Korean Job Discussion Forums

[IrishJD]

Hi All,

First post for me - I've had a good look around the various forums to try to find relevant info but haven't been entirely successful...

Here's the reason for my coming to you guys looking for help:

My wife (a New Zealander) and myself (an Irishman) are looking to come to Korea in March '08. My wife has a 4 year BA while I have no university degree. We're both in our late 20's.

We are assuming that there will be no difficulty for my wife to find a job but I want to be able to work too (preferrably legally but open to the probability that this may not be possible) and I'm trying to find out:

A) How I get a spouse/dependent visa
B) What this entitles me to regarding length of stay and eligibility to work
C) What my other options are:
- student visa? - how does one get this?
- working illegally - is it likely that my wife's employer would hire me under the table? Would this be bad for us?

Also, does anyone know whether our particular situation of being a married couple of differing nationality, neither of which is Korean but both of which are sought after in terms of teaching English, is of benefit or hindrance to us?

If my questions have previously been covered somewhere else, please accept my apologies. I would appreciate being directed to these posts in this case.

If not, ANY advice would be greatly appreciated.

It should be noted that I contacted the Korean consulate in Dublin, and the very nice Korean lady told me that she "didn't have a clue" regarding me getting a dependents visa (I told her that I intended to spend the time studying Tea Kwon Do and the Korean language).

She advised me that an Irish citizen I was entitled to spend 90 days in Korea before being required to leave but could then immediately re-enter for a further 90 days. I told the nice lady that this was exactly what I was trying to avoid as it would be both inconvenient for monetary reasons as well as potentially drawing unnecessary attention to me. She agreed on both counts and suggested that my wife make enquiries with the embassy in NZ... not exactly what i had expected from a governmental information service.

Thanks for any help!

IrishJD

[georgewallas]

[IrishJD]

Thanks georgewallas, I appreciate the tips!

[georgewallas]

We heard the stories here, and on other sites, about the slime that makes up the ESL industry here, and we decided that she would not work here.

As it turns out the stories are true. POLY btw, screws their employees, the nonsense with the base pay as a means of calculating the severance pay at the end does not hold water in a court of law, and they're considered "great" employers as far as obeying the law, etc.

I have been cheated out of large sum of money, by my current employer, and getting what I am owed is an uphill battle because the government agencies responsible for it are refusing to do their job. Even getting the form to file a complaint filed is preceded with a dozen excuses why I should not go through with it.
I work legally here. Can you imagine what you'll go thru working illegally?

Really, you can make as much money working in Thailand, or Taiwan, and you'll have a much nicer time, and most won't employers there won't try to screw you out of money.

[IrishJD]

I appreciate all the info georgewallas, thanks.

Has anyone else got any ideas regarding good schools in Daejeon?