked about. Is there something being hid from us that would make us not go to Korea if we knew?

The site administrator seems to know something most of us don't even though he never taught in Korea. Maybe it's simply that the depends on Koreans to advertise for English teachers.

EDIT: There is another identical thread, but with different responses. This is not the same thread that I thought it was after finding the other one a moment ago.

[RACETRAITOR]

Incidentally, it sounds like Koreans have to pay to volunteer at the oil spill too, although probably not as much.

[Ilsanman]

Yes it is. I was thinking about petitioning to someone to get the freedom of speech laws strengthened, but since it's not work, I'm afraid I might get deported...

[Bibbitybop]

[superdave]

whether it's "enforced" or not, the law is there.

foreigners have got into trouble for volunteering in soup kitchens, doing plays and performances, concerts and gigs, all sorts of things.

despite your philanthropic desires, it's not worth getting involved in such things unless you're prepared to get official approval.

you might THINK it's ok ... but one korean will complain and then you're suddenly in a bunch of trouble.

it's not worth the risk. do it legally, or don't do it at all.

most foreigners don't know that it's illegal for non-residents to get involved in protests or demonstrations either. it's not our country, so even though we may have best intentions, it's safer to keep out of it.

[Bibbitybop]

Why are there two threads about this? I don't know, but the one in the job discussion forum is longer. Maybe we should keep all posts there, even though this forum is more appropriate.

Here it is: http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=109133&start=15

I only mention this because superdave's post is the voice of reason. Superdave, I'm going to repost your message over there, cool? Cool.

[kermo]

I know it's illegal to volunteer without permission, but do you know if anyone has been hassled for volunteering at the oil spill? I have plans to go on Sunday.